Sometimes, what is necessary to be successful seems obvious, but you can’t get the resources you need due to political forces at play in the particular situation. This is particularly common in school consultation.
“Well, we asked for 1-1 support but the school district said no.”
“I told them we needed a space to work, but the principal told me there is no space available.”
“The paraprofessional is not physically able to keep up with him, but the special education director said we have to train her.”
In these situations, I’d say that we have to advocate for the child, even though someone is bound to say “We can’t do that; they won’t like it.”
In this situation, many behavior analysts will compromise. In general, it’s a big mistake. If you compromise on what the student obviously needs to get along, in all likelihood the student will not be successful. Then, when it doesn’t work, no one is going to remember that you said it wouldn’t work with this para, without space, or without a 1-1. It is going to be your fault anyway.
But if you push, get what the student needs, and you are successful with the student, people won’t remember the little fights at the beginning. In fact, often the most dedicated supporters will come only after they see the dramatic improvements the program has made. Usually (but not always), when a student is dramatically successful, you will win the support of everyone.
So, the general rule is to advocate for everything you need to be successful right from the beginning. Don’t worry that someone might not like the recommendation if it is something critical the child needs. Yes, despite how socially savvy you might be, this might ruffle some feathers. Richard Foxx told us that a consultant needs a persuasive personality.
Fear of that reaction can cause us to back down. Don’t do that. Of course, we want to have good social validity in the places we work. Sure, some BCBAs have a reputation for not behaving well – not that I know anyone like that. Sure, use your best social skills, but get what the child needs. Bad compromises are bad for everyone. Even if you have short-term social validity, you won’t maintain it when the program isn’t successful. You have nothing to lose.