# PLEASE, for BCBAs and guardians

## The short version

The person you're responsible for is learning to make choices by tapping a screen. We're building toward those same taps becoming real paid work.

## How the tablet works now

They see pictures or prompts on a screen. They tap the one they want. Every tap is logged -- what was on the screen, what they chose, what happened next. That's how we measure progress and adjust the program. This is standard ABA data collection. Nothing new here.

## What changes

Right now, computer programs are being built to do things for people -- book appointments, send emails, make purchases. But these programs keep hitting walls where a website needs a real human to confirm: "Are you sure? Are you a person? Do you authorize this?"

Somebody has to tap "yes." That's it. The program can't do it because the whole point of the wall is to make sure a human is involved. A human taps "yes," the program continues, the task gets done.

That tap -- "yes, a real person approved this" -- is a job. A real one. It pays per tap. It doesn't require reading a script, talking on a phone, navigating a computer, or keeping a schedule. It requires looking at a simple prompt and making a choice: yes or no.

## Why this matters

The skill they're learning right now -- look at a screen, understand what's being asked, tap an answer -- is the same skill this job requires. Not similar. The same.

- **In session:** the screen shows four pictures. They tap "dinosaurs." We log it. That's a trial.
- **At work:** the screen shows "This program wants to check your email. Yes or No?" They tap "Yes." The system logs it. That's a paid transaction.

Same motor action. Same decision-making. Same data we can track. The difference is one is practice and the other is employment.

## What the BCBA's role is

I'm already teaching them to discriminate between choices on a screen and respond appropriately. That's what discrete trial training does. The transition from "tap the picture you want" to "tap yes or no for this request" is a progression in the same skill, not a new skill.

As we move toward employment, I supervise the same way I supervise therapy:

- I design the prompts (what the screen shows, how the choices are presented)
- I track the data (accuracy, response time, consistency)
- I adjust the program based on the data
- I ensure the work is appropriate for their current skill level

The data they generate at work is clinical data. It tells me how they're doing. And it's also the work product -- the proof that a real person made a real decision. One tap, two purposes.

## Who authorizes the work

Whoever is legally responsible for this person authorizes the scope of work -- a parent, a guardian, a case manager, or a state agency. The BCBA defines the clinical scope: what prompts are appropriate, what complexity level, what volume. The authorization scope and the clinical scope should match exactly. If the work is clinically appropriate, it's authorized. If it's not clinically appropriate, it doesn't happen. One boundary, not two.

For individuals in state care, this fits existing supported employment frameworks. The BCBA supervision structure is already in place. The billing categories already exist. The only new thing is what the work actually is -- and the work is something they're already doing in session.

## What this is not

- This is not asking them to do something they can't do. The tap is the simplest possible interaction with a screen. If they can do it in session, they can do it at work.
- This is not unpaid labor disguised as therapy. The taps are real attestations with real economic value. They get paid.
- This is not a sheltered workshop or a simulated job. The programs that need human approval are real. The transactions are real. The programs that need human approval are real and growing.

## The outcome we're working toward

A job that:
- Uses a skill they already have
- Generates data I can use to keep improving their program
- Doesn't require them to mask, perform, or pretend to be someone they're not
- Grows with them as their discrimination skills improve

The world is building more and more programs that need a human to say "yes." They can be that human. We're teaching them how right now.