100 Step Toileting Protocols and Other Ways to Lose Friends and Alienate RBTs
Sometimes you write a behavior plan and you know—you just know—it’s too much.
But you’re hoping maybe your RBT or your parent will go along with it anyway.
But…you just know they won’t!
You walk the parent or the RBT through it—some elaborate toileting protocol or a behavior reduction masterpiece—and halfway through, their face goes blank. They’re nodding, sure. But behind the nod you can tell that they’re screaming inside.
“You want me to take him to the bathroom every 15 minutes?”
“You want me to ignore that tantrum while he throws shoes at my face?”
“And I’m supposed to do this… forever?”
Or maybe their staring at you blankly. And you know they are saying to themselves “Yeah, I’m nodding my head…but I’m not going to do that.”
It’s not always that people get confused. More-so, it’s that they’re overwhelmed.
Most of the time, the issue isn’t that they don’t get the function of behavior or the reason for your 14 point toileting protocol. Instead, it’s that they’re tired. They’re busy. They’re maxed out. They’re barely keeping their head above water—and now you’ve handed them Moby Dick and told them to memorize it by Monday.
That’s not behavior support. That’s a fast track to non-compliance.
So what do you do?
Where I don’t have all the answers, I do have a few strategies I’ve used in the past that might help.
One is to get them to agree…to something smaller.
When I know a behavior plan or toileting protocol might be heavy—I tell them upfront:
“Hey, I’m not asking you to do this forever. Let’s just try it for 3 days.”
Three days (or something that is more digestible). That’s it.
No guilt. No pressure. Just a short-term experiment. The fact of the matter is, most people aren’t afraid of the plan—they’re afraid of being stuck in it. They’re afraid you’ll come back in two weeks and say, “Why didn’t you do the thing?” They’re afraid this plan is their new life now.
But if they know there’s a check-in, a reassessment, a trial period, an expiration date, suddenly, it feels like something they can try. And people do things when people feel like they can do something.
The magic happens after the try. You give them that out, and something shifts. They give the plan a try, they see a little progress—a few less accidents or tantrums—and hope ensues. Now they’re on board. And not because you forced them to be, but because you gave them a choice and they began to see results. And now buy-in truly begins.
At the end of the day, our plans are only as good as the follow through! You can write the most beautiful, data-informed, evidence-based plan in the world. But if the team’s not doing it? Doesn’t matter.
As a BCBA, our job isn’t to write plans that look good on paper. Our job is to build something people can actually do. Sometimes we can stop overwhelming our teams and families by giving them a short, digestible timeline that simplifies things…without the weight of forever hanging on it.
Martin Myers is a BCBA with a passion for helping improve the field of ABA. He is the creator of BxMastery, with over 4,000 goal ideas, sequenced, to inspire your programming. With 10+ years of experience in the field, he’s dedicated to empowering others and fostering positive change through effective leadership and communication. Connect with Martin on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for more insights and updates.