Consent, and who gets to decide
Who signs, who agrees in the moment, and what they were told
- BCaBA
- BCBA
What the obligation is
Informed consent means the client or their legal representative agreed to assessment or treatment after being told, in language they understand, what will happen, why, what the risks and benefits are, what the alternatives are, and that they may withdraw. It is obtained before services start and again when the plan changes materially — a new restrictive procedure, a functional analysis, a video recording. It is distinct from assent, which is the person's own moment-to-moment willingness. It also raises the question of who the client actually is: the person receiving services, the parent, the school district paying, and the funder can all have different interests, and the code requires you to identify them and act in the client's.
In plain language
Get permission before you start, from the person who can legally give it, after explaining it plainly. Ask again when the plan changes a lot. Be clear who the client is.
What this looks like
- Explaining a functional analysis and its risks to a parent before running one.
- A service agreement that says what will be provided, by whom, and how it ends.
- Noticing when a school's goal and a family's goal differ, and naming it.
- Re-consenting before recording video, even for training.
Where people get caught
- Treating the intake signature as consent for everything that follows.
- Explaining in professional language and counting understanding as given.
- Letting the payer's priorities quietly become the treatment goals.
- Confusing assent with consent, or using one to excuse the absence of the other.
If you are not sure
Ask whether this person would be surprised by what is about to happen. If they might be, it needs explaining and agreeing first.
In the codes
- Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts Section 2 — Your conduct in practice
- 2.08 Communicate in language people actually understand
- 2.11 Obtain informed consent, and assent where it applies
- 2.16 Describe an intervention in writing before you start it
- Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts Section 3 — What you owe clients and stakeholders
- 3.04 Sign a service agreement before services start
- 3.09 Tell the family what third-party services involve
- 3.10 Explain the limits of confidentiality early
On the exam
Terms used here
Situations where this comes up
Related topics
Written from
- bacb-ethics-code-2022 — Consent and client identification standards
Written from the analyst code's consent and client-responsibility standards, in our own words.
This entry has not yet been through independent review. Treat it as a draft, and read the official code for anything that matters.