Assent
A client's own willingness to participate, shown through words or behavior, which is separate from the legal consent given by a guardian or the client.
Consent is a formal, legal agreement to services, often given by a parent or legal guardian when the client is a minor or cannot legally consent. Assent is the client's own agreement, moment to moment, to take part in a session or activity. Clients who cannot give legal consent can still show assent or its absence through what they say and do.
Signs of assent often include approaching the RBT or materials, staying at the activity, smiling or laughing, and responding readily. Signs that assent may be withdrawn include saying "no" or "stop," pulling away, turning away, crying, leaving the area, or problem behavior when an activity begins. Every client is different, so the supervisor may define what assent and its withdrawal look like for a particular client.
The 2026 RBT 40-hour training curriculum lists building rapport and gaining assent as part of preparing a client for service delivery. Building assent starts with pairing the RBT with reinforcement, offering choices, and making sessions enjoyable. When assent appears to be withdrawn, the RBT follows the plan's instructions, which might include pausing, offering a break or choice, or re-establishing rapport, and reports the pattern to the supervisor. The RBT does not decide alone to abandon or change procedures.
Assent reflects the core principle of treating clients with compassion, dignity and respect, and attending to it helps make services effective and humane.
Example and non-example
| Example | At the start of a session, a child walks over to the RBT, takes their hand and leads them to the toy shelf. The child is showing assent to begin. |
|---|---|
| Non-example | A parent signs the consent form for ABA services. That is legal consent from the guardian, not the child's own assent. |
Don't confuse it with
| Client dignity | Client dignity is a broad principle about respectful treatment, while assent refers specifically to the client's willingness to participate. |
|---|---|
| Escape function | An escape function is a reason problem behavior persists, identified by assessment, while withdrawal of assent is the client signaling they do not want to continue; both may look similar, so the RBT follows the plan and reports. |
Test yourself
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Question 1Midway through a paired-stimulus assessment, a child repeatedly pushes the items away and leaves the table. What is the most appropriate response?
Show answer
A: Stop presenting trials and inform the supervisor. Pushing items away and leaving are signs the child is not assenting to the activity. The RBT stops pressing the task and informs the supervisor, who decides how to proceed.
- B: Pushing items away is not a selection and should not be recorded as one.
- C: Physically returning a child who is withdrawing assent is not appropriate without direction from the supervisor.
- D: Continuing to present trials ignores the child's behavior and yields poor data.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D · 40-hour curriculum section B
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Question 2Partway through a skills assessment, a client starts crying, pushes the materials away and walks to the door. What should the RBT do?
Show answer
A: Pause the assessment, offer a break as the plan allows, and inform the supervisor. Crying, pushing materials away and leaving are signs the client may be withdrawing assent. The RBT pauses, follows the plan, and lets the supervisor decide how to continue. Results taken while the client is distressed would not reflect their skills.
- B: Holding a client in place is a restrictive procedure that is not part of an assessment and ignores the client's signs of distress.
- C: Items the client was never given cannot be scored as incorrect.
- D: Rushing ignores the client's distress and would make the results less accurate.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D · 40-hour curriculum section B
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Question 3An 8-year-old's plan uses partial physical prompts. Today the child pulls their arm away and says "No touch" each time the RBT starts a physical prompt. What should the RBT do?
Show answer
A: Stop the physical prompt, follow any steps the plan gives for this, and contact the supervisor. Pulling away and saying "No touch" signal that the child is withdrawing assent to physical prompts. The RBT stops, follows any plan steps for this situation, and contacts the supervisor for direction instead of forcing the prompt.
- B: Pushing through clear signs that the child does not want to be touched risks harm and ignores the child's withdrawal of assent.
- C: Continuing without checking with the supervisor ignores the child's objection and delays needed direction.
- D: Changing the prompting procedure is the supervisor's decision.
Task C.7 · 40-hour curriculum section E · RBT Ethics Code 2.01 · RBT Ethics Code 2.06
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task F.1 Core ethics principles in content area F, Ethics, which is 11 of the 75 scored questions.