Office Puzzle is proud to partner with FirstWork to support both learners and professionals in the ABA space! FirstWork leverages technology to support care and outcomes by digitizing lesson-delivery and making DTT faster, more affordable, and more consistent.
We spoke with FirstWork founder Patrick Faga on his journey, mission, and perspective on the continued growth of technology in the ABA space:
Can you share a bit about your background and what led you to create FirstWork?
My background is in behavior and decision science and neuroscience, but working as a BT is what really set the direction. I loved the work. I also saw how hard “good lesson delivery” actually is in the real world.
DTT is technical. It’s not just giving an instruction and reinforcing a response. You are managing pacing, prompts, error correction, data, transitions, motivation, and rapport. You are doing it while trying to keep the learner engaged. For parents running programs at home, it can feel borderline impossible. At the same time, most ABA teams are still stuck in the print, laminate, cut loop. It’s expensive. It’s slow. It creates bottlenecks. It also makes it harder to standardize what sessions look like across staff.
FirstWork started from a simple thesis. DTT’s outcomes are heavily moderated by delivery. If we could modernize lesson delivery and remove the materials burden, we could make sessions easier to run, easier to train, and more engaging for learners. That’s the job. Better delivery, less friction.
Before FirstWork, what were some of the biggest pain points you saw in how ABA programs were being delivered?
There are three pain points, and they map to three groups.
1. BCBAs and the people supporting them
DTT is still largely powered by hand-made 2D stimuli. That means sourcing images, formatting, printing, laminating, cutting, sorting, Velcro, binders, boxes, and constant updates.
Most BCBAs I talk to can name the weekly number without thinking. It’s usually in the 1 to 3 hours per week range, sometimes more, depending on caseload and how many new targets are being introduced. The bigger issue is that this time is operationally expensive. It either happens during paid admin time, or it happens after hours, or it happens by pulling support staff away from other work. None of those options feel good.
2. BTs in session
BTs are asked to do a lot at once. Run trials cleanly. Keep pace. Collect data. Stay engaged. Manage behavior. Manage reinforcement. Prepare arrays. Reset materials. Move from target to target.
Paper materials add friction to every part of that workflow. The session becomes a constant series of tiny setup tasks. That makes it harder to maintain momentum and harder to keep the learner in a productive rhythm.
3. Learners
A lot of “traditional DTT” has a built-in waiting problem. Transition to the table. Wait while arrays are set. Wait between trials while materials reset. Wait while the BT records data and finds the next card.
Waiting is not neutral and makes sessions feel less engaging than they need to be. Digital delivery does not fix clinical decision-making. It does reduce the friction. Less setup. Less downtime. More consistency. Better flow.
What do you think has caused FirstWork to resonate so strongly with both professionals and families?
FirstWork was built around three outcomes:
- Make learning more fun, focused, consistent, and effective
- Make lesson delivery more accessible for BTs and parents
- Make DTT more time and cost efficient operationally
The reason it resonates is not just the concept. It’s the execution.
We built the product in the field, with BCBAs who were actively running programs. We treat feedback like oxygen. The big features came from it. The small workflow details came from it too. Those details are where tools either get adopted or ignored. One example is our session focus and reward system. The idea is simple. During lessons, the device stays a learning device. After lessons, the learner can earn access to preferred apps as reinforcement, if the team chooses to program it that way.
It’s not about being restrictive. It’s about making contingencies clean and consistent, especially for families and for new staff. When the reinforcement system is built into the flow, you get fewer negotiations mid-session and more predictable learning time.
The thing I hear that makes me smile is when teams say learners ask to do programs. That’s rare with traditional 2D cards. It’s a signal that delivery matters.
How do you see technology like FirstWork evolving within ABA in the next few years? Any new features or areas of research you’re excited about?
ABA is evolving fast, but the tools used inside sessions have lagged behind.
I think the next few years will look like this. More specialized tools will move from the back office into direct therapy. Not general “edtech.” Tools built specifically for ABA workflows, specifically for lesson delivery, and specifically for making implementation easier for BTs.
The best versions of this will not replace clinical judgment. They will make it easier to do the fundamentals well. Strong instruction. Clean prompting. Clear reinforcement. Reliable data.
That’s what I’m excited about. We are finally building tools that respect how hard this job is and make it easier to do it with quality.
You can learn more about FirstWork at firstworkapp.com