Rights & Ethics Glossary

Consent and assent answer different questions

Informed consent is permission from the person legally authorized to decide after understandable information is provided about the proposed activity, risks, benefits, alternatives, privacy limits, and right to decline or withdraw. Authority can depend on age, capacity, court orders, and state law.

For a HIPAA covered entity, HHS personal-representative guidance explains that applicable law determines who may act and the scope of that authority. A parent, caregiver, emergency contact, and personal representative can be different roles.

Assent is a person's communicated willingness when that person cannot legally provide informed consent. It can be expressed through speech, AAC, gesture, movement, approach, pause, or another individualized response. The current BACB Ethics Code requires assent when applicable for covered behavior analysts. A signature from a representative does not convert distress, withdrawal, or refusal into assent.

Ask how willingness and withdrawal will be recognized, what the team will do when the response changes, and which immediate safety or legal duties may apply.

Dignity belongs in daily practice

Client dignity means recognizing the person as a full human being with preferences, relationships, culture, privacy, communication, bodily autonomy, and meaningful goals. Dignity shows up in ordinary choices: how staff speak, who is present, whether the person can communicate, which goals are selected, and how private information is handled.

A least restrictive alternative is a safer, less intrusive option considered in relation to a defined need and context. The phrase should prompt documented comparison of risks, benefits, access, consent and assent, competence, monitoring, and stop criteria. It does not authorize a restrictive procedure.

Food, water, bathroom access, communication and AAC, mobility, prescribed care, pain response, and emergency help should remain available based on need rather than task performance.

Professional limits protect clients

Scope of competence is the range of professional activities a practitioner can perform with proficiency based on education, training, supervised experience, consultation, and current skill. A credential, job title, ownership role, payer enrollment, or software permission does not establish competence for every task.

A conflict of interest is a potential incompatibility between private and professional interests that could affect judgment or services. Financial incentives, family relationships, referral arrangements, dual roles, gifts, supervision power, and ownership interests may create conflicts. Identify, disclose, manage, document, seek consultation, or withdraw as the governing rules require.

Privacy starts with entity and purpose

Confidentiality is the duty to protect information entrusted in a professional relationship. Its sources may include ethics, law, contract, payer terms, employment rules, and client agreements.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects protected health information held by covered entities and sets permitted routes, limits, and individual rights. The HHS Privacy Rule overview is the federal starting point. An ABA or healthcare label alone does not establish that an organization is a covered entity, and state privacy law may add protections.

A release of information usually refers to a process or form for sharing information. Under HIPAA, a detailed authorization is required for some uses or disclosures and other routes permit certain sharing without one. HHS explains the difference between consent and authorization. Avoid a blanket form when a narrower purpose and route will do.

Notices and access are separate rights

A Notice of Privacy Practices explains how a covered entity may use and disclose PHI, the individual's rights, and the entity's duties. HHS NPP guidance covers required content, delivery, posting, acknowledgment efforts, and revisions. Signing an acknowledgment records receipt; it is not treatment consent or a general disclosure authorization.

The right of access to health records allows an individual or authorized personal representative to inspect or obtain PHI in a designated record set under the applicable rule, subject to defined exclusions and procedures. HHS access guidance addresses form, timing, fees, denials, and other requirements for covered entities. A clinical summary is not always a substitute for the requested copy.

Questions families can ask

• Who has authority for this exact decision, signature, or disclosure?
• How can the client communicate questions, willingness, discomfort, pause, or withdrawal?
• Which professional is competent and authorized to make the recommendation?
• What information will be used or shared, with whom, for what purpose, and for how long?
• Which rights, complaint routes, record-access steps, and deadlines apply?
• How are conflicts and financial incentives disclosed and managed?

Keep a dated rights-and-authority record for each important action. It can identify the governing source, person with decision authority, information provided, communication supports, client response, signature or other evidence, expiration or review date, and withdrawal path. Record a disputed or uncertain state rather than forcing a yes-or-no flag. Immediate safety, mandated reporting, and other legal duties should follow their own routes while the practice preserves the client's communication and documents who acted under which authority.

Find ABA care near you. Ask a provider to explain these rights in accessible language before care begins and whenever the plan or information route changes.