F.A.Q.

Some children may start to show signs as young as a few months old. Others may seem to have a typical development for the first few months or years of their lives, and then display a loss of skills around 18-24 months old.

Autism may involve a lack of receptive and expressive language skills. This might mean the inability to communicate verbally, and difficulty following instructions. This deficit in communication skills can often lead to maladaptive behaviors such as self injury, physical aggression, property destruction etc. One of the most common challenges presented by Autism is a lack in social skills.

Autistic individuals often have special interests in which they become highly proficient. This may involve memorizing facts, collecting things, and spending hours learning more about their specific interest. Attention to detail is often a strong suit.

Learning with Autism involves a vast array of sensory experiences. This may include seeking or avoiding sensory input. When the perfect, individualized balance of sensory needs is found, an autistic learner is most likely to succeed.

According to the National Autism Association, Autism affects 1 in 59 children.

Boys are four times more likely to have Autism than girls.  Early intervention is key in helping children learn communication, independence with functional living skills, and other socially significant behaviors.

ABA therapy works to change behaviors so that they are in line with the goals and values that a person has for their life. We shoot for behavior change that leads to access to more reinforcers and more inclusion in the least restrictive environment. The client themselves is the primary agent in deciding the direction of their care. ABA therapy can improve social, communication, and learning skills by breaking down bigger tasks into smaller component parts. This method of teaching is facilitated by the use of positive reinforcement.

ABA can also decrease severe problem behaviors that endanger health and safety, and limit educational, residential, or vocational options

• Consultation and assessment
  1. Your child will be assigned to a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA), also known as a behavior consultant. During an initial consultation, we will ask about your child’s strengths and abilities, as well as things that challenge him/her.
  2. The BCBA will spend time interacting with your child to make observations about his/her behavior. This interaction may also involve filling out various skill assessments in order to determine appropriate goals for your child based on their age and current skill level.
  3. If allowed, the consultant may visit the school or your home to observe your child’s behavior during regularly scheduled activities.

• Treatment planning  
  1. Using the information gathered from parent interviews and observations, the BCBA will develop an individualized skill acquisition and behavior reduction plan for the child.
  2. Plans will include strategies designed for all stakeholders in the child’s life including caregivers, teachers, and therapists. This will ensure consistency across all settings.

• Therapy approach
  1. There are many ways in which ABA therapy may be implemented. We tend to use primarily natural environment teaching (NET) and discrete trial training (DTT) when appropriate. A verbal behavior approach is often entwined with NET and DTT. The specific type of ABA used may depend on your child’s age, strengths, weaknesses, and other environmental factors.
     1. Discrete trial training works by teaching skills through structured task completion and positive reinforcement. This approach is typically carried out in a more structured learning environment, typically involving a table and chairs.
     2. Natural environment teaching capitalizes on a child’s interests in an organic setting. This approach looks a lot like play.

Behavior is communication and the environment plays a large part in eliciting certain behaviors. Over the course of ABA therapy, your child’s therapist may adapt their approach based on certain physiological and environmental factors, as well as how your child responds to certain interventions. Data is collected daily by the behavior technician and monitored weekly by the BCBA. This helps us interpret progress and analyze which strategies are working and where your child may benefit from different treatment methods.

ABA is a science devoted to understanding and improving human behavior. ABA focuses on socially significant behaviors and research-based strategies to improve targeted behaviors by using objective description, measurement, and experimentation to demonstrate reliable relations between interventions and behavioral improvements (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2017). In practice, ABA practitioners teach by breaking down skills into their component parts. When skills are broken down into smaller steps, then reinforced along the way, it increases an individual’s ability to understand. It also makes it more likely that the behavior will occur again in the future.