ABA therapy

How to Start ABA therapy

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy is an evidence-based scientific technique effective in treating individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities. In general, ABA therapy relies on respondent and operant conditioning to change or alter behaviors of social significance. The ultimate goal of ABA therapy is for the learner to gain independence by learning and developing new skills. The skill development will result in an increase in the learner utilizing positive behaviors while reducing the frequency of negative behaviors.

Autism affects every person differently, and, while cases of Autism may be similar, no two cases are ever the same. Some children with Autism may be mildly or moderately impacted while others may be profoundly impacted. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy is a type of therapy that can improve social, communication, and learning skills through positive reinforcement of those children diagnosed with Autism. Most experts consider ABA to be the gold-standard treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder. The professional ABA therapists at LeafWing Center will provide you and your child what you need to get started with ABA therapy to ensure your child is receiving the highest quality Autism care.

Leafwing Center’s ABA therapy for autism: Getting started

ABA therapy for autism
 
Ordinarily, obtaining an individual’s diagnosis report is the first step in the ABA therapy process. Diagnosing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be difficult because there is no simple medical test, like a blood test, to diagnose the disorder. Doctors look at the child’s developmental history and behavior to make a diagnosis.

ASD can sometimes be detected at 18 months or younger. By age 2, a diagnosis by an experienced professional can be considered very reliable. Many children do not receive a diagnosis until they are much older. While still others are not diagnosed until they are adolescents or adults. The diagnosis is typically conducted by a doctor such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or a developmental pediatrician. Once the diagnosis is made, a family can move forward with the process of starting ABA therapy. Both the insurance company and the treatment provider will require a copy of the diagnosis report. LeafWing Center will ask for a copy of the diagnosis report at the initial assessment as the first step in starting ABA therapy.

Next steps in starting ABA therapy

The next step in the process is for the learner to get authorization from their respective insurance company. The treatment of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is generally covered by insurance but the coverages vary greatly. All 50 states now have mandates that require some level of insurance coverage for the treatment of autism. It is best to speak directly with your medical insurance provider when starting ABSA therapy to determine the specifics of your family’s coverage (e.g., copays, coinsurance, deductibles, maximums) and to ensure that ABA therapy is covered by your insurance. Leafwing Center will work with you and your family to determine whether ABA therapy is covered by your insurance.

Medi-Cal and Medicare cover all medically necessary behavioral health treatment services for beneficiaries. This typically includes children diagnosed with ASD. Since Applied Behavior Analysis is an evidence based and effective treatment for individuals with ASD, it is considered a covered treatment when medically necessary.

Additionally, some families opt to pay for ABA services out-of-pocket. LeafWing Center will review ABA therapy costs with a family who is starting ABA therapy.

Next Steps in starting ABA therapy

Selecting a provider to start ABA therapy

The next step to starting ABA therapy is to select a well-qualified ABA therapy provider. LeafWing Center is based in southern California and is recognized for its excellence in providing ABA therapy to individuals diagnosed with autism.

Once you have made the decision to select LeafWing Center as your ABA therapy service provider, we will coordinate completing the required paperwork and work to obtain the necessary authorizations from your provider. From there, the initial assessment of the learner will be scheduled and completed. A BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) or qualified Program Supervisor will be in contact with you to arrange times in which interviews with parents/caregivers and observations of your loved one can be conducted. This will help in the process of gathering important clinical information so that, with your collaboration, the most effective treatment plans and goals can be established for the learner. This process is referred to as the Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA).

After the assessment is complete, and your funding source has provided authorization for ABA services, a treatment team will be assigned for your child. This team will include a Supervisor (typically a BCBA) and one or several Behavior Technicians.

Starting ABA therapy and getting to know your treatment team

You can typically expect Behavior Technicians to work one-on-one with your child. The length of these sessions may vary based on your availability and schedule, but it is typical for in-home or in-clinic sessions to last about 2-3 hours (sometimes more or less depending on individual factors). Expect to receive a coordinated schedule of services before the beginning of each month.
It is in these sessions where skill acquisition goals are targeted and the Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is implemented. The skill acquisition goals will be identified during the assessment process, before ABA therapy is started. These goals may include skills in the socialization, play, communication, academic, and other domains.
An ABA therapy program is highly customizable.

  • ABA therapy is adaptable to meet the needs of each unique person
  • Therapy can be offered in multiple settings – home, at school, and in the community
  • Teaches practical skills that have application in everyday life
  • Can be offered either in one-to-one or group instruction

Particularly in the beginning of the ABA therapy program, rapport building between the learner and the therapy team is essential. The staff assigned to work on your child’s team should strive to build a positive relationship with your loved one. Not only is this rapport building important at the beginning of services, it should be maintained throughout the duration of the program. Therefore, families can expect the first couple weeks of ABA therapy to include a lot of play and conversation with their child. Simply put, your child should feel comfortable and have fun with the Behavior Technicians. This helps ensure that your child associates positive experiences with the Behavior Technicians. This also helps with learning rates and ultimately produces more desirable outcomes.

Frequently asked questions about ABA therapy

What is ABA Therapy used for?

ABA-based therapy can be used in a multitude of areas. Currently, these interventions are used primarily with individuals living with ASD; however, their applications can be used with individuals living with pervasive developmental disorders as well as other disorders. For ASD, it can be used in effectively teaching specific skills that may not be in a child’s repertoire of skills to help him/her function better in their environment whether that be at home, school, or out in the community.  In conjunction with skill acquisition programs, ABA-based interventions can also be used in addressing behavioral excesses (e.g., tantrum behaviors, aggressive behaviors, self-injurious behaviors). Lastly, it can also be utilized in parent/caregiver training.

In skill acquisition programs, a child’s repertoire of skills is assessed in the beginning phase of the services in key adaptive areas such as communication/language, self-help, social skills, and motor skills as well.  Once skills to be taught are identified, a goal for each skill is developed and then addressed/taught by using ABA-based techniques to teach those important skills. Ultimately, an ABA-based therapy will facilitate a degree of maintenance (i.e., the child can still perform the learned behaviors in the absence of training/intervention over time) and generalization (i.e., the learned behaviors are observed to occur in situations different from the instructional setting).  These two concepts are very important in any ABA-based intervention.

In behavior management, the challenging behaviors are assessed for their function in the beginning phase of the services. In this phase, the “why does this behavior happen in the first place?” is determined. Once known, an ABA-based therapy will be developed to not just decrease the occurrence of the behavior being addressed, but also teach the child a functionally-equivalent behavior that is socially-appropriate.  For example, if a child resorts to tantrum behaviors when she is told she cannot have a specific item, she may be taught to accept an alternative or find an alternative for herself. Of course, we can only do this up to a certain point—the offering of alternatives.  There comes a point when a ‘no’ means ‘no’ so the tantrum behavior will be left to run its course (i.e., to continue until it ceases).  This is never easy and will take some time for parents/caregivers to get used to, but research has shown that over time and consistent application of an ABA-based behavior management program, the challenging behavior will get better.

In parent training, individuals that provide care for a child may receive customized “curriculum” that best fit their situation.  A typical area covered in parent training is teaching responsible adults pertinent ABA-based concepts to help adults understand the rationale behind interventions that are being used in their child’s ABA-based services.  Another area covered in parent training is teaching adults specific skill acquisition programs and/or behavior management programs that they will implement during family time.  Other areas covered in parent training may be data collection, how to facilitate maintenance, how to facilitate generalization of learned skills to name a few.

There is no “one format” that will fit all children and their families’ needs. The ABA professionals you’re currently working with, with your participation,  will develop an ABA-based treatment package that will best fit your child’s and your family’s needs. For more information regarding this topic, we encourage you to speak with your BCBA or reach out to us at [email protected].

Who Can Benefit From ABA Therapy?

There is a common misconception that the principles of ABA are specific to Autism. This is not the case. The principles and methods of ABA are scientifically backed and can be applied to any individual. With that said, the U.S. Surgeon General and the American Psychological Association consider ABA to be an evidence based practice. Forty years of extensive literature have documented ABA therapy as an effective and successful practice to reduce problem behavior and increase skills for individuals with intellectual disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Children, teenagers, and adults with ASD can benefit from ABA therapy. Especially when started early, ABA therapy can benefit individuals by targeting challenging behaviors, attention skills, play skills, communication, motor, social, and other skills. Individuals with other developmental challenges such as ADHD or intellectual disability can benefit from ABA therapy as well. While early intervention has been demonstrated to lead to more significant treatment outcomes, there is no specific age at which ABA therapy ceases to be helpful.

Additionally, parents and caregivers of individuals living with ASD can also benefit from the principles of ABA. Depending on the needs of your loved one, the use of specified ABA techniques in addition to 1:1 services, may help produce more desirable treatment outcomes. The term “caregiver training” is common in ABA services and refers to the individualized instruction that a BCBA or ABA Supervisor provides to parents and caregivers. This typically involves a combination of individualized ABA techniques and methods parents and caregivers can use outside of 1:1 sessions to facilitate ongoing progress in specified areas.

ABA therapy can help people living with ASD, intellectual disability, and other developmental challenges achieve their goals and live higher quality lives.

What does ABA Therapy look like?

Agencies that provide ABA-based services in the home-setting are more likely to implement ABA services similarly than doing the same exact protocols or procedures. Regardless, an ABA agency under the guidance of a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst follows the same research-based theories to guide treatment that all other acceptable ABA agencies use.

ABA-based services start with a functional behavior assessment (FBA). In a nutshell, a FBA assesses why the behaviors may be happening in the first place. From there, the FBA will also determine the best way to address the difficulties using tactics that have been proven effective over time with a focus on behavioral replacement versus simple elimination of a problem behavior. The FBA will also have recommendations for other relevant skills/behaviors to be taught and parent skills that can be taught in a parent training format to name a few. From there, the intensity of the ABA-based services is determined, again, based on the clinical needs of your child. The completed FBA is then submitted to the funding source for approval.

One-on-one sessions between a behavior technician and your child will start once services are approved. The duration per session and the frequency of these sessions per week/month will all depend on how many hours your child’s ABA services have been approved for—usually, this will be the number recommended in the FBA. The sessions are used to teach identified skills/behaviors via effective teaching procedures. Another aspect of ABA-based services in the home-setting is parent training. Parent training can take many forms depending on what goals have been established during the FBA process. The number of hours dedicated for parent training is also variable and solely depends on the clinical need for it. If a 1:1 session is between a behavior technician and your child, a parent training session or appointment is between you and the case supervisor and with and without your child present, depending on the parent goal(s) identified. Parent training service’s goal is for you to be able to have ample skills/knowledge in order for you to become more effective in addressing behavioral difficulties as they occur outside of scheduled ABA sessions. Depending on the goals established, you may be required to participate in your child’s 1:1 sessions. These participations are a good way for you to practice what you have learned from the case supervisor while at the same time, having the behavior technician available to you to give you feedback as you practice on those new skills.

As mentioned in the beginning, no two ABA agencies will do the same exact thing when it comes to providing ABA services; however, good agencies will always base their practice on the same empirically-proven procedures.

How do I start ABA Therapy?

In most cases, the first item required to start ABA therapy is the individual’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis report. This is typically conducted by a doctor such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or a developmental pediatrician. Most ABA therapy agencies and insurance companies will ask for a copy of this diagnosis report during the intake process as it is required to request an ABA assessment authorization from the individual’s medical insurance provider.

The second item required to start ABA therapy is a funding source. In the United States, and in cases where Medi-Cal or Medicare insurances are involved, there is a legal requirement for ABA services to be covered when there is a medical necessity (ASD diagnosis). Medi-Cal and Medicare cover all medically necessary behavioral health treatment services for beneficiaries. This typically includes children diagnosed with ASD. Since Applied Behavior Analysis is an evidence based and effective treatment for individuals with ASD, it is considered a covered treatment when medically necessary. In many cases, private insurance will also cover ABA services when medically necessary, however in these cases, it is best to speak directly with your medical insurance provider to determine the specifics of the coverage and to ensure that ABA is in fact, a covered benefit. Additionally, some families opt to pay for ABA services out-of-pocket.

The next step to starting ABA therapy is to contact an ABA provider whom you are interested in working with. Depending on your geographic location, ABA agencies exist in many cities across the United States. Your insurance carrier, local support groups, and even a thorough online search can help you find reputable and properly credentialed ABA agencies near you. Our organization, LeafWing Center, is based in southern California and is recognized for aiding people with ASD achieve their goals with the research based on applied behavior analysis.

Once you have identified the ABA provider with whom you wish to work, they should help you facilitate the next steps. These will include facilitating paperwork and authorizations with your funding source. Once the assessment process begins, a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) or qualified Program Supervisor should get in contact with you to arrange times in which interviews with parents/caregivers and observations of your loved one can be conducted. This will help in the process of gathering important clinical information so that with your collaboration, the most effective treatment plans and goals can be established for your loved one. This process is referred to as the Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and is elaborated on in different blog posts on our website. With regard as to what can be expected once ABA therapy begins, please read our blog post titled: When You Start an ABA program, What Should You Reasonably Expect from Your Service Provider?

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