Does my child need a medical diagnosis of autism to receive ABA services?

To receive ABA services, our clinicians need a referral from your pediatrician with a clear diagnosis code. The diagnosis code does NOT have to be autism spectrum disorder. Clients with ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, developmental delays, intellectual disability, and others are all eligible to receive ABA services. If you carry private insurance, the insurance carrier will likely want to see a full evaluation at some point, but if services are deemed medically necessary by the care team (our clinicians, the pediatrician, and the family), it is very likely that we can initiate services based on the pediatrician’s referral.

Is ABA safe and effective?

The field of ABA has come under legitimate scrutiny and criticism over the past as many autistic adults share their stories of how this type of therapy was harmful and even traumatic to them as children. Because of this need and documented instances of abuses of ABA within the research and in practice, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board or BACB created an ethics code in 2001, and updates this regularly to maintain modern competency. At Animas ABA, we provide child-led therapy that focuses on positive reinforcement and we do not use punishment based procedures or “compliance” based therapy models. We seek to provide therapy using natural environment techniques where clients can be comfortable, regulated, and learn at their own pace. We feel strongly that maintaining client trust and rapport should be the foundation of therapeutic relationship and strive to ensure all services we offer are safe, fun, and effective. A link to the PDF of the current ethics code from 2022 can be found through a simple online search or by navigating to our “resources” page on this website.

How long do services take to get started?

ABA services in our area are scarce, so we do have a wait list at Animas ABA currently. Once we take on active clients, it usually takes between 6-8 weeks to obtain prior authorization from insurance companies to officially start services. Once services do begin, you can expect regular therapy visits to occur weekly, usually between 4-40 hours per week (it truly just depends on what the client needs!). Prior authorizations are due every 6 months and our clinicians do take care to ensure we submit these on time to ensure continuity of care and no breaks in services.

What can I expect with ABA services?

ABA services are unique in their delivery model and all treatment plans are based on the individual client’s needs, but generally, you can expect the following. Animas ABA strives to provide therapy in different settings, so we usually will ensure services occur in the home, the clinic, and the community. This allows us to make sure clients are “generalizing” skills and using them across different environments! It is also a priority of ours to support clients in developing leisure skills and exploring their community resources, so we do a lot of sessions at the library, the Rec Center, in extracurricular activities, we pretty much go where our clients go! Parent training is also a huge part of ABA services. This type of therapy is interesting in that the ultimate goal is for our team to empower parents and/or caregivers with the tools and knowledge they need to support, and fade ABA services over time. We literally aim to work ourselves out of a job! Because this is such a priority, please know that parents/caregivers are expected to be involved during in-home sessions and will have their own private parent training sessions with our clinicians regularly as well.