Assessment and Treatment Planning

Assessment and Treatment Planning:

The process begins with a review of any records, assessments, and/or diagnostic evaluations as well as previous ABA treatment programs and data.
Parent interview will be scheduled during which the BCBA will pose a multitude of questions ranging from the things your child likes best, to eating habits, home routines, social skills and a complete medical history, along with any challenging behaviors that may exist for the child.
The BCBA and a Registered Line Technician will get to know your child by doing what kids love most - playing. During this time the BCBA will observe and note the presence or absence of certain developmental skills or challenging behaviors. This process could last a few sessions (which could range from 1-2 hours each).
Once the child is comfortable in the setting, a BCBA will continue the assessment by observing the child interact with a behavior technician or other children, directly assessing certain skills (e.g., asking the child to match colored objects, identify pictures of objects, respond to everyday questions, perform routine tasks) or creating situations to see if the child can perform certain tasks. This could take between 2 and 8 hours of session time.
Once the developmental assessment is complete, the BCBA will meet again with parents/caregivers to discuss the findings and develop the most meaningful treatment goals, including goals for parent training.
Ultimately, the results of the assessment will inform the recommended number of hours of therapy and this will be included in the authorization request sent to your insurance company.
Once approved, we will find a schedule that works best for the family and our clinic and services will commence.

Early Intervention has been shown to be most effective when delivered at a dosage of 40 hours per week. This doesn't mean that all of these service hours must be provided in the clinic, however.

Parent training will involve home visits from behavior technicians and the supervising BCBA to teach parents how to implement some of the teaching procedures we are using at the clinic to maximize the amount of learning opportunities for each child and to aid in generalization of skills to other environments, such as home, school, the playground, or grandma's house.