Your family is ready to give ABA a try. Now what? This article will outline steps that may be helpful for you to get started and what to expect. Each child’s process is unique and each center may have a different approach to onboarding a new family, but this article will give you a general idea of common first steps, what to expect, and what questions to ask along the way.
Sign up for a tour!
If you found a center or a couple of centers that you think are the right fit for your child, then request to tour the facility. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the setting and get an idea of what to expect for your everyday commute. The tour is a great opportunity to meet the ABA providers onsite and the administrative staff that you will be communicating with. Not sure what you should be looking for? Here is a list of factors that can contribute to your child’s quality of care and some questions to ask the staff:
- How will you support my child if they experience big feelings or behaviors?
- Can parents join sessions or observe sessions?
- What areas of the facility will your child spend the most time in?
- What types of activities will your child do throughout the day?
- What sort of toys and games are available at the clinic?
- Who will your child work with?
- How many children will attend the program?
- What are the toileting or diapering procedures?
If you’re interested in touring Success on the Spectrum, FishHawk please give them a call at 813-738-8001. They are conveniently located in the same building as the Children’s Academy FishHawk. You might even run into a few familiar faces!
Getting to Know Your Child
If you’re ready to move forward with ABA therapy, the first step would be to complete an initial assessment. This is a series of 3-4 appointments with an evaluator that can be conducted in at least one of the following settings: in the clinic, in your home, at your child’s school or daycare, or via telehealth. This is an opportunity for an evaluator to learn more about your child. They will use a mixture of observations, interviews, questionnaires, and skill assessments to learn about your child’s routines, how they communicate, their favorite play activities, their interest in learning daily living skills, and how they play with other children. Here are some questions and comments you may want to share with your evaluating provider:
- What is this assessment for?
- How can I be involved?
- What will we move forward if my child does not want to participate?
- If there are goals that are important to you, share them with the provider.
After completing the assessment, the evaluator will give you treatment recommendations for direct hours of therapy and a report that summarizes their findings. The assessment and your input will guide that evaluator to write goals and strategies to support your child.
Establishing a Therapy Routine
You will work with the evaluator and any administrative staff to establish a therapy schedule that works with your child’s school schedule, other therapy schedules, and your work schedules. Typically providers will expect families to accept a minimum percentage of the recommended treatment hours to ensure that the child has a fair chance of meeting their treatment goals. It’s not a perfect comparison, but imagine if a doctor prescribed you a specific dosage for allergy medication. You counter and they write you a lower prescription. You, then, experience little-to-no changes or maybe slightly worse symptoms while also committing to this treatment. Meeting a minimum percentage of the recommended treatment hours ensures that your child has a fair chance of experiencing success and avoids any frustration related to less-than-optimal hours of therapy.
Your ABA provider can recommend creative solutions on how to make a therapy schedule work. You can split services across multiple settings or get creative on how you split your day. Success on the Spectrum, FishHawk provides therapy at three different settings: in-clinic, in-home, and in the Hillsborough County Public Schools system. If you think your child would benefit from receiving support in any of these settings please give us a call at 813-738-8001.
What else should I expect and what else should I know?
How long will it take to get started?
Individual insurance providers and plans can impact how long it takes to get started with the assessment or direct therapy services. For some plans, a family can get started right away. With others there may be a waiting period that ranges from one week to one calendar month. For information about your specific insurance plan, you may want to connect with your insurance provider’s customer service representative or the operations manager of the ABA provider you are enrolling with. Other factors such as waitlists or staffing may impact how long you will wait for services. Be sure to ask the ABA provider you are interested if they have a waitlist and how long it will take to start services.
Who will be working with my child?
Your child will work with 1-3 behavior therapists throughout their day depending on how many hours of services they receive a week. A BCBA will supervise your child’s progress and behavior therapist by providing oversight 1-3 a week depending on your child’s clinical recommendation. A BCBA will also provide caregiver treatment training at a regular cadence ranging from weekly, biweekly, or monthly. This is an opportunity to learn strategies to support your child under the guidance of a clinical supervisor.
Payment
Individual insurance providers can choose to contract with an ABA provider or not. Call the ABA provider you are interested in to ensure that they are in network with your insurance. If they are not in-network, explore network exemptions or out-of-network plans. Different insurance plans offered by a single insurance provider can also influence what you may pay out of pocket. Here is a list of questions that you may want to ask your ABA provider or insurance company before getting started with ABA services.
- Am I required to pay a co-insurance fee?
- Am I required to pay a co-payment?
- Are there other fees that I will accrue?
- Are there scholarships or grants that I can apply for to help pay for services?
- If you plan on paying for services out of pocket, ask what the rates per hour for assessment, BCBA supervision, and direct therapy are for private pay.
At Success on the Spectrum, FishHawk, we take this process off of your plate and provide our prospective families with a print-out that includes all of your personalized payment information to help your family plan for this commitment. This includes information about co-insurance, co-payment, and other service-related fees. If you’re interested in learning more, please give us a call at 813-738-8001 or email our Director of Operations at fishhawkom@successonthespectrum.com.
Frequently Ask Questions
- Do I need an autism diagnosis to get started?
a. If you are using insurance, contact your insurance customer representative to determine if they require an autism diagnosis to get started. If you are in need of an evaluation, contact your pediatrician for further information. If you are interested in private pay, contact the ABA provider you are interested in to determine if they are able to serve children who are not on the autism spectrum.
- What kind of skills can ABA therapy help with?
a. Depending on your child’s age and their needs, ABA therapy can help increase functional communication. ABA therapy may teach your child multiple modalities such as gestures, sign language, vocal speech, and AAC devices to communicate. ABA therapy can help increase the complexity of directions and routines that your child is able to complete. It can also help your child learn skills to start and maintain friendships with other children. Depending on your insurance provider, ABA therapy can promote independence in the area of daily living. This includes toilet training, learning chores, and establishing a bedtime routine.
- My child needs other therapies. How can we juggle all of these appointments?
Work with your prospective providers to determine if other therapists can provide their services at their clinic. You can also search for facilities that offer multiple therapies. At Success on the Spectrum, FishHawk, you would be able to receive ABA therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy all under one roof. To learn more, please give them a call at 813-738-8001 or send an email to their Director of Operations at fishhawkom@successonthespectrum.com
