Helpful Tips For Choosing an ABA Provider
If you’re considering behavioral therapy for your child, it’s extremely important that you know how to ask the right questions. To help you get in the right mindset and to provide you with some ideas, here are a few general tips for choosing an ABA provider. Understanding the components of a high-quality ABA therapist is essential to providing your child with the behavioral skills they can use to excel. For that reason, this individualized form of therapy should be strongly contemplated and comfortably selected to match the specific needs for your child.
Let’s take a closer look at what ABA is, and how to find the necessary skills in a provider.
What is ABA?
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a type of therapy that utilizes learning and behavioral sciences to help those with developmental conditions, such as autism. “The goal of ABA is to increase positive or helpful behaviors, and decrease harmful or negative behaviors.” These individualized programs can improve communication skills for varying social situations, and use positive reinforcements to help people manage their daily lives. Having been deployed since the 60s to help children with autism, its unique approach to individualized treatment allows professionals to really focus on specific needs.
What to Look for in an ABA Therapist
Since every child is different, knowing what to look for in an ABA therapist can allow for a specific and tailored approach to an individual’s situation. This approach is achieved by “...looking at factors in a person’s world that undermine their success, and then carefully changing those factors to teach different and more appropriate ways of responding.” The reality is, these goals may be very different for each person, and it’s important for parents to understand the research behind ABA before selecting a program.
Some deciding factors that are strongly encouraged to consider when choosing an ABA provider, include:
- Staffing - Ask whether or not a potential provider, or center, has a Board Certified Behavior Analyst on staff. “If the provider or center serves a lot of clients, they should have more than one BCBA on staff. ABA as a treatment approach cannot be done properly if you have one Board Certified Behavior Analyst who is responsible for making sure a lot of people are getting appropriate care.” Parents should ask centers about the credentials of the staff, and understand that sometimes psychologists or therapists have a good amount of related training, but not the precise training required for ABA. Parents should also seek related experience between a provider and their child. “...how many children have they worked with, what type of children, and how long have they worked in their field.” This way, these tailored programs can relate specifically to a child’s needs.
- Safety - Child safety is perhaps the most important factor to consider.“Background checks should be considered standard practice…You should absolutely not feel uncomfortable asking for a background check to be performed.” Learning how your child interacts with a therapist is also always advised. If a child ever feels uncomfortable or is acting in a way that suggests aversive behavior, be sure to question the ABA therapist’s qualities and methods. The ability or inability to access or observe your child at any time of therapy may also be something worth considering, and parents have every right to question any procedure they don’t feel comfortable with.
- Expectations and Goals - “Different therapists may use different methods of therapy, ranging from play-based to highly structured.” Setting certain expectations and goals can assure that these specific methods are properly tailored to a child’s needs ahead of time. However, it takes time for providers to help children reach their potential, so it’s important not to set unrealistic expectations and outcomes. Since each child progresses at a different rate, setting some long term goals can give the time needed for those adjustments to take form.
- Acknowledging Red Flags - Some potential red flags to keep in mind when finding a provider include a general lack of evidence that a program works, as well as no documented progress during these therapies. General care is also a discouraging sign, again on the basis that ABA is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Also, “studies have shown that punishment is both ineffective and detrimental in ABA therapy.” and these methods should be avoided completely. Lastly, guaranteeing success is something to be wary about, since there is no guarantee that any form of therapy will work for every child.
Autism Specialty Group
Autism Specialty Group is a behavioral health care organization treating children with Autism through Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Our mission is to raise the bar by providing the highest level of service, state of the art treatment and support systems, and an excellent team of accomplished professionals. We specialize in using in-person and online ABA Therapy as a tool to teach skills based on decades of research in child development, and our treatment plans are tailored around individual and family needs.
As one of Miami’s leading behavioral health care organizations, we go above and beyond to ensure that children and their families have everything they need to meet key social, educational, and communicative milestones. Learn more about our process, or any of our exceptional autism therapy services offered throughout Miami and South Florida. You can also contact us for any questions, or to book a consultation today.
References
Elemy (2021, January 5). Guide: Determining the Quality of an ABA Therapist. Retrieved
October 25, 2021 from
https://www.elemy.com/studio/aba-therapy/determine-therapist-quality
Pratt, Cathy. (n.d). What to Consider When Looking for a Qualified ABA Provider. Retrieved
October 25, 2021 from https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/articles/what-to-consider-when-looking-for-a-qualified-aba-provider.html