How do I Choose a Qualified ABA Therapy Provider?

BCBAs Share Questions to Ask When Selecting a Provider for Applied Behavior Analysis

When you become a parent, the list of questions and decisions to tackle seems to grow exponentially. These choices start before they are born, when choosing what to eat during pregnancy, selecting a name, then a crib, a pediatrician … the decisions are never-ending! It doesn’t slow down as they grow older and each seems more important than the last. When you have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), however, one of the most significant decisions you can make (besides choosing to schedule a diagnostic assessment) is selecting your child’s autism therapy program.

If you are in this position and are considering applied behavior analysis (ABA therapy), let our Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) give you the insiders’ perspective. Throughout this post, we cover the key aspects parents should review when selecting the best ABA therapy program for their children. Within this guide, our BCBAs share some of the top questions to ask providers, as well as some questions parents should contemplate themselves.

‘I Don’t Know How to Choose an ABA provider … What Factors Should I Consider?’

ABA therapy will have a huge impact on your child’s life, as well as that of everyone in the family. Starting the process can be exciting and nerve-wracking all at once, and knowing where to begin in your search can be challenging. Besides focusing solely on the most convenient location, shortest waitlist or insurance acceptance (while all still valid!), here are the main considerations we suggest parents look for when seeking an ABA provider that is the best match for your family:

ABA Environment

Choosing which setting is best for your child is a personal decision and there are a number of factors to examine. Therapy settings include centers, in-home and schools. Some providers, like Hopebridge, offer multiple environments that could be a good match, depending on the needs of the child.

• Center-based therapy
  Center-based therapy can offer many benefits, including access to peers to build play and social skills, and the availability of novel toys, equipment and staff. Some, like Hopebridge, also offer multiple services in one place, like diagnostic assessments, occupational therapy, speech therapy and feeding therapy, in addition to ABA, which can be appealing for families looking for a more robust program. When reviewing a center, consider whether you can provide appropriate transportation, as well as all the advantages that might outweigh a longer travel time, if there is one. place. Does this center give caregivers access to observe their child in the space where he or she interacts with staff and other children, and is family guidance available to help generalize skills at home? Schedule a tour, and then take into account its cleanliness, presentation of staff, and overall, how “alive” it feels. These are the spaces your child will spend most of his or her time … are the rooms bright and colorful; full of energy, laughing children and smiling staff? You want to feel secure with your choice, and your first impression can make or break it.
• In-home therapy
  On the other hand, a home-based program may be more effective for some children who have high difficulties with large settings or behavior intensity and could benefit from the “safe space” their home provides. The in-home setting often offers flexible schedules, requires no travel and families have the ability to observe the therapist at all times, while also having easy access to the materials used during therapy. Clinicians can also gain valuable insight into family systems, dynamics and routines by observing the natural home life, plus provide hands-on support in real-life settings through natural environment training (NET) around daily living skills. Is peer play important to you? This type of therapy setting has lower social interaction than group settings, but social skills can be worked on with siblings and family friends, if desired.
• Therapy at school
  Some schools offer aides that may have experience in ABA therapy. This can be a good option for families who want their children to continue an education curriculum. Like center-based therapy, it offers elements like peer interaction, schedules, a lunch time routine and instruction with group settings, and also has the potential for other services. The challenging area for school-based ABA is it is not as comprehensive, nor do many school programs have BCBAs on staff to lead the curriculum. Those that do have BCBAs tend to work more with students who have behavior or conduct issues, so some children may not get as much attention or an individualized treatment plan that tailors to an ABA model. For this reason, many families opt for a more personalized, center-based approach as school preparation before entering the classroom.

Services Offered

If your child needs more than ABA therapy, evaluate how each service will fit into a daily or weekly schedule. Does this ABA provider offer other services, like diagnostic evaluations, speech therapy and occupational therapy (OT)? Some, like many of Hopebridge, serve as a seamless one-stop shop (in-center, in-home or with support from telehealth technology), which helps caregivers offer their child everything he or she needs in one place.

If the provider is not able to offer other services, how do they collaborate with others for the good of the child? For instance, how flexible are they and do they allow breaks in the middle of the week for a patient who requires other services? Are they willing to integrate skills into the other service’s world to increase generalization into daily life? Will they work with recommendations from another external provider?

As BCBAs, we want to be able to do it all, but often need to rely on a multidisciplinary team that makes transitions stronger in all aspects of the child.  While we may not yet offer outpatient services in all of our locations,  we are encouraged by our leadership team to make time for any outside services within our kids’ schedules. We aim to collaborate with pediatricians and external providers in order to give families the best possible experience and chance of success. 

Company Size and Experience

Both size and experience can affect the quality of therapy, but it is not the end-all-be-all. Small centers do not necessarily equal little experience, but the growth of a larger autism therapy network like Hopebridge can play a big part in how services are provided. Hopebridge has been on both sides – starting as a small, community autism clinic in Indiana, and now is a multi-state network with a team of thousands of clinicians across the country. Through that growth process over nearly two decades, we have been able to find holes in the model and fill in any gaps. That size and experience enables us to build a team of professionals that includes Care and Benefits Coordinators, executive level staff, regional BCBAs and more, which allows direct therapists and BCBAs to focus solely on the kids.

Not only is it important to look at the resources and experiences of the company as a whole, but also the experience of the staff that will be working directly with your child.

Some questions families may want to ask when interviewing providers include: “What is your experience with my child’s specific challenges?” “What assessments do you use?” “Do you specialize in any areas, such as toilet training?” and “How do you maintain your knowledge and requirements in the field?” When answering, do they contribute with responses you understand and are comfortable receiving? It should not be taboo to ask these types of questions when it comes to your child’s success.

Your Child’s Therapy Team

When selecting your child’s ABA provider, consider who is on the team and how they are trained. Is it a sole practitioner or a group of individuals collaborating on goals?  At Hopebridge, for example, in addition to the RBT and BCBAs, we also have a clinical leadership team that is dedicated to ongoing training to make sure staff is always ahead of the game. Caregivers should feel comfortable asking how clinicians are trained and how they maintain their credentials.

It is also important families feel comfortable with their child’s direct therapist, so ask to hear the provider’s pairing process. At Hopebridge, we attempt to make sure our children are paired appropriately with staff. Each team member is competent and has the knowledge, but the energy between the therapist and child needs to also be there. We want to make sure there is a connection and take this into consideration when creating individualized therapy teams.

Program Focus

Learn the focus of the program. Some providers gear programs toward early intensive behavioral intervention, like Hopebridge, while others may specialize in adolescence. If it mainly focuses on ages 2 to 10 and the individual is 15 years old, this provider may not be the right match. Families should understand what age range the provider has experience treating because it can play a huge factor in the environment, tools, peer interaction and overall outcomes.

Goal-Setting

Autism therapy should never be one-size-fits-all. What works for someone else’s child may not be the best match for yours. When considering a provider, find out how they approach goal-setting from multiple levels. Do this provider’s programs and objectives make space for individuality? For example, does it focus on enhancing the quality of life by teaching new skills while still giving appropriate opportunities to stim, or do they attempt to remove behaviors entirely? Do they provide assent-based ABA and compassionate care? Are there multiple options for building communication, such as via AAC devices, or do all roads point only to verbal communication? And a biggie that leads into our next consideration: Do caregivers have a voice in their child’s goals?

Family Guidance

As parents and caregivers, you are the most important people in your child’s life, so make sure there is a role for you. Like our BCBAs at Hopebridge, providers should be trained to work off of parental input to create goals for their patients.

Qualified ABA providers should offer effective family guidance sessions that empower you with the strategies or tools to work with your child to apply skills even when they are not in therapy. Ask how often parents meet with the therapy team. What systems and processes are in place to give parents an idea of the child’s progress? Ensure there is a path to obtain your own knowledge and in-home application of some of the most basic skills.

Extra Support

Some providers offer extra support for caregivers and clinicians that can enhance the effectiveness of therapy, so take the time to understand what is available. For instance, the Hopebridge team includes a range of in-center clinicians, a regional team, and a team of hundreds of BCBAs who can link to each other for clinical overview and support, plus an experienced clinical leadership team on the back end to support behavior analysts on especially challenging cases or extenuating circumstances, as needed.

Additional management and administrative roles, like those in the full-service insurance, billing, intake and compliance departments, not only help therapy teams focus on what they do best – ABA! – but also exist to take pressure off parents. They happily handle referrals, obtain authorizations and troubleshoot so families have support navigating the process.

Takeaways for Parents

Look at the quality of the company, experience, credentials and history. This is one of those cases where there is no silly question. You need to know your child is safe and progressing toward the best life possible with this provider, while also ensuring it is a good fit for your family overall. If you meet with a provider and do not feel comfortable voicing your opinions, it may not be the right place for your child.

If you walk into a Hopebridge center and immediately smile after viewing all the cuteness, we are probably the right fit for you! That gut feeling plays a large role. Considering the services work for you, feeling good about a place can be the ultimate determinant.

To help you along your research, grab your free guide to finding an ABA provider here.

Find out if Hopebridge is a Fit for your Family

If you are interested in finding out for yourself whether Hopebridge is a match for your child, please get in touch with us to learn more about the autism therapy center near you.

*Informed consent was obtained from the participants in this article. This information should not be captured and reused without express permission from Hopebridge, LLC.