Ben’s Behavioral Health is devoted to helping individuals with developmental disabilities, mental illness and socially-inappropriate behaviors learn how to best live an independent life.

 

So, how does it work?

Initial Consultation

Once you do your intake paperwork, one of our BCBAs will contact you to set up an initial consultation. They will come to the meeting prepared to learn more about your family as a whole and ask questions that will help them determine your child’s primary areas of need. You should be prepared to answer a series of in-depth questions about your child, your family and places outside of the home where you would like support. This guide the BCBA to determine what will allow them to develop your child’s treatment plan.

Therapy

Therapy is a team approach involved in implementing direct therapy, monitoring progress, updating treatment goals and observing your child’s progress throughout the direct process.

Direct therapy is most commonly implemented by our highly-trained and experienced technicians. Depending on your schedule and the frequency of therapy, you may have a number of technicians assigned to work with your child. Technicians that join our team are required to have experience implementing ABA therapy and working with children diagnosed with Autism. As an added bonus to the quality of services that they provide, each of our ABA technicians are trained to a level of excellence that qualifies them for the national Registered Behavior Technician credential.

Our BCBAs are highly involved with the programming on an ongoing basis. Their continued role involves training the caregivers, monitoring your child’s progress and supervising technicians. Each of these services are individualized per family but the company’s minimum supervision requirement is one hour of supervision for every 10 hours of technician services for each technician assigned to the family.

Assessment

The BCBA will decide which assessments will be the most appropriate for your child. A combination of 1:1 direct assessments, observations, data collection and interview-based assessments will be administered. Please allow a 30-day period for the completion of the entire assessment phase, including the development of the treatment plan. Common assessments include FBAs and the VB-MAPP.  Let’s see what happens if I add some additional text here and hope it helps even out the formatting.

Family Training

The BCBA will set up regular meetings to implement family training. This may include team meetings with the family, technician, BCBA and any other appropriate providers; modeling techniques; observing and providing feedback to the other therapists/caregivers; training on new strategies or reviewing previously taught strategies; and/or conducting an overall check-in to review progress and discuss upcoming goals.

Planning

Once the assessments are completed, the BCBA will develop a comprehensive treatment plan. Our plans include assessment results, treatment goals, recommended schedule for therapy, teaching procedures and data sheets used to track your child’s progress during the course of therapy. Following its completion, the BCBA will set up a meeting with the family to review the treatment plan. If you are happy with the direction of therapy, we will have you sign the treatment plan and prepare to begin our direct therapy services.

Application

The goal of therapy is to generalize skills across all settings and people. Our BCBAs will make it a point to keep real-world applications in mind when teaching skills by continuously fading prompts with the ultimate goal of achieving independence. The BCBAs will engage the family in observing and learning the techniques used within therapy so they can use it when the therapists are not present. Finally, when it is appropriate and the client is ready, the BCBA will focus on generalizing the acquired skills to the natural environment. It is important to us to see effective strategies utilized across as many environments as possible. We are more than happy to consult on your behalf with other professionals involved in your child’s life.

What Others Have to Say

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ABA Q & A

What is ABA?

Applied Behavior Analysis is the process of systematically applying interventions based upon the principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree and to demonstrate that the interventions employed are responsible for the improvement in behavior.

Is Applied Behavior Analysis a lot of work?

Yes. Changing behavior is a lot of work, not just on our part but on yours as well. As therapists, we’re only with families a limited number of hours a week. The real behavior change starts when parents/guardians/teachers/job coaches, etc. are all on the same page with the interventions programmed. We will provide you with all the tools and support that you need, but without everyone on board and committed to changing their own behavior, it will likely be much harder to change the behavior of an individual with special needs.

What kind of progress can I expect?

This question is difficult to answer simply because every individual is different. Some learn very fast; others need more prompting. Some skills are harder to learn than others, so what we are teaching will affect the results as well. But here’s what we can tell you. One of the main things that influence a behavioral program is the program quality. Our behavioral team is held to high standards and multiple people will work with your family to ensure that you are getting the highest quality programming possible. The more hours that can be put in, the higher the likelihood of quicker results. But we also understand that families today have lives to lead; ball games to attend, school events, dance recitals, etc. and we are willing to work with you around the schedule you have to ensure we’re capitalizing on the time we can spend together.

What is the best time for my child to begin ABA therapy?

Simply stated:  the earlier, the better.  Plenty of clinical research has demonstrated that children who start ABA therapy as early as possible (less than two years old) make the most significant improvements in their areas of deficit.  In fact, children who receive early intensive ABA therapy progress to the point of being virtually indistinguishable from their neurotypical peers.

Our doctor said that my child was a little slow in developing and we should just wait.  Is that okay?

It is possible that your child will develop their skills and overcome their developmental deficiencies, but time is precious when it comes to overcoming the disabilities associated with autism.  A child that begins therapy young, while still in the traditional brain development stage, will have a higher likelihood of achieving full developmental capability than a child who starts therapy at a much later age.  There’s no strict rule of thumb on age, other than starting early intervention as soon as possible.

Is Applied Behavior Analysis the “miracle cure” that I have been looking for?

Our devotion to the field of ABA and its results runs deep, but we will openly admit there is no magic wand. A lot of problem behaviors have been occurring for a long time and breaking these habits can be difficult and time-consuming. It is 100 percent possible that, with consistency and fidelity, it can be done, but it is not always a quick and easy fix. Then there are other times when the simplest of interventions is effective immediately! It’s very individualized. Since developmental disabilities have no known “cause,” there is no known “cure.” ABA can help make an individual a functional member of society with the right interventions and supports in place.

Should I combine ABA therapy with other kinds of therapy?

This day and age, it is difficult to find an individual that doesn’t receive multiple types of interventions. Our behaviorists are adept at working with interdisciplinary teams to ensure that the other therapies and any medications used are as effective as they can be. That being said, please ensure that the team knows about any alternative therapy approaches or medications that are being utilized so that we can best support the system you have in place.

Is ABA just for Autism? Is it just for children?

Absolutely not to both! ABA has made huge gains in the fields of geriatrics, traumatic brain injury, animal behavior and many other areas. It has received the most notoriety for its effectiveness with Autism, but it is by no means limited to it. Behavior analysis is the study of behavior; it does not have to be human, it does not have to be children, it does not have to be Autism. Ben’s founder, Jenna Waz, spent a lot of her career working for a state-funded crisis team in Illinois that worked with adults, ages 21 and up.

Doesn’t ABA produce unnatural, robotic-like children? Why would I want that?

This is, unfortunately, one of the biggest misconceptions of ABA. Not all people learn the same; therefore the teaching methods vary rapidly between individuals. If a program is not varying their teaching methodologies, they are not very behavior analytic. Not all teaching methods are discrete trial/table work. And all programs should strive for generalization or the ability of the individual to use what is learned in natural settings. Sometimes, this may require using less words, using movements or visuals, whatever is needed to help learning. The ultimate goal is to fade all of these interventions and have them function in society as effectively as possible.

How long do children typically need ABA therapy?

This is really determined on a child-by-child basis and cannot be determined by anyone but the BCBA and treatment team working with your child.  ABA is an ongoing therapy that can change and grow with your child to cater to their ever-changing needs as they continue to grow older.

Can you get my child to do X/Can you get my child to stop doing X?

Probably!  ABA is a behavioral method, so anything that is a behavior can potentially be modified.  This includes language, tying shoes, using the toilet, hugging a sister, doing homework, walking the family dog, kicking the cat, cursing, wandering away from the house, etc.  If it’s a behavior, then ABA can be used to teach, improve or reduce it.

What does a typical ABA session look like?

An ABA session is typically a high-energy interaction between the client and the therapist.  They will include some discrete trial work (see below) which might occur at the table, lots of positive reinforcement using whatever is motivating for the child (praise, tickles, hugs, high-fives, play, snacks).  Often, there will be a mix of tasks that the therapist is practicing in order to assure that there is focus and mastery.  In order to be successful, the therapist must develop a rapport with the client.  Generalization is important for children with autism as well.  A portion of the session will be spent away from the table, doing skill teaching.

What is discrete trial?

Discrete trial instruction is a teaching methodology typically used in ABA therapy.  It is a highly-structured method of teaching skills by breaking them down into smaller, teachable components.  The “trial” comes from the systematic presentation of the task or directions, use of prompts when needed and delivery of reinforcement.  These trials are presented many times over the course of a session which results in the learner having many opportunities to practice the new skill.  This typically results in more rapid acquisition and leads to the skills being generalized to the natural environment.

My child doesn’t sit at the table at all.  Will ABA still work for him?

ABA does not require table time.  Good ABA therapist follow a child’s motivation in order to develop and shape behaviors effectively.  If the child is motivated on the floor, that may be where therapy begins.

Will my child ever talk?

Children on the autism spectrum have an amazing ability to develop.  Many will develop babbling sounds that can be shaped into language.  Additionally, , there are many other functional means of communicating, including using pictures, gestures and sign language.  Adaptive technology is also available and becoming more cost effective through mobile apps, cell phones, iPads and other tools.  We encourage every parent to find ways to enable your child to express him or herself, whether they develop the motivation and ability to speak or use other means to communicate.

How does ABA help with language and communication?

ABA therapy stress receptive and expressive language skills by working on structured programs to measure vocabulary and expand capabilities.  ABA goes beyond what a speech therapist does by mixing language programs with play programs, academic programs, motor skills and activities of daily living, such as toileting.  A child with autism benefits through an increase in receptive and expressive language, including communicating and requesting.

How does ABA help build social interaction skills?

ABA assists in developing social interaction skills when working on programs related to taking turns, conversation and other skills that neurotypical kids may pick up naturally. By identifying those individual areas where a child on the spectrum has deficits and building the developmental skills using ABA, social skills can be remediated.

My child gets very angry and aggressive when things don’t go his way.  What should I do?

Learning to take turns, to wait and that you can’t always have what you want can be very difficult. It is important to develop consistent rules for what is acceptable and allowable behavior. When an incident occurs where your child doesn’t get what he wants and gets angry, it’s important to help him express his frustration in acceptable ways, such as using words to describe what he would like versus being aggressive.  Providing choices for what he CAN have so that he can make a more favorable choice and then positively reinforcing that choice with praise or other reward can help him learn to control his emotions and make better choices.

How can I treat problem behaviors without medication?

In Applied Behavior Analysis, we make every attempt to treat challenging behaviors without medication. We believe that it’s best to approach problem behavior without medication because there is no medication at this time that treats the actual problem behavior. Medication most often dulls all of the client’s emotions and behaviors. If challenging behaviors are treated with ABA therapy, the actual behaviors are treated and reduced, allowing a client to avoid the need for medication.