ABA Therapy
Compassionate, Individualized
Each child's programs are individually tailored to their unique traits and your family's priorities.
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Daily Living:
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self-help, toileting, brushing teeth, cleaning dishes, sorting laundry
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Social:
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interacting with peers or others in diverse settings
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Communication:
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receptive and expressive, both vocal and augmented communication devices
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Play:
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constructive, exploratory, physical, pretend, cooperative, and peer-to-peer
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Self-Management:
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recognizing, regulating, and expressing emotion
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Executive Function:
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making decisions and self-structuring time
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Self-Advocacy
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practicing strategies that fit each child's unique traits and equipping children to apply these strategies across environments
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Develop life-long skills
ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Therapy is the most successful and respected therapy for building skills in children with autism. It uses intentional interactions called discrete trials along with careful scaffolding and data tracking. Skills are then generalized across diverse environments.
These skills support independence and improve social success throughout the rest of your child's life.
We use research-based, ethically vetted strategies with a holistic approach to equip children with the skills they need to:
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Positively self-advocate for their needs
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Identify and process emotions
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Navigate social interactions
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Master daily living skills.
Natural Environments
Our clinic uses natural environments for learning. Our spaces include:
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personalized client spaces
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living room
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dining area
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kitchens
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gross motor rooms
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sensory arts area
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communal play area
These specialized spaces make learning natural and meaningful to the child. Having these spaces in the controlled environment of our clinic allows us to maximize focus and accelerate mastery.
Client Dignity
Our Behavior Technicians build consistent, trusting relationships to give their clients the confidence to try new things. They incorporate their clients' interests into activities and help clients learn through play.
Your child will be motivated to learn, not manipulated to comply. They will gain tools for social success while already feeling socially secure.
We never try to fit your child into a mold. We respect their sensory needs, build their autonomy, and celebrate what makes them unique.
We help your child recognize when they are becoming overstimulated and teach them how to ask for a break. We also teach them what strategies they can use during that break to re-regulate. This builds your child's autonomy and prepares them for success through the rest of their life.
Our clinicians do not use punishments. Instead, calm, empathetic interactions are used to process emotions. Equipping each child with skills and tools to self-advocate and communicate in meaningful ways improves their quality of life and reduces their need to resort to problematic behaviors.
Family Focused, Client Centered
Family is the core of who we are. Our Board Certified Behavior Analysts collaborate directly with you, the caregiver, to ensure your child's programming matches your family's goals.
No one knows a child better than their family. We believe it is vital to involve you, the family, when setting goals for your child. We appreciate diversity of family structure and culture, and we work to include everyone who is meaningful in the life of each client.
Caregiver Support
Starting something new can feel overwhelming. We are here for you because we've been where you are. That means that beyond helping your child build skills, we're here to help you gain skills and feel confident in your ability to support your child's growth.
In your twice-monthly caregiver consultation meetings, we will equip you with training to:
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Correctly identify the function of a behavior.
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Accurately determine the reinforcing factor affecting behavior.
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Address the reinforcing factor in ways that are both effective and dignity-based.
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Keep learning experiences consistent between the clinic and home.
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Create and utilize opportunities to practice skills in the home and community environments (generalizing what is practiced in the clinic).
These meetings can also be used to practice sibling play or other family interactions. We know how important it is to help the whole family understand how your child experiences autism, and we know how much that understanding can amplify your child's growth.
As parents ourselves, we know what it's like to have a child in ABA therapy. We know that you are putting your trust in us to provide your child with quality care. You are always welcome to visit, observe, and celebrate your child's progress!
In clinic or at home
In our clinic, your child will receive full-time or part-time ABA therapy from one of our Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) in a personalized room. They will also enjoy regular opportunities for social interaction in our gross motor room, dining area, living room, or when visiting a friend's room. Clients will enjoy a variety of activities throughout the day to develop a wide range of social, gross motor, and fine motor skills.
We also provide in-home ABA therapy throughout most of Indiana. In-home clients and families receive the same specialized care while using resources in an environment the child is familiar with.
What's the Partners Difference?
Client Dignity
Autism and other forms of neurodiversity bring valuable perspectives, abilities, and ways of thinking to our community. Our aim is never to mold clients into a single way of being. Instead, we build skills which clients will use their whole lives to self-advocate and reach their full potential as the unique individual they are.
As a part of the autism and disability communities, we know from experience and from listening to others how important it is that ABA therapy uplift dignity and protect agency.
Individualized Care
All children have different strengths and needs. All families have different priorities. We fully involve the family when setting goals to ensure that goals are meaningful to the family and the child.
Transitional Classroom
We want our young clients to have the best advantage as they enter the new environment of school. That's why we created our ABA Transitional Classroom, a uniquely designed space that helps bridge the gap between ABA practices and typical classroom procedures. Read more here!
Highly Trained Teams
We provide extensive training to Behavior Technicians beyond their RBT certification and other requirements. For someone new to the field, training begins with 40 hours of modules in conjunction with observation and hands-on training from peers and Behavior Analysts. When being assigned to a new client, each technician must demonstrate hands-on proficiency in the skills needed for that specific client. Ongoing observations, Safety-Care training, CPR renewal, and regular whole-team trainings keep skills fresh. We pride ourselves on the quality of our therapy and invest in the professional development of our staff.
In-House Billing
We have our own in-house billing department that will personally handle all the billing and processing involving your insurance provider* (including Medicaid).
Many other centers use a third-party billing service to process your claims, which can lead to longer wait times for therapy authorizations and claim processing. Since we handle billing in-house, we shorten your wait time.
(*Our ABA Therapy can also be provided through private pay which does not require insurance.)
Steps to ABA
1. Receive a Diagnosis
If you are still seeking an autism diagnosis, we can help you find a provider in your area who can accurately diagnose your child.
2. Get to Know our Center
It's important to choose a facility that provides your child with a sense of peace, but also allows for stimulation and growth. We are confident that both you and your child you will feel at home in our clinic. With our individualized therapy rooms and relaxed atmosphere we strive to make you feel at home the moment you arrive in our facility.
Learn what to look for in an ABA Center and see what our facilities are like!
3. Join our Interested List
We know how much a good fit matters, and so we always pair clients with the best staff and resources for their needs. After joining our interested list, we will review your child's needs profile each time a placement opens. Before a placement is finalized, we will schedule an assessment by one of our Board Certified Behavior Analysts. An assessment is necessary to lay a good foundation for your child's individualized treatment plan. The Behavior Analyst will spend time with your child and with you to understand your concerns, especially the specific behaviors that you are encountering.
4. How ABA Works
A Behavior Technician will pair with your child to learn about their interests and personality. As they pair, they will build a positive, trust-based relationship. They will then guide your child in practicing a specific behavior such as smoothly transitioning from one task to another, sorting items by category, following steps in a process, or practicing social interactions. When your child completes the behavior, a predetermined reward is given. The reward may be social (like a high five), a preferred activity (like a certain length of play time), or tangible (like a food treat). The reward will be something that is meaningful and pleasant to your child. If they do not complete the behavior, the trial is repeated. Skills are practiced in various real-world settings to generalize the skill. As the client progresses, new behaviors may be targeted. Data about progress is reviewed throughout to determine if methods and rewards are effective or if new ones should be used. Services are scaled back gradually at the end to provide a smooth transition to independence.
Safety-Care Certified
Safety-Care
We train all of our Behavior Technicians in the most up-to-date, ethical behavioral management practices. We keep the focus on prevention to increase success and preserve the dignity of our clients.
What is Safety-Care?
Safety-Care™ provides the skills and competencies necessary to effectively prevent, minimize, and manage behavioral challenges with dignity, safety, and the possibility of change. Using the newest and most effective technologies from Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS), this Safety-Care program provides staff with strategies for not only preventing and managing behavioral challenges, but also to effectively teach replacement behaviors. Appropriate for individuals experiencing developmental, neurologic, psychiatric and other impairments, Safety-Care results in fewer restraints and a more positive, reinforcement-based approach which leads to behavior modification over time. Safety-Care provides the tools needed to be safe when working with behaviorally-challenging individuals.
Core Principles of Safety-Care
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Respectful, humane, non-coercive interventions.
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Emphasis is on prevention over management.
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Evidence-based procedures are the basis of intervention. While the course material avoids jargon and is designed to be taught and used in a variety of contexts, the protocols in Safety-Care are based on procedures that have been validated in many studies as broadly effective. These include basic applications of functional assessment, differential reinforcement, antecedent management, functional communication training, and behavioral momentum.
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Positive reinforcement is embedded throughout the course.
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Effective staff training requires an evidence-based approach incorporating errorless teaching strategies whenever possible.
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A least restrictive approach requires a range of options. Staff learn a series of interventions that can be flexibly adapted to the specific circumstances in which they find themselves. Whenever an agitated individual demonstrates a decrease in agitation, staff learn to shape and reinforce that decrease by moving to a less restrictive intervention.
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Physical procedures are designed to be simple, effective, safe, and have minimal abuse potential.
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Restraint must be used only when there are no other safe options, and the use of restraint must end as quickly as possible.
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Consistency in standards that reduce risk.