ABA has a reputation problem, and some of it is earned. Compliance drills aren’t what we do. Here’s what we actually do.
Kids learn language from someone who notices what they care about and gives them a reason to communicate — not from flashcards. So sessions run on the floor, with toys your child actually wants, following their lead.
Natural Environment Teaching: we teach asking for a snack while your child wants the snack — not pointing at flashcards.
Verbal Behavior teaches language by what it does. “Ball” gets a ball. “Up” gets picked up. Words earn something real.
Discrete Trial Training has a place — for narrow skills that need clean repetitions. Used precisely, briefly, only when it’s the right tool.
We’re not dogmatic about any single method. We are dogmatic about whether it’s working for your child.
Every goal answers one question: does this make your child’s life better? Not “more typical.” Better. More independent. More understood. More themselves.
Hand-flapping, rocking, humming, repeated phrases — these are how many autistic kids stay regulated. They are not problems to extinguish. We only step in when a stim is physically harmful, and even then the job is to teach a safer way to meet the same need.
Your child spends a slice of the week with us — the rest with you. Progress stops at the clinic door unless the people at home carry the strategies forward.
Built into your plan. You’ll know your BCBA by name and hear from them regularly.
At the store, at bedtime, in the car. Skills for your real rooms — not the clinic’s.
Siblings get tools too. So do grandparents, if they’re part of your week.
Rigorous data internally, translated for you. No jargon walls.
Some companies stretch one BCBA across dozens of kids, supervising mostly over video. We keep caseloads small so the clinician who designs your child’s plan is physically present in sessions — watching, adjusting, coaching the RBT in real time.
I believe every child can make meaningful progress when the plan is built around who they actually are — not who a manual says they should be. Our job is to listen first, measure honestly, and meet families where they live.
Some ABA has been, historically — and some still is. That criticism is fair when it’s aimed at hour-after-hour drilling or punishing kids for being autistic. That’s not how we practice. We follow your child’s lead, honor stimming, and build goals around the life your family actually wants.
Sometimes — for young kids in early intervention where research supports intensive hours. Often less. Hours are a clinical decision made with you, not a default.
Bring the report. We’ll review it and start an assessment for services. If you still need a diagnostic evaluation, our autism testing usually schedules within a week.
Yes — before services start, during the assessment, and on a recurring cadence after that. You will know their name. They will know your kid.
We ask: would this skill, once mastered, change something concrete in your child’s day? Communicating a need, staying safe, sitting through a haircut. Looking less autistic isn’t a goal we’ll write.
Quality care without the wait. See how services work, or start with an evaluation.