My Approach and Services

We use ABA treatment, a scientifically supported, safe and effective treatment approach for children with autism. Our team works together to provide the seven stages of service, customized for your child’s needs.

ABA Treatment

My treatment approach is comprehensive, addressing communication, social skills, life skills, and ranges from 20-40 hours per week of direct therapy.

Programming is largely based on the Verbal Behaviour protocol. Programming uses the child’s natural interests and motivation for learning, and places an emphasis on reinforcing appropriate and desired behaviour.

Parents and caregivers are indispensable participants of each child’s program. Their continued use of behaviour techniques and principles outside of one-on-one therapy time plays a significant role achieving measurable outcomes and skill generalization.

Services

1. Assessment A multi-step process that includes a family interview, direct observation of the child in their home and community, and structured one-on-one interactions guided by the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS-R) is used to identify strengths and learning objectives.
2. Behaviour plan of intervention (BPI) Written outline of the child’s area of needs, what will be addressed in their individualized programming, areas of strengths and interest that can be used to motivate or teach the child, strat- egies and techniques for acquiring desired behaviours and decreasing challenging behaviours, roles of the team, and the proposed weekly therapy schedule.
3. Home-based therapy A team of Behaviour Interventionists will be trained to teach the child according to the specified strategies and techniques outlined in the BPI, and will keep precise data on each of the learning objectives. Each BI receives supervision from me once a month so that performance and pro- gram goals are constantly monitored to ensure that the therapy is being implemented correctly and with fidelity.
4. Team meetings These once-a-month meetings are a time for each team member to share their successes and challenges with the child and program, review the child’s progress, make changes if necessary, add programming and troubleshoot. Although team meetings generally involve all members of the behaviour team and the parents/caregiver, other professionals working with the child are welcome to attend, in order to facilitate consistency across environments.
5. Parent and BI training Parents and BIs receive initial and on-going training in the Principals of Behaviour and behaviour strategies to create and maintain change. Training takes place in lecture format and in situ.
6. Collaboration with school and community activities Significant and meaningful changes are seen when all members of the child’s life work together in a coordinated manner to implement goals and strategies consistently.
7. Social Groups Clients of similar age and with similar interests are matched together in small groups of 2-4 to practise and generalize social skills taught in their behaviour therapy sessions. Early learner social groups have a facilitator ratio of 2:1 whereas advanced learners have a ratio of 4:1.