Friday, December 12, 2008

Finding a good ABA therapist

ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Therapy is one of the most widely used and most effective therapies for autism. I started ABA therapy for my son a few years ago and I believe it has helped him considerably as far as his imitation skills, ability to follow simple commands, and word approximations. At the beginning of therapy, my son would not sit down and do anything that was asked of him. He would scream and cry whenever we tried to get him to work. Now, he will usually go right to his chair as soon as the therapist arrives and is ready to work. He has also learned how to use word approximations or babbling to ask for what he wants. Before therapy, he would just throw a tantrum to try and get what he wanted because he didn't have an effective way to communicate what he wanted.

The therapist uses a child's favorite foods, toys, etc in order to motivate the child to do tasks. ABA therapy can also help with a child's problem behaviors, such as tantrums and aggression.

You can learn more about ABA therapy here

Now finding an ABA therapist can be tough. Many are very busy and have long wait lists. I am also in a small area so I had to find a therapist that would be willing to travel. And, I needed to find one that accepted Tricare insurance. My son's ABA therapy is covered through the ECHO program with Tricare.

For more information about the ECHO program if you have Tricare insurance, click here

For a link to an informative page on how to go about obtaining insurance coverage for the therapy, click here

To find ABA therapists in your area, you can use the Behavior Analyst Certification Board where you can search by zip code or city and state for certified therapists. Click here

ABA therapy is definitely worth checking into if you haven't already.

I hope this has been helpful!

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