Connecting with Potential from the Comfort of Home
If they can’t learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn. -Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is widely regarded as the go-to therapy intervention to support healthy development among those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Unlike other treatments, ABA focuses on developing individual strengths and critical life skills that help individuals—and particularly children—reach their full potential.
ABA therapy gives way to understanding how behavior works in real-life situations. The goal of ABA therapy is not to change the individual, but to increase behaviors that are helpful and beneficial, and lessen behaviors that are harmful or negative, especially in the learning process.
Some of the goals associated with ABA therapy include:
- Increased language and communication skills
- Heightened attention, social skills, and independence
- Reduction of problem that impedes active participation in daily life
ABA therapy is an evidence-based approach to autism treatment. However, delivering ABA therapy in the home—where individuals with autism feel the most comfortable—is the real game changer. Here’s why:
4 Benefits of Home-based ABA Therapy
Comfort and Convenience Delivered to Your Door
1. For parents who may feel overwhelmed with certain behavior exhibited by their child. Services delivered to the home provide convenience, comfort, and peace of mind.
Services Occur in the Individual’s Natural Environment
2. Through home- and community-based programming, individuals are taught critical skills in the same environments. They will need them to live a more independent and active life.
On-Going Tools and Resources for the Whole Family
3. Parent/caregiver training is readily available. In home-based ABA programming, parents can participate actively in their child’s therapy.
“Because we are in the home setting, we also have the unique opportunity to involve parents, siblings, and other caregivers in the environment. This is to further increase opportunities for the client to learn and participate in daily routines.” —Dr. Lauren Lanier
Limited Exposure to Illness
4. When services occur in a home, the number of people who come into contact with a family is minimized exponentially compared to a clinic setting.
Meeting an individual where they are in their journey is a large part of tapping into the full potential of ABA therapy, which is scientifically proven to work. When paired with learning at home, it is the ultimate resource to help individuals with autism succeed.
What to Look for in an In-home ABA Therapy Provider
Now you may understand that ABA works and in-home ABA therapy is preferred, but what do you need to know about choosing an in-home ABA therapy provider?
Answer: You are looking for a highly reputable ABA therapy provider that is a proven expert in delivering home-based therapy solutions, incorporating the family and loved ones into the process, and doesn’t limit the power of ABA therapy to those of a certain age.
One such provider is Constellation Health Services! Based in Connecticut, Constellation is now expanding its in-home ABA therapy services to the Greater Houston Area. Constellation embraces the philosophy that providing ABA therapy at home offers individuals a safe place to learn and flourish where they are most comfortable.
Dr. Lauren Lanier, BCBA-D, Director of ABA Services, understands the necessity for high-quality in-home ABA therapy. She strongly believes in the immense benefits of home-based ABA therapy and pointed out that this service delivery model is an opportunity to provide life-changing services in the individual’s most familiar environment, their home.
“Over the span of my career, I have worked exclusively in home-based ABA therapy because I have seen how impactful these services are for clients and their families when provided in the home setting,” Lanier said. “Our clients are taught critical skills in the same environments where they will need them to live a more independent and active life.”
For example, Constellation BCBA Mallory Bevis, who works with children in schools and at home, finds that the home setting is extremely important for children to retain skills and for parents to affirm them in the form of modeling.
“For example, she said, “say we’re teaching a client to request an item, and he may be able to do that in the school session, but when a skill is practiced at home, our therapists are able to model how to do that in front of the parents right there in the natural setting where they can also work on it together.
It’s now more likely for that client to be able to accomplish the skill with them because we worked on it in that same setting.”
Constellation prioritizes parent/caregiver training as a key component to successful ABA therapy so that they know how to implement interventions in the absence of the therapist.
In-home ABA therapy empowers not only the child or individual with autism but the entire family. To support the individual and family, Constellation’s programs focus on the following topics:
Language
The goal of language programs is to help teach the individual how to use language to get their wants/needs met and more actively interact with their environment.
These programs include teaching non-verbal or low-verbal clients how to talk or how to use other means like pictures or electronic devices.
Social Skills
These programs address skills that allow individuals to more successfully participate in social exchanges like conversations, making and maintaining friendships, understanding relationships, making inferences, etc.
Feeding
Some individuals on the autism spectrum and with developmental disabilities have extremely limited food repertoires or experience difficulty exhibiting the behaviors necessary to adequately nourish themselves.
These programs seek to gradually increase the number of foods an individual will tolerate and consume, which further increases their nutrition and overall wellbeing.
Self-Help
Everyday skills that are necessary to maintain health and safety are the focus of these programs. From bathing to understanding community navigation and warning signs, these skills further facilitate an individual’s ability to be more actively and independently involved in their own self-care and daily life.
Foundational Skills
Programs that teach individuals the needed prerequisite skills set the stage for learning more complex skills. For example, teaching an individual how to make a selection from an array can lead to the individual successfully selecting a preferred meal from a menu in a restaurant.
Constellation is an award-winning organization that walks the walk. Highly-trained ABA therapists and Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) are supervised by Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and provide compassionate and knowledgeable care in the comfort of your home.
The therapy teams treat every person individually and customize a plan as part of the Complete Care Solution working collaboratively with you, your family, and your child’s health providers and educators to effectively address behavioral challenges and build confidence and abilities.
The need for support and treatment doesn’t stop after diagnosis, elementary school, or a certain age. Many ABA therapy models stop offering therapy past a certain age. Whereas Constellation is able to support an individual diagnosed with autism from 18 months to adulthood.
As a parent or family member of an individual with autism, know you’re not alone on your journey, and your child is much more than their diagnosis. According to the CDC, 1 in 54 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with ASD.
Imagine your child with autism confidently exploring the world. That’s the power of in-home ABA therapy.
Related Articles:
Constellation In-Home ABA Therapy Expands to the Greater Houston Area
7 Tips for a Parent of a Newly Diagnosed Child with Autism
In-Home ABA Autism: Treatment for Children from the Comfort of Home
3 Advantages of ABA Therapy for Children
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Constellation provides ABA therapy at-home services in Connecticut and the Greater Houston Area as an evidence-based approach for autism treatment. Through our customized programming, we work with individuals to improve development and focus on expanding cognitive, language, and adaptive skills.
Also, Constellation partners with private and public schools, school districts, and early childhood development programs in Connecticut for School-Based Therapy, providing evidence-based behavior, occupational, physical therapy solutions, and management consulting services.
