4 Reasons Parent-led ABA may be right for your family

For children on the autism spectrum, ABA has become the gold standard for Behavioral Therapy. As a result, we’re seeing the timeline gap of diagnosis to therapy services grow dramatically along with a highly increasing demand for ABA. Getting consistent care from in-center or in-home services has become harder and harder, as families sit powerless on long waitlists. The industry is experiencing high turnover of clinical staff, which makes scheduling the available clinicians more difficult. This problem is compounded by the limited number of clinicians available. There are over 700 counties in the US where no trained ABA professionals are present and over 1,500 with no BCBAs (link).

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Evidence suggests that early and intensive ABA intervention can improve outcomes for children on the autism spectrum (link). When it comes to ABA therapy, consistency matters: skill mastery tends to improve with regular delivery of ABA therapy (link). 

As it has become a problem to find services, parent-led ABA has become a more common solution to maintain consistent ABA and reduce gaps in therapy. 

Here are four reasons parent-led ABA might be a fit for you and your family and help your child on the autism spectrum.

1. You are stuck on a waitlist or recently lost your ABA

If you’re stuck on a waitlist because the closest (or only) ABA clinic near you doesn’t have room, Parent-led therapy may be a great solution for you and your family to get started right away. One of the advantages of parent-led ABA is the ability to maintain progress against therapy goals when a lapse in coverage occurs. 

2. There isn’t an ABA clinic near you

Distance can make it really hard to access a clinic or in-home ABA service. Many families already using parent-led ABA are doing so because they could not get consistent access to an ABA clinic or in-home ABA services where they live. It may be that you live too far from a center or that you don’t have the time or means to get to a center. If this is the case for your family, you may want to consider services like Forta’s parent-led ABA where you can get the remote support of a highly trained and certified clinician (BCBA). 

3. You are a full-time caregiver to your child on the autism spectrum 

You may find yourself as a full-time caregiver to your child. If that’s the case, you can maximize the time spent with your kiddo each day by gaining your Behavior Technician (BT) certificate through Forta. Taking a few hours each day to focus on lessons for improving behaviors can have profoundly beneficial effects on the development of your child. Parents find new ways to communicate with their child, understand their behaviors and help them develop every day.

4. You are active in your child’s schooling

You often provide educational support to your child. Many parents find themselves in the situation where they have to provide supplemental teaching experiences, which can be a major undertaking. As an educator to your child on the autism spectrum, it can be greatly beneficial to gain the skills of a Behavior Technician (BT) to decrease the stress associated with educational endeavors. Parent-led ABA interventions can target improving your child’s behaviors like communication or focused attention to support your child’s learning.