Points to consider before starting an ABA program:

1- Finding a qualified ABA consultant/organisation (registered BCBA) with good reliable references. If at all possible, research on ABA basics before your first meeting so you make the most of it. This page contains information which you might find useful. 

2- Talk to your consultant and plan all you need in advance so you stick to a realistic budget. 

3- By starting with the basics and introducing things slowly, you are better able to assess 'need' vs 'want'. 

4- Check quotes with different suppliers before purchasing items and services but also check for quality.

5- Visit another child's therapy room if you have the option.

6- Think about how you will structure your program; Establish the number of consultant run workshops per year, the frequency of team meetings, the number of sessions per week and the length of sessions before you advertise for tutors. A minimum of 2 sessions per week per tutor is recommended but this varies. 

7- Recruit your team; Seek advice before you advertise for therapists so you recruit the most efficient team for your child. Can they motivate your child to play? That's a good start. They also need to be able to grasp all the ABA scientific concepts and adapt as your child's program becomes more advanced. Training never ends and tutors will be constantly required to acquire new information! 

A template for an ad is available on this page.

7a- Are you recruiting volunteers or professional tutors? Depending on your budget, Psychology, Health and SEN education students are usually very keen to work for experience. I have had help from some amazing volunteers! You will be able to train them specifically to work with your child as they will learn on the job. You can get good replies from Gumtree, the Yahoo ABA UK community and autism facebook groups. 

If you are running an ABA VB program, professional tutors with a VB background should be an advantage but training on VB can also be provided on the job. 

7b- Give volunteers a few sessions before they/you can make your minds up, especially if they're used to doing respite or have no experience with intensive teaching. ABA principles and the intensity of sessions is not for everyone. 

7c- Try not to make a final decision at your first interview and give all potential tutors a chance over a period of time.

7d- Are you running your own sessions? Consider family/work balance and the impact it will have on you. But be reassured that things get easier as you learn more about ABA. It is a rewarding experience. Take all the help you can get! 

8- Consider looking for additional sources of funding such as Cerebra, Caudwell Children and Family Fund or set up fund raising events. Ask and you will get! You will meet amazing people and money will come from where you least expect. 

9- Consider overall costs: Initial assessment, initial training, setting up the therapy room/teaching space and discuss a plan of action with your consultant which is realistic to your budget. 

10- Consider who will supervise your program and be clear about your role. If you're keen to save money and learn the ropes to train your own team, invest in your own training also. Your tutors might not be able to stay for the duration of your child's program but you will always be there, learning more at each training workshop. 

10a- Don't be afraid to put yourself on the spot. You will learn ABA principles if you put your mind to it! Don't be put off by all the initial jargons and ask! Pair and contrive manding opportunities only means play, have fun and help your child request for what they want! It's not that hard once you translate it into every day language. :)

If you are not able to commit to doing regular sessions, then make the most of ABA consultant visits and training workshops and put the principles in practice whenever you can.

10b- In terms of hiring a supervisor, families work in different ways:

Some programs will promote existing tutors from their team to also work as supervisors. They might also share supervision with a carer. The advantage of doing this is that existing tutors are working with your child on a regular basis and recommendations from the consultant will filter directly into the team. If a tutor has no previous experience with supervising a program, this will offer them a career opportunity. This model helps maintain consistency with the program but the tutor will need to have experience in ABA and meet a criteria that you can discuss with them. Most ABA consultants will be able to discuss a basic job specification for a supervisor with you and you can flexibly adapt it to fit in with your situation. This is also cost effective.

For new teams where tutors have no ABA experience, some families hire an outside supervisor to work alongside the consultant, training tutors and applying recommendations in between consultant visits. They will usually visit to run team meetings, observe tutors and model teaching to your team by working directly with your child. This model works well when there's good communication with the consultant and when they work in a similar style. 

10c- Outside supervisors also work with experienced teams. This will depend on how the team is structured and supervisor arrangements vary according to the needs of a family.

Arrangements will also depend on the recommendations of the ABA consultant or organisation you're working with. 

10d- Some families have no supervisor but they have a lead therapist who takes on quite a few supervisor roles.

I've posted a visual representation of an ABA program structure in earlier posts. There are brief summaries on different roles there. 

11- Consider how you will record your data and evidence of your child's progress. There are data sheets for this and you can also video training sessions and your child working with consultant and tutors at workshops. 
 

12- Do what you can with as much as you can afford. Your child will benefit from ABA whatever your

circumstances are. The most important thing is to start it! Look for a flexible ABA consultant that can work within your budget. There are many out there who are keen to help.

 

 

Let me know if there's anything else you would like me to add to this list or amend to make it clearer. 

 

Please note that these points are based on my own experience and I hope you find this useful. 

 

ABA home program structure

 

For families making initial enquiries about ABA, the amount of new information can be overwhelming, especially if they know nothing of very little about ABA or autism before meeting professionals (my case).

I've found that this simple brainstorm has helped me explain the set up better to families. This is most applicable to home programs and it can be adapted but the idea is to provide families with an overview of what their options are. 

I started out with ABA, then did further research and addressed other interventions after I learnt all the basic theory and practice behind it. The ABLLs curriculum and ABA VB have covered quite a few Occupational Therapy and speech targets but we have the involvement of a specialist speech therapist and an NHS OT. Again, outside agency involvement depends on each child's needs so this overview is applicable to some families and not others. 

What is your role in your program?