What is in-home ABA therapy?

In-home ABA therapy is exactly how it sounds: we bring the ABA practices and therapy sessions into your home. It can serve to either supplement clinic and school-based treatment or it can replace it. This entirely depends on the needs, desires and situation of your family and child. A typical session will look very similar to one conducted at a clinic or within a school environment. All of the teaching and strategies used will be the same in all settings, the only difference being that we can focus on what’s relevant to each setting. This doesn’t mean in-home therapy sessions won’t cover general skills and behaviors such as writing or responding to social cues. These are still things that will be addressed during any ABA therapy session no matter the environment.

What are the benefits?

In-home ABA therapy allows your child to learn in his or her most frequented and prevalent environment. Chances are that if your child is exhibiting unwanted behaviors, those behaviors are occurring at home in some shape or form. Being able to conduct therapy sessions within the home environment allows us to really delve into the environmental factors and precursors to these behaviors. It’s possible and also effective to work on and improve these behaviors within the clinic and school settings as well, but the relevancy of the home environment gives us the ability to get to the root of the behavior and tackle it head on.

Maybe there are everyday skills that your child isn’t fully grasping yet at home. What we think of as ordinary tasks like brushing teeth or putting toys away after playing may not come as naturally to your child. Targeting these skills and improving upon them within the home environment will serve your child better in the long run, keeping the learning within the context of where the skills will be used on a daily basis.

Can my child receive ABA therapy exclusively at home?

As we mentioned above, home-based ABA therapy provides you with flexibility and versatility with your child’s sessions. Clinic and school-based sessions are important and valuable in your child’s development when necessary; but maybe your child needs more attention to behaviors and skills occurring within the context of the home environment; or, maybe it’s just not possible for your family to commute with your child back and forth to clinic sessions and school then back home.

Along with addressing the relevant skills and behaviors, in-home ABA therapy can provide you with the convenience of having the sessions come to you. It’s entirely possible to receive treatment solely in the home setting if that’s what’s best for you and your child. However, in many cases, it’s ideal to pair these home sessions with clinic-based or school-based sessions. There is a lot to be gained by utilizing a variety of environments when working with your child.

Does insurance cover in-home ABA therapy?

If your insurance will cover ABA therapy for your child, then there is a strong chance that in-home ABA sessions will be included in this coverage. Insurance coverage is dependent on the type of coverage you have as well as what insurance providers a specific facility or practice accepts. The best way to determine if your child’s ABA therapy sessions will be covered is to get in contact with your insurance provider as well as the practice you are interested in starting services with.

Should I use ABA therapy techniques at home without a therapist present?

ABA therapy encourages your participation as a parent in the development and learning your child undergoes. In fact, it’s most effective when there is consistency, meaning the more exposure your child has and the more variety of people using the ABA techniques, the more beneficial it will be. This will create that generalization, not only across settings and environments, but also across the people your child interacts with throughout their day.

Because of these reasons, it’s recommended that you do use the ABA therapy techniques and strategies used by your child’s therapist. This consistency with expectations, interaction style, etc. will increase the likelihood your child grasps what is being taught and again will generalize the newfound skills and behaviors so that they’re not only occurring within a controlled, specific setting.

In-Home ABA Therapy at SPBS

At Scottsdale Pediatric Behavioral Services, we provide your family with the most options and variety possible when it comes to ABA therapy. We believe that this flexibility, as well as generalization, are tremendously important factors in your child’s development. SPBS provides options for in-home therapy, whether it be solely home-based or in tandem with our clinic-based services. Our behavior technicians will work closely with the Doctors and BCBAs to come up with a plan that will ensure the progress towards your child’s improvement within the home setting, as well as providing further teaching for other outside skills and behaviors.

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