ABA Services
Our Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services are specifically tailored to each learner to focus on building skills that will have a meaningful impact on their ability to meet their personal goals, participate with their same-age peers as independently and effectively as possible, and include learners’ voices throughout the process. Where APL's educational department will primarily focus on academic skill growth, the Roots Clinic simultaneously embeds learning and skill development opportunities to promote better attending, communication and self-advocacy, emotional and behavioral regulation, social relationship building, and independence with navigating the learning environment. In addition to this, Roots Clinic has a foundation in positive behavior support and an approach that emphasizes least to most restrictive intervention. Our ABA is social model first that meets medical model compliance.
Our services include scaffolding support and training for teachers based on observational assessment of the classroom. It also includes individualized programming, incorporating rigorous assessment tools, ongoing treatment planning, and monitoring for students who receive ABA services through The Roots Clinic. The common thread across all of our services is that they are provided in the school environment. Providing intensive behavioral therapy in this environment supports students in accessing the academic curriculum, while continuing to acquire communication, social, and executive functioning skills that ensure optimal individual progress. Because our goal is to embed every possible learning opportunity in the context at hand, we place a high priority on coordination of care, including parent education and collaboration with other providers on the student’s team both inside and outside our walls.
Our Talented Team
Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) supervise programming by conducting criterion-referenced assessments, developing and overseeing the quality and direction of therapy programs, consulting with family members and other caregivers to provide guidance and ensure progress, analyzing data, and calibrating programming as needed. BCBAs also maintain active credentialing with the state as Licensed Behavior Analysts (LBAs).
Behavior Technicians (BTs) implement the programming that is created by the BCBAs. These are the frontline staff engaging in the daily rapport-building and therapy work with our students. Most BTs full-time staff, allowing them to be members of the classroom team along with teachers and the BCBA, and are considered integral to the community. BTs undergo a variety of training experiences during their first few weeks and months at APL, culminating in eligibility to apply for a credential with the state as Certified Behavior Technicians (CBTs). BTs are supervised “live” constantly during their training time and maintain a high level of supervision after being certified as well.
Services
Supervision
Supervision is provided by the BCBA and can consist of face-to-face time or direct therapy sessions with your child as well as non-direct services such as review and analysis of program data, progress reporting on treatment plan goals, and instructional planning related to how programs are carried out in daily therapy sessions by the BT (Behavior Technician). Supervision occurs regularly, on a minimum weekly or biweekly basis.
Direct Therapy
The bulk of services that your child or adolescent will receive consist of direct therapy by a BT. In direct therapy, work on treatment plan goals is carried out and facilitated by the BT. The BTs also monitor their own instructional actions, learner performance, and learner progress via daily data collection. Progress is graphed to allow the BCBA to visually analyze data efficiently and provide feedback and changes to programming as needed. Direct therapy may look different in action from child to child and can also vary greatly across age groups. Therapy can consist of 1:1 individual table work in which skills are practiced with the BT, or embedded practice on skills where the BT is providing prompting and support to the child in the context of their academic activity (such as math class) or classroom activity (such as recess). Often, especially in therapy sessions with middle school and high school age clients, the BT’s support may be systematically faded to be less intrusive while continuing to generalize skills towards independence.