Let’s say your child is in ABA therapy, but you aren’t sure if their behavior is improving.
How do you know if ABA is actually working?
Let’s Talk About It
An important element to ABA therapy is communication with the therapy team. You likely have a BCBA or Board Certified Behavior Analyst who oversees line therapists or RBTs doing direct treatment with your child.
Many insurance companies require monthly team meetings to discuss goals and specific progress and to make adjustments. If your child receives in-home treatment, having a parent present for much of this allows a parent to learn and practice strategies implemented by the treatment team.
As many BCBAs will caution, you are likely to see an extinction burst in some cases, or an increase in problem behaviors as your team begins to work to change behavior. Your team should discuss with you when and where they might see this happening and provide you feedback on what to do for various behaviors and/or in different situations.
How We Can Help
The advantage of having a CADE profile for your child is twofold.
First, this profile can help you and the team set initial goals based on areas of need and parental preference as to which 2 or 3 things to target first in treatment.
Second, you and your therapy team can use CADE to monitor progress on those goals and other related areas by doing CADE again every 3 or 4 months. You may notice that an intervention in one area is also helping to improve another skill. By doing CADE again and having your therapists do it again, it will be easier to track progress and decide when to move on to new goals.
Finally, listen to your instincts here. If you feel lost in ABA therapy, are not seeing improvement and feel like the team communication is not going well, you may not have the best provider fit. Treatment does not always result in fast change but with communication and patience and with clearly targeted goals you should feel like you and your child are learning. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your BCBA to discuss the concerns you have, and look at other providers if you feel your child is not making progress.
Check out a sample of CADE at www.clearchildpsychology.com and if you like it do a free trial of CADE and our Parent Portal. We can help you monitor progress and evaluate treatment!
Wishing you the best on your journey!
