Our Approach
Individualized ABA behavior therapy for your childAt Autism Home Support Services, we utilize the evidence-based practices of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, a treatment scientifically proven to have the most effective results for helping children with Autism achieve success.
From intake to kickoff of ABA behavior therapy, our technology-supported approach is an integrative one that hinges upon ongoing collaborative communication among our team and your family. One of our uniquely trained Family Support Coordinators will be there to answer any questions you have throughout the entire process, which includes:
Insurance Coverage Verification
Our in-house insurance team works with your insurance company to verify that you have coverage for ABA behavior therapy services for your child and submits bills directly to them, eliminating you as the middleman going forward.
Pre-Care Assessment
A Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) meets with you and your child to conduct an in-depth interview screening to gather more information and observe your child in the home setting.
Care Plan
The BCBA will use the information gathered during the pre-care assessment, along with direct observation of the child, to create the initial Care Plan. This is a clinical document that details programs used to assist your child in meeting their goals (e.g., communication skills, academic skills, social skills, potty training). The Care Plan will be actively managed by your BCBA in collaboration with you as your child masters goals and acquires new skills.
Care and Support
A team of skilled Care Team Members (CTMs) will be assigned based on your child’s needs, geographical location and the required qualifications for the level of care provided. Your care team will be responsible for implementing your child’s care plan under the direct supervision of the BCBA.
Online Reporting
Notes and data on your child’s development and programs will be maintained in an online format, available to you via a secure login anytime. With your approval, we add video data to demonstrate progress, communicate via Internet video conference, and can share this information with any other member of your child’s therapeutic team.
Ongoing Training and Supervision
Parent training is integral to your child’s success and our process. Your BCBA will provide routine skills development and behavior support for not just your child’s Care Team but parents as well. A monthly progress review meeting will be held between you and your Care Team to evaluate your child’s overall development within the program and make any necessary changes. Additional BCBA time can be scheduled as needed.
A few weeks ago, I observed E in his church group as they visited a nursing home to sing for the residents. When I started working with E two years ago, he struggled to make eye contact, use appropriate social language, and tolerate stimulating environments.
What a difference two years of ABA and parent commitment make! E was leading the group in song and dance, attending to the teacher during the performance, and then went on to individually greet and converse with most of the residents! He has made significant improvements over the past two years and I am eager to see what the next two years brings.
Katie Null, BCBA Specialist with AHSSCall now to learn more!
(844) 247-7222
Intake Specialists are available
7 am – 7 pm CST to discuss what makes
AHSS different and answer any questions
you may have!
Today I was playing on our center playground set when I accidentally bumped my head. I said “owww” loudly and immediately my kiddo climbed up the stairs and asked if I was okay and patted my head. He showed sympathy for me when he knew I really felt pain. That was the sweetest thing he’s ever done!!
Marie W.My one kiddo is learning how to eat independently. The other day, after we faded prompts within session, he picked up the spoon, got some yogurt and ate it by himself! All this progress in 20 minutes!
Katie N.My three-year-old client is always excited when I arrive. He will try to show me his favorite toy of the moment or pull me into the room to play a game with him, but he does not say hi, make eye contact, or follow prompts to vocally greet me. Last week we role-played greeting someone at the door by saying “Hi,” which he thought was fun. Yesterday when I arrived for an overlap he yelled “Hi!” and wrapped his arms around me as soon as the door was opened!
Aislin B.One of my kiddos began engaging in severe aggression all of a sudden. Through hard work, functional analysis, and teamwork, we changed our approach and started using more natural-environment teaching coupled with an increase in choice/control for the child. She is now doing so well (has near zero episodes of aggression) that we never needed to implement a formal behavior plan! Her school teacher even contacted me to say what a difference she has noticed in this child.
Katie N.The Open Doors Ministry strives to make Grace United Methodist Church, Naperville, Illinois, a more accommodating and accepting congregation for children and youth with special needs, as well as their families.
A primary focus of our ministry is to provide “buddies” to accompany special-needs children in Sunday School and youth activities. AHSS provided training to buddies at our church and helped to develop individualized accommodation plans for several students. The AHSS services were excellent. AHSS provided Jessie Carson, a gifted therapist, to work with our buddies, and, in order to better understand our needs and those of other churches, several AHSS staff members attended an educational program sponsored by Grace Church for the surrounding community.
A special thanks to Laura McKee and Kenn Miller who helped to make this arrangement with AHSS possible. We are blessed to know that AHSS is a resource to us as we continue in this important ministry.
Mark and Laurel Fleming (Unsolicited)One of my students just started having sessions at Y Care. When I observed him in baseline he played catch with one of the staff on the sidelines the entire time the group was playing structured games together. The first day the CTM went with him, he joined the group for Duck Duck Goose and played for 20 minutes! The next day he stayed with the group almost the entire time, only taking two breaks!
Aislin B.Since starting the toileting program with my clients, who are three-year-old twins, both clients are consistently going potty in the toilet each day. The clients stay seated on the toilet for approximately 5 minutes (with a 10-minute limit to avoid resistance to sitting). Both kiddos are maintaining dry diapers on a more regular basis. There have also been several occasions when one will approach the baby gate and independently/spontaneously request to go to the bathroom using gestures – and he will actually sit down and go potty when he does request to go! Both twins also will go through the toileting program with their parents, and the parents are seeing the same result that we therapists see. So they’re both going potty in the toilet for mom and dad when AHSS staff are not in the home.
In order for the skill to be truly mastered we need to know that it can happen across multiple settings and with various people and that is what we’re starting to see now. One of the twins started the program in early April and the other started towards the end of April — both are approaching mastery criteria for going potty in the toilet each day!
Ashley M.Starting with the teachers and continuing with all the therapist (speech, occupational, and ABA ) I believe that we had made progress. S is a different child and I believe that this is just the beginning. Even now writing this email, tears are coming down because I am really happy to see that I made the best decision at this time.
I believe the program will open a lot of doors for more kids.
Thank you so much for all your help and support. I believe that persons like you is what make other parents stronger.
Former Client, Mother of 3 and a half year old girl (Unsolicited)I sneezed during an overlap and my three-year-old client got up from the table, walked over to the tissue box, grabbed one and handed it to me, then went back to the table and continued working.
Aislin B.My six year old has done so well in the general education classroom this year, they are discontinuing his behavior plan at his next IEP!
Aislin B.A huge joy of mine is not only the expansion of our center services, but also the collaboration that is happening between ABA and SLP therapies at our centers. Coordination of care has happened via consultative emails, incidental “overlaps” while clients are being served, and during team meetings when approaches are explained to parents in a positive and constructive manner. I am so thankful to work in an environment that is so client-centered where professionals can come together to best meet the needs of our families. It takes effort, communication, and ego-check to openly and honestly discuss how best to approach one particular case from sometimes differing points of view. I’m so proud of AHSS for being this environment. Yay Team!
Tracy C.I have a kiddo who is showing his family, teachers, and AHSS staff some of his newly-discovered vocal skills that includes saying simple things like “Hi” and “Bye” at appropriate times.
Marie W.The power of a social story priming, forewarning, preparing: We began reviewing a social story with toileting expectations with a client, one week before intense potty training. Previously this client was not willing to sit on the toilet. Day one, intense toilet training, he engaged in play so nicely we were nervous to interrupt the play with the demand to go to the toilet — so the CTM asked him to read his social story to me. He read the title page aloud, stood up, and went straight to the toilet… with no issues sitting on the toilet. This was so great to see!
With another client of mine, we’ve been working on labeling places in the community and one of our targets was “grocery store.” Well, one day at home with mom, he was upset and she couldn’t figure out what he wanted. Finally he said “grocery store” and went to get his shoes! He wanted to go to the grocery store to get cookies!
Taragene M.One child who is being taught interaction skills and is working on asking questions was engaging with the CTM talking about camping and rafting. The child asked the CTM if the rocks were “really sharp” with no prompts!
Tera W.We are C’s teachers and we wanted you to know how excited we are to be working with your therapists. Today we saw an immediate connection between C and [another student] J! C joined our circle willingly as he sat with J. We could see that he was paying attention more to what was going on during this large group time. C did not cry or scream when J made suggestions during free play. Transitions were a little smoother. It was amazing to us that J was able to reach C so easily having never even met him. We are really looking forward to the coming weeks and learning more how to best meet C’s needs.
Pauline S.I started with a client months ago who had deficits in all domains. He literally rocked back and forth (looking away from me) on all fours and made a crying noise the entire assessment. Due to an intense ABA schedule, skilled CTMs, and an intelligent and determined BCBA in Ashley Davis, he is now feeding himself, walking, and communicating using a picture exchange communication system. ABA has opened the world for this child. This is why I love my job and will be working in this field forever. I’m grateful to be on his team!
JenMarie B.I’ve been working with a client for some time now and the mom is very pleased with the progress he has made. He still struggles verbally but with time and hard work, we will make progress in this area as well. While mom is concerned about his verbal communication skills, they have found a way to say “I love you” to each other. She and my client point at their eye, then cross their hearts, and then point at each other. He even says, “Ooooo,” to say, “you!” It melts my heart to see the interaction between the two of them and reaffirms my confidence in him and his abilities! I think I see his mom tear up when this happens as well.
Bethany M.I have been with one of my clients for over three years now. When I started working with her, she had an extremely limited food repertoire (goldfish and apple sauce). She would engage in problem behaviors any time a non-preferred food was presented. She is now trying almost everything presented to her at school during snack and lunch…even foods that are non-preferred! Yesterday she ate blueberry yogurt for a snack! She has increased her food repertoire drastically, and we have also been able to generalize this in-home with mom and dad!
Bridgette H.We’ve been working on social skills & labeling boy/girl (separately) with a client of mine and so now, at the park, he is walking up to new kids and saying “hi boy! hi girl!” He’s also appropriately playing with kids at the park.
Taragene M.I had a new client, age 14, who needed to work on social skills and how to make or maintain friendships. He now independently walks over to friends’ houses and asks them to hang out. He recently got a new iPhone and parents report that he is texting appropriately and using sarcasm with his friends. He even had his first ever group sleepover the other day and stayed up until 2am!
Katie N.I have been working with [my client] on appropriate conversation skills. The other day, I had a back-and-forth conversation with him with very little prompting. His conversation skills were right on key, as well as his expressions as to what he was saying and what I was telling him. This was so amazing to see as we have been working so hard on this!
Stacie G.One client used to have significant meltdowns at the store, so I have been doing parent trainings in Target. Last night I hid in the aisles so the child wouldn’t see me. I observed mom, dad, brother, and client navigate Target with zero issues! She earned a new Lego movie for doing so well in the store and parents were able to purchase what they needed within 30 minutes.
Katie N.I have a 17-year-old client who is learning to become more independent. We have been teaching him how to take the Pace bus to certain locations in the community which includes looking up bus times and routes on the internet, walking to and from the bus stop, getting on the bus and handing the bus driver his card, signaling to the driver to stop at the correct bus stop and looking again when the bus will return to pick him up to go home. We started with the CTM providing prompts to look up bus routes/times and riding the bus with him. He has improved to riding the bus to one or two locations while we follow behind the bus. He is very proud of himself for taking the bus and is making great progress toward his independence!!
Dustin H.A few weeks ago, I observed E in his church group as they visited a nursing home to sing for the residents. When I started working with E two years ago, he struggled to make eye contact, use appropriate social language, and tolerate stimulating environments.
What a difference two years of ABA and parent commitment make! E was leading the group in song and dance, attending to the teacher during the performance, and then went on to individually greet and converse with most of the residents! He has made significant improvements over the past two years and I am eager to see what the next two years brings.
UPDATED Jan 2017: E graduated last June and I recently emailed the parents to check on him. Parents reported that E was doing well in school and continues to amaze them each day. They are very happy with what ABA did for their son and how it helped them grow as parents.
Katie N.When I took the job as a Family Support Coordinator, I hoped it would be a way for me to “pay back” all of those who had supported me during the early years after Drew’s diagnosis…
- I wanted to see progress in this boy so that his dad, tired from a long day of work, didn’t have to drive over an hour to avoid a tantrum.
- I wanted the lives of parents of children with Autism to be a little easier.
- I wanted to help kids sleep in their own beds so that mom and dad could get a good night’s sleep.
- I wanted to see a child participate in a family birthday party so that mom and dad didn’t have to miss it as well.
It’s these little things in our lives that can give us hope.
I am so lucky that over 5 years at Autism Home Support Services, I have seen many, many of these small victories for children and most especially their parents. That’s why I do what I do.
Maryanne Nugent on living & working with autism