We're ready! How Do we Start?

You and/or your case manager reach out to Liberty ABA to determine if your needs and our scope of practice + availability are potentially a fit. If so, you and/or your case manager submit all documents regarding current diagnosis and any other treatment in progress. Liberty ABA will send you an intake packet to be completed.

Liberty ABA will review all of the documents submitted to determine appropriate assessments to conduct and interview questions to ask at our in-person Direct Assessment & Observation appointment.

The caregiver will be contacted via phone for a 30 to 60 minute interview to discuss the history, interests, goals, and needs of their family. 

The BCBA will come to your home (or alternative location if deemed appropriate based on the interview) to observe, interview, and assess your child's current interests, goals, and needs in an age-appropriate, interactive, personal manner. Parents will complete various in-direct assessment tools during this time. 

Based on interview, assessment, and observation data, Melissa will identify & define behaviors that may need to be reduced to lower rates to support greater levels of safety and/or independence. More importantly, Melissa will create goals to teach functionally equivalent replacement behaviors (in other words- goals to teach your child what TO do, instead of what NOT to do!) and goals that will support development of lagging communication, adaptive, and social skills.

Melissa will create plans for collaboration with parents & related service providers and will define safety plans per client need. Melissa will also define individualized criteria for transition & discharge. At Liberty ABA, we are always trying to work ourselves out of a job! As soon as your child is ready to participate independently in their daily life, we are ready to systematically fade back our services.

Melissa will provide a draft of the treatment plan for the family to review and will schedule a review call. 

On a 30-60m call, Melissa will review the proposed treatment plan in entirety with the family. This is an opportunity for the family to ask questions, make comments, etc. Our goal is for family members to leave this call understanding the key components of their child's intervention plan and feeling like their voice was heard in its development.

Following the review call and any changes discussed in the call, Melissa will send the treatment plan to the family for signature. Once signed, the BCBA will send the treatment plan to the funders (if applicable). If a services are funded by insurance, the insurance company must approve the proposed treatment plan per their guidelines before sessions can begin.

Throughout the intake & treatment plan development process, conversations will take place regarding the number of recommended service hours and schedule. Once the treatment plan has been submitted to funders for approval, the BCBA will call to confirm the weekly schedule of treatment for the client as well as the weekly schedule for family education. Family involvement is a key component of successful intervention services with Liberty ABA!

Once the treatment plan is approved, pairing sessions will begin. "Pairing" involves the BCBA becoming a conditioned reinforcer by presenting the BCBA in combination with highly preferred stimuli to increase the likelihood of the child willingly engaging with them. This process may look like "just playing" but it is a crucial step to establish a positive learning environment and build rapport & trust between the client and the BCBA.

The BCBA will begin gradually introducing goals from the treatment plan when the child is consistently appearing happy, relaxed, and engaged during pairing sessions. This may look like:

• seeking interaction from the BCBA
• approaching the BCBA
• maintaining engagement in activities initiated by the BCBA
• demonstrating signs of enjoyment/social reciprocity during activities with the BCBA
• decreased rates of behaviors associated with avoiding the BCBA

After all goals are in place in sessions, a natural routine will begin to emerge. Throughout the duration of services, the BCBA will regularly evaluate your child's response to treatment by analyzing the data collected during each session. The BCBA will discuss the client's progress generally after each session, and in more detail during weekly family education sessions. Any necessary changes to the programming will be discussed in partnership with family members. 

While the BCBA is constantly reviewing and analyzing the client's progress towards goals and the effectiveness of interventions in place (making modifications as needed), a formal re-assessment and review will take place approximately every 4-6 months of service. This will include many of the steps from the "Intake" and "Treatment Plan Development" section above, as well as completion of an updated treatment plan.