FAQ's

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At ABC, we want you to feel comfortable with your decision to choose our team to work with your child and your family. We have found that many parents have similar questions regarding our programming. Here are some of the questions and answers that have frequently been asked of ABC. Click on the topic below to view the questions and our answers!

1.  Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA): 

• This is the individual who is specially educated and trained to provide aba early intervention programming for your child with autism.  This person is board certified as a behavior analyst (BCBA) and is specially educated and trained in ABA (applied behavior analysis).  This individual is the Service Provider for your child’s program.
• The BCBA will do specific assessments and observations with your child; analyze all the data collected; create specific programs for your child based on the assessments & observations; write the report to the Ministry regarding your child’s ABA early intervention program; train the family and behavior interventionists in autism, ABA, early intervention programs, and verbal behavior programs.
• The BCBA attends monthly team meetings, reviews the program data, creates new programs as required, trains BI's and program managers, creates behavior programs as required, as well as observes your BI's during session with your child once per month
• The BCBA is also the supervisor for the other behavior consultants in the company.
• The BCBA designation means that your consultant has very specific training and certification in Applied Behavior Analysis and is certified by a certification body called the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) (U.S. Designation) (www.bacb.com)

2.  Behavior Consultant: 

• This individual also creates and implements ABA programming for your child, as well as provide training to your BI's and your family.
• This person is supervised by the BCBA.
• All Behavior Consultants have at least a B.A. (Bachelor's Degree) in psychology or child development and must be supervised by at least a Master's level (M.A.) Behavior Consultant.   
• This individual provides specific assessments and observations in order to build a personalized program for your child.
• The Behavior Consultant attends monthly team meetings, reviews the program data, creates new programs as required, trains BI's, creates behavior programs as required, as well as observes your BI's during session with your child once per month.

3.  Senior Behavior Interventionist (Sr. BI): 

• This is the individual who is specifically trained by the BCBA to assist with the training and organization of your child’s program at ½ the cost of the behavior consultant.  The Sr BI will ensure the early intervention program is running smoothly and that the behavior interventionists (BIs) are following the protocols as outlined in each program
• Sr BIs are the main contact for the family; the one who ensure that your child's program is being run correctly as the behavior consultant intended it and ensures that your BI's are trained and up-to-date on all the program techniques.
• Sr BIs attend monthly team meetings, train BI's, review your child's program binder, reviews the data for each program and sends the data to the behavior consultant, and works directly 1:1 with your child at least once per month
• Most Sr BIs have either a B.A. in a related field (child development; psychology) and/or many, many years of experience working with children as teacher’s aides (EAs) or in an ABA early intervention program.  Many of them are working towards their BCaBA or BCBA certification.

4.  Behavior Interventionist (BI) (also known as "therapists"): 

• This is the individual who will work one-on-one with your child in your home ABA early intervention program only a daily or weekly basis.
• ABC has BI's trained in ABA and Verbal Behavior protocol available to work with many of our families based on their location and their child's therapy schedule. 
• BIs are often students in University and/or college who are working part time in this field – however, more recently there have been more mature individuals that are choosing to work in early intervention programs with children with autism
• They will be trained and supervised by your Behaviour Consultant and Sr BI
• BI's work with your child 1:1 each session, and attend monthly team meetings

• ABC will provide your child's team with a Behavior Consultant (BCBA level or supervised by a BCBA), and a Sr BI and can provide BI's for your home program.

Why is it so expensive in the first few months of programming?
In the first 2-3 months of your ABA early intervention programming, the behavior consultant and Sr BI are doing everything possible to get your child’s program up and running. Here are some of the important points about getting your child’s program started:

• Assessment of your child’s skills by Behavior Consultant (so your consultant can build your child’s specific program according to where they are at in their learning and development)
• Analysis of all the assessment data (ABLLS-R and/or VB MAPP)
• Creation of your child’s specific ABA verbal behavior program
• Creation of the Report for the Ministry about your child’s ABA early intervention program
• Creation of your child’s personalized program
• Creation of a specific material list for your child’s programming needs
• Training of family
• Training of BIs

What is INVOICE funding?

• Invoice Funding works through the Ministry.  The funds are held by the Ministry.  ABC invoices the Ministry monthly and they would provide payment directly to us.

Why is training so important? Can’t the BIs start the program right away without training?

In every ABA home program, each child's programming is unique and tailored to their interests and their strengths.  It is therefore very important that each BI be completely trained in each child's programming.

• Additionally, in our experience (and many other consultants) we have found that every Behavior Consultant’s program is different due to the fact that there are consultants with different educational background, as well as there are different protocols for teaching ABA to children with autism.  Unfortunately there are some consultants who are not properly educated and trained and therefore are not always using appropriate teaching methods.
• Because of all this individuality in ABA early intervention programming – we have found that generally most BIs with experience are not necessarily trained appropriately (unless they take the BI Course at Douglas College) and often need more general training as well as specific training for your child’s program.  Even BIs who take the course at Douglas College will require specific training for the protocol and the child’s specific program.
• Also, since BIs are in such high demand, and since there are just not enough BIs in this business – sometimes you will need to hire BIs who have little or no experience.  In this case it is necessary to get these new BIs trained so that they can correctly and effectively work with your child and our program.
• Additionally, in our experience, programs in which the BIs have sufficient training and excellent follow-up with a Sr BI each month, are the programs in which the child progresses fluently and results are seen much more rapidly and consistently compared to the programs in which BIs have little training and no follow-up.  Therefore, the training and follow-up with the BIs is one of the most important aspects to your child’s progress with our program.

How do we get started?

• Your first step is to set up a free consultation meeting (face-to-face for local families or phone consultation for long-distance families) with the Behavior Consultant and the program manager – you can do this by: filling in our client information form; emailing: michele@andersonbehaviorconsulting.com or call: 250-299-3530 and speak with Michele Anderson (for Kamloops and Interior) or email: elisa@andersonbehaviorconsulting.com or call: 604-838-0378 and speak with Elisa Hill (for the Lower Mainland).
• After the consultation meeting, generally you and your family will know if our service is the one for you and your child (children) and ABC will know if we are the best program to support you and your child’s needs.
• Our next steps are to set a meeting to review and sign the service agreement form, as well as the release of information form.  We will also discuss the next steps that we will need to take to get assessment, training and programming started as soon as possible.
• In addition to that, we will also set up a couple of assessment sessions in which Michele Anderson will come to your home and complete an ABLLS-R/or BLA, or the VB-MAPP  assessment with your child in order to get a baseline of where your child’s skills and developmental level currently lie.  This baseline data will also give Michele or Elisa a starting point in which to create an ABA early intervention program specifically for your child with autism.
• After the assessments are completed and analyzed by the consultant (this process can take between 1 – 2 months), that’s when we will start moving into the next stage, which is training and getting the program up and running.

How do I get BIs to work with my child? Does ABC provide them or do we have to find them and hire them ourselves?

• YES!  ABC does have BI's available to work with our families.  
• Our BIs at ABC Inc are very well trained by our BCBA's and our Sr. BI's in ABA and Verbal Behavior.
• We do monthly overlaps to ensure that the BI's are providing the BEST services and that the child's programming is being done as it is expected.
• Our BI's are not left to deal with things on their own -- we are there with them to assist and ensure success in each client's programming.
• Data is reviewed monthly or more frequently depending on the client.