ABA Intervention in the
home, school and community

Parents are very often overwhelmed by their child’s ASD diagnosis. They may feel angry or helpless, stuck in a world that revolves solely around autism. The staff of Eastside Social Skills knows that the success of the children is integrally involved with the success of the parents. We work collaboratively with our parents on ideas and strategies for the best way to support their child’s development, particularly in the areas of language, communication, social interaction, independent life skills, play and community interaction.

Our parent coaching services are personalized to your family’s unique situation and specifically designed to increase your confidence, knowledge and understanding so that everyday activities like getting dressed, washing hands and eating at the table with utensils can be accomplished while building your child’s self-esteem. Our goal is to help families build positive, happy, conflict-free households.

Most parents are feeling a combination of guilt and grief. They want their children to get help, but do not always understand that their full involvement in treatment is critical to their child’s success. Unfortunately there are no easy answers or quick solutions and many times, the need for services is greater than the availability.
You are your child’s best advocate to getting the help they need. But you need to take care of yourself as well. Two important steps that you can take today are:

Find a local support group – get connected to other parents who can relate to your story, you are not alone.
Get educated – learn as much as you can about the Autism Spectrum Disorder. What it is? What types of treatment work? What progress has been made in recent years? Etc. Learn More…

>> Why Parent Training is So Important for Families Coping with Autism
~ HuffingtonPost.com

We provide:
Functional Behavior Assessments for Challenging Behaviors and we develop Positive Behavior Support Plans to reduce those behaviors.

Skills Assessment
A phrase you will hear in the ASD community is “If you’ve seen one child with autism, you’ve seen one child with autism.” Every child we work with has their own unique set of skills and challenges. Working closely with the parents, the first step in our process is to determine the specific needs of your child and develop a customized program to best serve those needs. We use the ABLLS and VB MAPP assessment tools for this process, as well as, direct observation, parent interview and review of assessments and reports from other professionals.

The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills – Revised (ABLLS-R), developed by Dr. Partington, is an assessment tool, curriculum guide, and skills-tracking system used to help guide the instruction of language and critical learner skills for children with autism or other developmental disabilities. 

The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP), developed by Mark L. Sundberg, PhD, BCBA, is based on B.F. Skinner’s theory that language should be divided into categories based on analysis of verbal behavior, established developmental milestones, and research from the field of behavior analysis.

Treatment Plan & Program Development
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is widely recognized as a safe and effective treatment for children with autism. ABA principles and techniques cultivate basic skills such as making eye contact and imitating desired behavior as well as complex skills such as making conversation with and learning to understand the perspective of others.
ABA is based on data collection combined with continual analysis such that the treatment team is able to update the treatment plan as needed, thus creating the most effective program for the child. Lessons are broken down to their simplest elements. Children are presented with stimulus through repetition. Positive reinforcement is used to recognize correct responses and behaviors.

>> Learn more about ABA…

In order to help your child learn to function independently and achieve personal goals, the Eastside Social Skills team uses a combination of interviews, assessments and observations to create an individualized treatment plan and develop a program based on that plan that is custom fit specifically to your child’s needs.

Ongoing Program Supervision
In collaboration with the child’s parents, Behavior Technicians work 1:1 with the child between 10-40 hours a week, using your child’s specific program to guide and record ongoing progress. A Program Manager who is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) closely monitors each child’s progress, working with the parent and technicians to regularly update the program based on your child’s improvement.