Clinical Services
Focus on Behavior offers a variety of clinical services. A child may receive any of these services or a combination of several types of services. All programming is individualized based on the learner’s needs.
One-on-One Therapy
One-on-one behavior therapy is the core of what we do. Skills in the areas of Communication, Early Learning Skills, Independent Functioning, and Social Skills are broken down into their discrete components and taught directly and systematically using principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
Treatment is individualized to meet the unique needs of each learner, whether these needs are to communicate basic wants and needs, to play appropriately, to become toilet trained, or to acquire skills to be more successful at school. A wide variety of skills can be targeted depending on the individual’s needs.
Treatment plans are developed by Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCABAs) and supervised by the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Data is collected on an ongoing basis and guides treatment decisions.
Training for School Readiness
Important readiness skills, such as sitting appropriately, attending to an instructor, following a classroom routine, and many more, are identified and directly taught using ABA in order to facilitate the child’s success at school. For children who have not yet begun school, prerequisite skills may be targeted and taught in order to help the child transition more successfully to the school setting.
Social Skills Training
Targeted skills are taught and practiced in structured teaching sessions. Children are provided with opportunities within therapy sessions to learn social skills involving peer interactions. Therapist support is systematically faded to facilitate independent interactions.
Some examples of social skills to be targeted may include conversation skills, turn-taking, sharing, playing interactive games, accepting losing a game, initiating interactions with peers, and more. Social skills groups or peer sessions are also offered.
Behavior Reduction Programming
Behaviors targeted for reduction are analyzed using Functional Behavior Assessment. Then, a plan for dealing with the target behavior will be designed and implemented based on the function of the behavior. Although the reduction and elimination of problem behaviors are important, services do not stop there. It is vital to teach appropriate skills to provide a replacement for the problem behavior. For this reason, we view behavior reduction programming as teaching, an opportunity to teach a child important new skills. We also offer on-site behavioral consulting to assist with challenging behaviors in the community, home, daycare, church, or school setting.