1:1 Autism Specialist Support

• Individual Skills:

• Individual Skills are conducted by trained Behavior Therapists (BT), Senior Therapists (ST), Program Manager (PM), as well as the Clinical Supervisor (CS). For all In-Home programs, the autism specialists typically provide 10 – 20 hours per week of Individual Skills sessions for a part time program. A full-time program typically provides 25 – 40 hours per week with our autism specialists in the client’s home. Clients in our center location participate in full time program with autism specialists Monday – Friday from 8:30 – 4:30 daily. During these sessions, the autism specialists will focus on targets that were individually developed and based on the goals within the treatment plan.

The autism specialists will continually analyze the effectiveness of each program and teaching strategies utilized during individual skills sessions and provide communication to the team to make sure all programs are run consistently correctly across staff. Modification of targets and programs are made based off the data collected and the analysis of information provided from the individual sessions. Our team of autism specialists receive 2 - 3 weeks of intensive hands-on training prior to initiating individual skills sessions and then are closely monitored to ensure program and teaching techniques are being implemented per the treatment plan.

• Family Skills:

Family Skills Therapy uses Applied Behavior Analysis techniques to provide parents and caregivers understanding of their child’s program development. Family Skills sessions range from 1 – 5 hours per week depending on the child and family’s needs. During these sessions, there is a big focus on strategies for teaching skills that are crucial to the projected progress over time. Family Skills is typically conducted by the Senior Therapists (ST), Program Manager (PM), Clinical Director (CD), as well as the Clinical Supervisor (CS).

Weekly training involves one or both parents present for the session providing knowledge and understanding of progress, projection, and applied behavior analysis teaching strategies that work most effectively with their child. The clinical team utilizes applied behavior analysis techniques used in individual sessions by generalizing the previous skills taught in discrete trial training to a more naturalistic setting. Through the use of Applied Behavior Analysis, the clinical team will continue to analyze and modify effective strategies used in the home, the center, and community to ensure these techniques can be consistently used during real life situations. We at Minnesota Behavioral Specialists want to make sure that we are setting realistic and achievable goals for parents and caregivers. Research supports that Applied Behavior Analysis is most effective when parents are able to continue to implement the strategies when therapists are not in the home, or center locations or once discharge has occurred.

• Group Skills:

At the center, children have the opportunity to be paired with peers to work on social skills, turn taking, and foundational skills needed to be successful in school settings. Group skills gives children the opportunity to learn skills needed to be more successful when participating in social settings and community settings as the child makes progress throughout and after ABA therapy.