Frequently Asked Questions

After an assessment is completed, if it is deemed clinically appropriate to provide services in the school, we will work with you, your insurance provider, and the school district to determine if this is possible.

Most insurance companies require a formal diagnosis to access ABA therapy. While the evaluations provided by a school district can help our team with treatment planning, they do not typically include a formal diagnosis. Instead, schools’ complete evaluations to help determine eligibility for special education and determine a category of disability.

Absolutely! Parent involvement, engagement, and learning is key to success. We welcome you to attend sessions and support your child’s growth in this way.

We do not commonly accept volunteers at the center but welcome you to visit and observe sessions.

It can be! Behavioral therapy can refer to a broader range of interventions that aren’t necessarily all applied behavior analysis. For example, behavioral therapy might refer to cognitive behavioral therapy, behavior modification, or more eclectic approaches to care. If you are not sure, you can always ask!

Most of our centers also provide in-home therapy. Speak with your local clinical leader about options.

While we can intervene on some basic feeding needs (e.g., food selectivity or utensil use), if your child’s primary needs are related to feeding, a referral to a multidisciplinary team that focuses on feeding is likely best. In Florida, we have an intensive feeding program that can support higher intensity feeding needs in a specialized therapeutic setting.

Early intervention is typically delivered between the ages of 2 and 5 years of age.  Although not always the case, it is often intensive and comprehensive, focused on changing the developmental trajectory of a child.

We do not take grants or scholarships, but if you have access to something specific, speak with your BlueSprig representative to determine if there is an opportunity for you to use it.

Children can receive testing in a variety of locations, including your pediatrician, local psychologist, and even university settings. The first step is to speak with your primary care provider to ask questions and receive a referral for a thorough diagnostic evaluation.

If you live in an area where we do not provide adult services, we recommend reaching out to Autism Speaks to request information about how you might access adult services.

In certain areas, we have specialty centers tailored for adults. To learn more about the locations and availability, reach out to our team.

Part of the assessment process includes a clinical recommendation for the most appropriate location, based on the child’s goals and where we anticipate they will learn best. This may be center-only, home-only, community-only, or a combination of these settings.

A technician will come to your home to work with your child. You, or a designated caregiver, remain at home and are welcome to participate in therapy as it is conducted. Sessions can look very similar in the home as they do in centers except that there are unlikely to be group activities, scheduled time with peers, or access to learning materials typically found in a center setting.

At the end of each session, you will typically receive a quick overview of your child’s day. You can also access Central Reach to see more information about the goals your child worked on and their daily progress.

ABA has a broad range of applications and can be used in higher education, to support mental and physical health, and with different populations, like geriatrics.

ABA stands for applied behavior analysis and is the study of human behavior. ABA is a science that has a broad array of applications but is best known for its application with autistic individuals. ABA provides an approach for understanding the many variables that influence socially significant behavior, such as communication and social interactions.

There is no cure for autism, but ABA therapy helps to effectively address the symptoms associated with the diagnosis. Goals are focused on improving you and your child’s quality of life, with a specific focus on teaching new social and communication skills while reducing behaviors that may be challenging.

ABA therapy is not educational in nature; however, the goals addressed often include foundational skills that make it easier for an individual to learn in a school setting. In young children, ABA therapy may help prepare them for entering a school program. As a child ages, they are likely to participate in various therapies, educational activities, and events. For older children and teens, ABA could be an after-school therapy. Every client’s situation is unique, and your plan will be tailored based on your child’s needs and your interests.

We do offer Speech and Language Therapy in select locations. Is common for us to consult with our Speech and Language Pathologists and external Speech and Language Pathologists when designing the treatment plan and targeting communication skills.

Absolutely! You are a key component of treatment and are welcome and encouraged to participate in therapy whether at our clinic or in your home. Additionally, we will conduct frequent caregiver collaboration meetings to involve you in the development and revision of the treatment plan to ensure we include your priorities. We will work to together every step of the way!

In most cases, a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder is required for insurance to cover treatment. Contact us to learn about exceptions.

Yes, our Clinicians are Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) with a MA or PhD level education and our technicians are certified as Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs). The professional organization that oversees certification is called the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB).

Caregiver participation is required throughout the program to support the individual’s success in the transition back to community services. Our goal is to teach caregivers how to implement the intervention that we have learned works best for the individual and then we will gradually ask you to practice at home. We will work with you to identify times each week that you can come consistently. Typically, one hour each week is expected at the beginning of admission, and this increases as admission progresses.

Your child’s team will include a board-certified behavior analyst and trained registered behavior technicians who have specialized training in the assessment and treatment of severe behavior. We have a high ratio of staffing and supervision to ensure safe and effective service delivery.

We are still developing partnerships for housing (e.g., local hotels, Ronald McDonald House). Some of our out-of-town families have booked long-term stays through organizations like AirBnB. Please contact our treatment team for any updates!

Yes! You are always welcome to attend appointments. There are also spaces in the building that you can work out of and take breaks. We are happy to give you a tour when you start to show you these spaces.

The goal of the clinic is to identify and assess behavioral barriers and address them using best practice applied behavior analysis treatments developed by our team in collaboration with the individual and their caregivers. We teach safe replacement behaviors to communicate wants and needs and help to build tolerance and coping skills. Typically, the service will be divided into three parts: clinical assessment, treatment evaluation, and transition preparations. We incorporate intensive caregiver collaboration and education throughout the entire duration of admission.

We provide two types of services (i.e., full-day or half-day services) that take place Monday through Friday based on the individual’s needs. There are various factors that help us decide the best treatment option that is informed by behavior severity and current progress toward goals. We will work with you every step of the way to identify the plan that works best for the individual and their family.

The duration of admission will be based on the individual meeting the goals that we set with you at the start of the admission but is typically a minimum of 3 months. We will communicate with you throughout the admission if anything needs to change to get your thoughts and approval.

We accept most major insurance plans, including most regional payers. In certain areas, we also work with school districts. Examples of plans we accept include:

• BCBS
• Aetna
• TRICARE
• Cigna
• Humana
• United Healthcare
• Medicaid

To learn more about the coverage your plan offers, reach out to our team of experts.

Your financial responsibility for services will depend on your individual insurance plan and benefits. Our cost of services will not differ from any other ABA providers. Please contact a representative at your insurance company to get more information about any costs you may incur. We will do our best at the time of onboarding to provide an estimate of patient responsibility, however, this may vary based on the number of service hours provided.

We accept all major insurance companies, including all Florida Medicaid plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, United, and more. If your plan is not listed, please inquire and we will determine if we can accept your insurance. We are currently unable to accept Medicare and Med-Waiver.

Yes, services will be covered by insurance plans; however, not all insurance plans cover ABA services and coverage requires insurance approval. Before beginning services, we will ensure that your plan covers ABA and will communicate with you regarding your insurance’s authorization of services. We encourage you to contact a representative at your insurance company and inquire about “behavioral health” to understand the benefits of your specific plan.

The UFCAN specialty clinics are a collaboration with the Behavior Analysis Research Clinic (BARC) and do integrate research to provide your child with evidence-based treatments. Your child might have the opportunity to participate in research, pending both appropriateness of fit with ongoing research protocols and your consent.

The age range of clients will be from age of diagnosis through the lifespan.

Short-term specialty services provide clients with access to services that may not be available through their community providers. UFCAN has access to additional resources and personnel, such as experts from the University of Florida, that can address the unique needs of your child and eliminate barriers to community-based care.

The providers at UFCAN will begin working with you on day 1 of enrollment at the specialty clinic to plan out your child’s next steps. In some cases, that may be school, home-based care, or sometimes another community-based ABA clinic. If there is a delay to the next level of service, the UFCAN clinical team will work with you and your family to identify what services can and should be provided during that time.

Yes, and we will encourage collaboration with those providers to ensure the best quality of therapeutic services from everyone involved in your child’s care.

Yes! All of the providers at UFCAN will work together to help your family access the services they need.

Short term generally means around 3-6 months, or one insurance authorization period. In some cases, the clinical team may determine that the patient might need to spend a little more time in the specialty clinics to ensure a smooth transition to the less restrictive level of service. Your provider will work with the clinical team and your family to identify the appropriate level of services and their duration.

Usually the answer to this question is “No.” Our providers will review the referrals for the specialty clinic and as a clinical team will determine the least restrictive and most appropriate setting for treatment. Sometimes that will be in the existing setting, sometimes it will be with a community-based provider, and sometimes it will be at the specialty clinics. The specialty clinics are meant to be intensive therapy for a small number of targeted goals including a high level of caregiver training. A provider may refer you for an assessment to determine the most appropriate setting and medical necessity for intensive treatment, and sometimes that referral will not result in enrollment in the specialty clinic.

All potential candidates for this program must have had at least 3 months of other therapy (e.g., psychiatric consultation or ABA therapy) with little or no progress, except in cases where the child’s behavioral concerns become emergent, such as an ER visit for injury.

Your child’s team will include a doctoral-level behavior analyst and trained registered behavior technicians.

We are still developing partnerships for housing (e.g., local hotels, Ronald McDonald House), but do not have any formal arrangements at this time. Please mention this need during your child’s initial assessment appointment so that our clinical team can share any possible updates that we may have. We also encourage you to look at short-term lodging options like AirBnB.

You are welcome to bring your other children, but you will be responsible for providing them with supervision.

You are welcome to observe sessions, but we ask that you schedule observation ahead of time because we have limited spaces with observation windows. There are spaces in the building that you can work out of and take breaks. We are happy to give you a tour when enrollment begins to show you these spaces.

Caregiver participation is required throughout the program to support your child’s success in the transition to community services. Our goal is to teach you how to implement the interventions that work best for your child. We will work with you to identify times during each week that you can come consistently. Typically, one hour each week is expected at the beginning of admission, and this can increase to two hours per week towards the end of the admission.

The goal of the clinic is to identify behavioral barriers and address them using the best practice guidelines developed by our team. Typically, the service will be divided into three parts: clinical assessment, treatment evaluation, and transition preparations.

The time your child spends in clinic depends on if they are enrolled in the day treatment program or the intensive outpatient program. Day treatment patients spend about 6 hours each day in clinic, while outpatients spend about 15-20 hours per week in clinic, in 3-4 hour increments.

The program’s duration is approximately 3 to 6 months. However, the length of your child’s admission will be based on your child meeting the goals that we set with you at the start of the admission. We will communicate with you throughout the admission if anything needs to change for your opinions and approval.

Our program is highly successful! 100% of patients reach at least 90% of their goals. The more involved you are with the program, the more successful your child will be!

We encourage your and your family to continue therapy in our follow-up program, which is usually once a week for about 1 hour. The goal is to progress your child to age-typical feeding, which can take between 2 to 3 years, depending on your participation and your child’s oral-motor skills.

It is typically not possible to change the date. If you do not come in on that date, it is likely that your child’s admission will be delayed significantly. Also, your insurance company may not agree to delay admission given that they determined the admission was medically necessary at that time.

All potential candidates for this program must have had at least 3 months of other therapy (e.g., speech or occupational therapy, nutritional counseling) with little or no progress, except in cases where the child’s feeding concerns become emergent, such as an ER visit for dehydration.

No, but we do spread out meals, and we ask you to continue to do oral or tube feeds as you did before the admission. If your child has a tube, one therapeutic goal will be to decrease tube feedings as we increase oral intake.

No. However, we will add some level of structure to support your child. Importantly, we only give your child things to do that are well within their ability. For example, we will not ask them to try an amount too large, a texture too challenging, or ask them to eat more than what they need to gain weight, grow, stay hydrated, or get the proper nutrition. In fact, we are presenting your child with an amount, texture, or consistency that will be very easy, because in the beginning, we are just trying to teach your child general mealtime guidelines. Once your child learns the general structure of meals, increasing the amount, exploring new textures, and adding new foods is just a matter of time and practice. Throughout this process, we might use preferred toys and foods to see if they motivate your child to eat. Most of the children we see have a history of ‘getting out of eating’ by turning their head or pushing the spoon away. If we continue to remove the spoon, they will continue not to eat. Our goal will be to teach your child to engage in desirable mealtime behavior to finish a meal. What that means is that instead of removing the food or drink, we keep the meal going, but we also arrange the environment in such a way that encourages them to participate. By doing this, we give your child more opportunities to try the bites or drinks. When we get a child to try the food consistently, they will learn that eating and drinking does not hurt, or they might discover foods that they like!

We will begin with assessments to find out what impacts your child’s feeding behavior. We will then use the results to develop an individualized treatment for your child. We generally encourage positive behavior, try to make eating fun and easy, and try to find something that your child is willing to do and build on that behavior.

Your child will have five meals throughout the day. Between meals, your child might play, nap, or work on other skills (e.g., toileting, toothbrushing), depending on their needs.

We will get input from your child’s physician, dietitian, speech-language pathologist, or any similar professionals who know your child. At times, we may also reach out to other providers within UF Health to help establish care that can support your child’s feeding therapy and our ability to efficiently coordinate care.

Your child’s team will include a doctoral-level behavior analyst, a masters-level behavior analyst, and trained feeding therapists who are registered behavior technicians.

We are still developing partnerships for housing (e.g., local hotels, Ronald McDonald House), but do not have any formal arrangements at this time. Please mention this need during your child’s initial assessment appointment so that our clinical team can share any possible updates that we may have. We also encourage you to look at short-term lodging options like AirBnB.

The observation space is shared and scheduled out for specific appointments. Therefore, we encourage you to speak with your child’s clinical team to identify times in which you can observe sessions. Your child will work on other skills throughout the day, so they will be keeping busy with their therapy time. However, at the start of the admission, we will do our best to work with you and your family to ensure your child’s transition goes smoothly!

It is common that a child admitted to this program will miss school, depending on when we have an available opening in the program. However, please discuss this question with our clinical team during the initial assessment appointment and then with your child’s school administration. We are happy to provide any documentation that your child’s school may need.

Caregiver participation is required throughout the program to support your child’s success in feeding therapy. We will work with you and your family to arrange at least 2 hours per week of participation during your child’s admission (e.g., Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 4 pm).

Your child will be in clinic Monday to Friday, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM each day.

The admission is approximately 12 weeks.