What do you do?
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We are a center-based treatment center for children ages 2-6 years with autism. We provide full time ABA therapy in a structured preschool-like environment.
What type of funding do you accept?
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We work with all major commercial insurance plans, and most of these plans are mandated to cover autism related services (like ABA therapy). However, each plan is different, and there are some plans that have exceptions to coverage. We encourage families to contact us and we will walk you through the benefits process, including checking benefits at no obligation.
Do you work with Medicaid?
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Unfortunately, our services are not yet covered by Illinois Medicaid. We work with families willing to purchase private insurance plans then help them with covering the cost of those plans (premiums and out of pocket expenses) by leveraging available resources. More than 60% of our current families have Medicaid and have chosen to take advantage of these resources to gain access to the necessary treatment for their kids.
Do you accept part time enrollment?
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Our program and schedules were structured around full time enrollments. Due to capacity and staffing implications, we only offer full time enrollment at this time.
What are the qualifications of your staff?
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All behavior technicians are required to undergo an initial training which encompasses in person training and structured overlapping and observation. Furthermore, all behavior technicians must complete the 40-hour coursework, in-person competency assessment and computer-based exam required to obtain their Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) certification within the first 6 months of employment. There is a range of experience and education level across all staff, many of them having bachelors and masters level credentials and others pursuing their postgraduate coursework in ABA principles as well. All children have a one to one therapist throughout the day, and all children are additionally supervised by a masters level BCBA in addition to their established support staff (ie – Case Managers and BCBA students). We firmly believe that a person’s education level by itself is not an indicator for whether they will work well with children, specifically children with autism. We take great care in finding clinicians who are passionate, driven, empathetic and patient first and foremost, then we rely on our training and development program to further their skill set.
Do you offer other types of therapies?
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The Place for Children with Autism works with The Place for Speech to offer convenient speech therapies on-site at our various locations. Speech therapies are provided by a Speech Language Pathologist during the day when a child is already at the center. If interested in learning more about these therapies, visit theplaceforspeech.com.
What age range do you serve?
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We work with children ages 2-6 years of age. We would like to eventually address additional phases of the lifeline, but felt it was important to establish the basis from which all additional services would be developed from. This age range has the highest impact on a child’s development, and our goal is to ensure these children are provided with pre-requisite skills to build the rest of their academic experiences from. As our program develops, we will also look to provide services to older children after school and on the weekends, then will also look to develop vocational programs beginning at the transitional age and into adulthood.
What are your hours of operation?
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All centers are open Monday through Friday from 8:00am-4:30pm
How large are your therapy spaces?
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We generally try to keep our centers small, each BCBA supervises 7-8 children on their caseload and centers that have multiple BCBAs have up to 21 kids in total. We felt it was important to keep the environments small and intimate so there is more focus on the child as an individual rather than maintaining and operating large centers.
What is the difference between Home & Center-Based ABA Therapy?
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Both home and center based ABA therapy has been proven to be effective for individuals with autism. At the Place for Children with Autism, we have chosen a center based model to provide ABA services that mirror a preschool setting. But why?
The Place for Children with Autism utilizes research to guide all our decisions, including our center based model. As the field of behavior analysis has advanced, studies were introduced to examine the implications location made on progress, and the results were profound in favor of center based ABA services.
Two of these widely known studies include Roberts et al., 2011 and Dixon et al., 2016 and the results found that children receiving center-based therapies improved the most in social & communication skill development, while their parents reported the most gains in perception of competence and quality of life (Roberts et al., 2011). In addition, Dixon et al., 2016 found that skill acquisition more than doubled when treatment was moved from the home model to the center model.
Deciding on whether center based or home based services is most appropriate for your child is not easy! We urge you to contact our outreach specialists to set up a tour and see if it’s a good fit for your family and child. Please contact us for more information.
What happens when my child ages out?
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We begin the transition process at least six months before your child’s anticipated departure date. The BCBA works closely with the family to ensure the child is well prepared for the transition to school. This will include changes in programming as well as a focus on transition during parent training meetings. The BCBA will prepare reports that can be shared with the child’s educational team and attend school observations and meetings to ensure a smooth transition into their educational placement.
Can I receive services from multiple ABA providers?
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Not all ABA providers are the same. While ABA providers might use the same methodology, the approach may be substantially different. First thing to consider is whether the philosophies are in alignment or are instead confusing for the child. Next is to create a collaboration, if possible, between providers to ensure treatment complement and support one another. At the end of the day, our recommendation will be what is best in optimizing the child’s outcomes.
We Change Lives Every Day
Interested in our services and inquiring about placement for your child?
We are now enrolling ages 2-6. Reach out today!