How ABA works at ACT
There are a few steps between “we called” and “therapy started.” You don’t have to manage any of them alone — our team handles the paperwork with you and tells you what’s next at every stop.
- There are five stops: intake call, paperwork, insurance approval, assessment, and then sessions begin.
- Plan on keeping at least 10 hours a week open for sessions. Your exact hours come from the assessment.
- Your Board Certified Behavior Analyst reviews progress constantly and updates the plan — usually with a formal reassessment about every six months.
- The goal is for your family to need us less over time, not more.
That’s really all you need. The rest is here whenever you want more.
Five stops to your first session
- 1About 10 minutes
Intake call or form
We ask about your child, your insurance, and the days and times that realistically work. We won’t guess at a start date — as soon as we know, you’ll know.
- 2Depends on your state
Gather what’s needed on file
Colorado: no autism diagnosis needed — a letter from your child’s physician recommending ABA is enough. Oklahoma and North Carolina: a diagnostic evaluation needs to be on file. No paperwork yet? We’ll share our referral list and hold on to your information so you never start over.
- 3Days to weeks
Insurance check and approval
We verify your benefits and ask your insurer to approve the assessment. With Medicaid, authorized services cost your family nothing. With a commercial plan, we tell you exactly what the plan said — no made-up numbers.
- 4Usually 2–4 visits
Assessment
A Board Certified Behavior Analyst gets to know your child and you, then writes the treatment plan. You read the goals before anything is final. (Guide 4 walks through this.)
- 5Ongoing
Sessions begin
We match your technician on availability, location and continuity — the same friendly face at the same times whenever we can. Family guidance goes on the calendar from day one.
How many hours a week ABA takes
We ask families to keep at least 10 hours a week open for sessions — enough time for new skills to really take hold. Your exact number comes from the assessment: the Board Certified Behavior Analyst who assessed your child recommends hours based on your child’s needs, goals and daily life — including school, daycare and family time — and your insurer approves them.
Focused programs
Aimed at a handful of specific goals — like toilet training, mealtimes or a particular challenging behavior.
Broader programs
Several areas of development at once, built around school or daycare.
Comprehensive programs
Support across many areas, usually for younger children who need help in lots of areas at once.
- Sessions come in weekday blocks — mornings (8–12), afternoons (12–3) or after school (3–6) — scheduled around your family’s week.
- Family guidance is extra time on your calendar: at least 2 hours a month with your Board Certified Behavior Analyst.
- For in-home sessions, a parent or another trusted adult needs to be home.
- Hours aren’t forever. As skills grow, hours usually come down, and we plan that step-down with you.
If the recommended hours don’t fit your family’s life, say so. The plan has to work in the real world — that’s one of our core values. Prefer to watch? The 1-minute video on hours.
You’ll be able to see it, not just hear about it
- Every session: the technician records data as they go — what your child did independently, what needed help, and what happened around any hard moments.
- Between sessions: your Board Certified Behavior Analyst reviews the data. If a program isn’t moving, it changes in weeks, not months.
- During family guidance: your Board Certified Behavior Analyst walks you through progress in plain language. Ask to see the graphs any time.
- About every six months: a reassessment updates goals and the hours request, and your insurer reviews it again.
Skills mastered, session by session
Illustration of how progress data looks — not a real child’s chart.
Where this is all headed
From the start, your child’s plan includes what “ready to step down” looks like. As skills grow, hours usually come down, more of the work shifts to you and the other people in your child’s life, and eventually your child graduates from ABA. We’ll plan that transition with you, not spring it on you.
- Hours change as your child’s needs change — up or down.
- Goals get handed over to caregivers on purpose, so they keep working after we step back.
- Transitions — to preschool, kindergarten, a new classroom — get planned ahead.
Call us — a real person will help.
Colorado (720) 432-8989 · Oklahoma (918) 764-8544 · North Carolina (336) 270-9453 · info@actaba.com