Center Based Benefits – Factors to Consider When Deciding the Right Fit for Your Child

Center based ABA therapy is therapy that takes place within a center location rather than within one’s home like home-based ABA therapy. At Ally, our centers have an environment where children have the opportunity to focus on school readiness (circle time, lining up with peers, group activities and following group instructions), social skills (turn-taking, playing interactive movement games with peers), increasing communication and opportunities for structured learning opportunities. This differs from home-based therapy that occurs within the home and uses the child’s own toys and routines to conduct therapy.

Center based ABA therapy provides your child with a space where they will have access to a 1:1 Behavior Therapist every day and a BCBA on-site that is accessible to both the therapist and the child, daily. This differs from home-based therapy, where the BCBA supervisor may only oversee the Behavior Therapist a few times per month.

Home-based ABA therapy may be an appropriate approach when the learner has difficulties being a participating member within the home. If the learner has difficulties following every day routines within the home. Where early intervention, center-based ABA therapy would be appropriate for those families looking to target Kindergarten readiness skills with similar aged peer models and have their child attend daily social skills groups.

At Ally, our centers have all service providers on site. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA), Occupational Therapists (OT), and Speech Therapists (SLP) are all in one location making the commute for parents easy, additionally it allows your service providers to easily collaborate and make treatment decisions as a team to best support your child. This is different from home-based therapy where your providers may be in different locations or the service providers do not have the availability to collaborate frequently.

Home-based therapy might be an appropriate approach for caregivers who have the availability to be present during every therapy session. Center-based therapy might be a good fit for a working parent who does not have that availability to be home during ABA therapy due to a conflicting work schedule, at Ally, our early intervention center-based approach to therapy allows for you to continue your work schedule and meet with your Behavior (BCBA), SLP, and OT team as needed to ensure the skills learned at the center are carried over into the home.

Every child’s schedule varies based on their own individual needs. At Ally, your child will have a 1:1 behavior therapist that will spend the entire day with them, they will have a BCBA over seeing these therapeutic services.

Our centers have rooms we refer to as the Naturalistic Environment Teaching ‘NET’ spaces. NET 1 is the ‘Gym’ for opportunities for movement play; playing chase with friends, jumping on the trampoline to get their wiggles out, climbing on the climbing structure, or playing ring around the rosey. NET 2 is the ‘Library’ where children can sit on the circle time carpet to attend circle time, play in group stations, read books, and practice engaging in conversations with peers. NET 3 is ‘Playroom’ where the make believe and pretend play opportunities flourish, we have kitchen toys and play houses to facilitate pretend cooking, cars to pretend to be race car drivers, or animals to pretend to be zookeepers.

In addition to our NET spaces, each center has a cafeteria where your child will practice following the every day routine of retrieving their lunch box, sitting at the table and eating snacks and lunch. Opportunities for daily living activities occur naturally throughout the day, including transitioning from one preferred activity to the bathroom, to having to practice washing hands before snack, to learning to tolerate sharing a favorite toy with peers. Our therapists are ready and equipped to support your child within this center-based ABA therapy approach.

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A Virginia native, Meghan Ello has spent 9 years in the ABA field, serving as a BCBA for 6 of those years. She is passionate about building relationships with her clients and their families and watching the growth of the children she works with. When it comes to the relationship between parents and their child’s BCBA, she believes the best outcomes come from working together. She values open communication, collaboration, and supporting the family every step of the way. Parents are an essential part of their child’s progress, and they don’t have to navigate that journey alone.