HOPE consultants work with individual families in developing an appropriate treatment plan that will benefit the child and meet the needs of the family. Family members are seen as an integral part of the child’s treatment team and are encouraged to be as involved as possible in the selection and implementation of treatment. The main goal of any HOPE treatment plan is for the child to function as independently as possible in his or her natural environments. Therapy sessions may occur at home, in a school or daycare setting, at the Hope Learning Center, in the community, or – most likely – in a combination of settings.

HOPE offers a variety of services to meet the needs of the autism community. HOPE consultants are trained in a variety of therapy techniques and have access to unlimited resources so that they can best meet the needs of individual children. ALL services are based on the needs of the child and the family. Our most popular services include:

Treatment plans are developed by HOPE consultants based on the scientifically-proven principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and are developed to meet the needs of each individual child and his or her family. Individualized treatment plans may combine a variety of treatment strategies such as play-based learning, discrete trial training, and social skills groups. Treatment plans are designed to be reinforcing and fun for the child while teaching a variety of skills that lead to long-term success including:

Direct therapy is the time that a child spends working one-on-one with a therapist on specific goals. The number of hours each child spends in therapy weekly is a decision to be made by the therapy team and can range from as few as 10 to more than 30 hours. Direct therapy can be provided by HOPE therapists, or by parents, caregivers, college students, or even responsible babysitters. Anyone who cares about the child and desires to see him or her succeed can be a great therapist with training provided by HOPE consultants.

In most cases parent/caregiver training is an ongoing process throughout the child’s time in an ABA program. HOPE consultants will provide the parent/caregiver with teaching tips and will educate parents on the principles of ABA so that parents can have successful interactions with the child outside of therapy times. Consultants are sensitive to the needs of the family as well as the child and will help make your child’s treatment plan fit in with the rest of the day’s activities. HOPE consultants are also available to discuss the principles of ABA as well as your child’s individual progress, goals, and needs with teachers outside of the home (in daycare or preschool settings) on request.

All parents understand how quickly problem behaviors can develop and intensify. HOPE consultants are trained to conduct functional assessments of problem behaviors in order to determine the behavior’s communicative function. Once the function of the behavior is identified, the consultant can select a socially-appropriate replacement behavior and instruct the team how to teach the behavior.