Chicago ABA Therapy Presents:

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING AN

ABA ASSESSMENT

An illustrated guide for parents

AVAILABLE ON: www. C hicago ABAT herapy.com
Copyright © 2018 by Karen George, MS, CCC-SLP

All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced in any

form (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise)
without expressed written permission from the publisher and author.

Additional copies of this guide may be ordered directly through Amazon.com.

For bulk purchases, contact us through our website at:
www.ChicagoABATherapy.com.

First Edition

Evan Campa, 1981-

Megan Morien, 1983-

Samantha Sohngen, 1990-

Madie Szaller, 1991-

Title: Chicago ABA Therapy Presents:

What to Expect During an ABA Assessment
An illustrated guide for parents

Special thanks to the countless people who have contributed to this

work including designers, researchers, fact-checkers, the publisher,
production managers, illustrators, proofreaders, sources, indexers,
and editors. A special thanks to the entire Chicago ABA Therapy team
who supported this work.

Printed in the United States of America

Pediatric Publishing 2018

Pediatric
Publishing
 What to Expect During an
ABA Assessment
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) assessments can look different across
providers, companies, and assessment tools used. This guide will give you
a general idea of what to expect during an ABA assessment.

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BCB
A

It is always best to address specific questions about your child

or the assessment to the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)
who will be conducting the evaluation.

1
 Who is a BCBA?
A BCBA or “behavior analyst” is a professional certified in the field of
behavior analysis. Behavior analysts provide supervision to a team of
therapists who provide direct therapy and oversee ABA programming.
Behavior analysts use evidence-based strategies to create support
plans and provide personalized goals and programming across multiple
developmental domains.

CB
B A
This process also involves collecting data and analyzing progress to
adjust the programming. A multidisciplinary team will also collaborate to
ensure children receive the most comprehensive level of care. Behavior
analysts also lead parent education sessions to encourage full-family
involvement in ABA therapy.

2
 Who Attends An ABA Assessment
Typically, an assessment will include the BCBA and your child. Parents and
other family members are also welcome to join. For direct testing with the
child, parents or other caregivers may be asked to step outside the room
or observe through a window to reduce distractions for the child.

To ensure the assessment goes as smoothly as possible, it is important

that your child is well rested and in good health on the day(s) of the
assessment. You can bring snacks, drinks, or other essentials for your
child if you feel these would help them throughout the day.

3
 What Preparation Is Needed
Prior to beginning an ABA assessment, a child will typically already have
had a diagnostic evaluation to confirm their diagnosis of
autism or a related disorder.

BCB
A

The BCBA conducting your child’s ABA assessment will review this
diagnostic report and any relevant information or assessment reports.

4
 What Happens
During an Assessment?
An ABA assessment will likely consist of a combination of the BCBA directly
observing and assessing your child’s skills, interviewing parents and other
caregivers, and reviewing your child’s relevant documentation (e.g. previous
treatment plans, medical records, and any diagnostic materials).
During this time, parents may observe from a distance.

The BCBA may ask you to participate in the assessment to see how
your child typically interacts with familiar people. Parents should have
opportunities to ask questions. The BCBA may have additional questions
for the parents, such as checklists to assess independence
with daily living skills.

5
 How Long Is The Assessment?
Direct testing with the BCBA can last anywhere from
two to 10 hours depending on the assessment type and your child’s
developmental level.

In addition to direct testing with the BCBA and your child,

the BCBA may seek your help in filling out informal rating scales.

6
 Commonly Used Assessments
The BCBA will choose an assessment for your child based on their
developmental level, age, and therapy goals. Some commonly used
assessments are the VB-MAPP (Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment
and Placement Program), the ABLLS (Assessment of Basic Language and
Learning Skills), and the AFLS (Assessment of Functional Living Skills).

VB-MAPP ABLLS

ESDM
AFLS Curriculum
Checklist

HELP FBA

For very young children, an assessment such as the ESDM (Early Start
Denver Model) Curriculum Checklist or HELP (Hawaii Early Learning Profile)
may be used to determine the child’s skill level. The assessment may also
include an FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment).

7
 What Is The Purpose Of
An Assessment?
The purpose of any ABA assessment is to determine your child’s strengths,
as well as areas where they can improve. Based on the results of the
assessment, the BCBA will develop a measurable, meaningful therapy program.

Therapy
M y
!
Goals Highest
Potential!

G O A L S!
The best ABA programs are tailored to meet your child’s unique needs.
This individualized approach ensures that your child receives appropriate
and effective treatment that allows them to reach their highest potential.

8
 Will Assessments Address
Challenging Behaviors?
The BCBA will measure, observe, and rate a child’s challenging behaviors.
You (parents) or other familiar adults may also be involved in this process.

If challenging behaviors are disruptive to the child’s environment or

dangerous (to the child or others), the BCBA may also conduct an FBA
(Functional Behavior Assessment) as part of the initial assessment.

9
 What Is A Functional Behavior
Assessment (FBA)?
A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is a process that may include
interviews with parents, caregivers, and other familiar adults, as well as
direct observational data collected by the BCBA or a functional analysis.

What is
an FBA?

BCB
A

The FBA will determine the function of the child’s challenging behaviors
(why they engage in this behavior) and help the BCBA to create
appropriate and effective behavior support plans. This may include
strengths, preventative strategies, replacement behaviors,
and overall goals.

10
 What Happens After
My Child’s Assessment?
After the BCBA completes the assessment, they will write a behavior
support plan that promotes improvement and gains. Based on the results
of the assessment, the BCBA will create individualized goals that target
the skill areas where your child requires additional support.

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Once the behavior support plan is complete, the BCBA will schedule a
meeting with the parents to review the plan and model strategies.
During the meeting, the BCBA will also answer questions.

11
 Common ABA Therapy Goals
Depending on your child’s developmental level, there are several different
goal areas that the BCBA will choose for your child.
Common goal areas may include:

Imitation Expressive Language Skills

Personal Hygiene Skills Play Skills
Listener Skills Community Skills
Daily Living Skills Social Skills
Your child’s assessment and therapy will most likely include goals to
address decreasing challenging behaviors such as physical aggression,
tantrums, or noncompliance. The BCBA will work on increasing your child’s
developmental, academic, and functional skills, as well as
decreasing challenging behaviors.

12
 Common ABA Therapy Goals

Imitation
Imitation is the act of modeling the behavior of another person.
Children with autism often need to be taught this skill if it does not
come naturally. Imitation is also a foundation for learning new skills.

The goal of imitation is for a child to be able to engage in new behaviors

without being directly taught. This allows children to carry over these
skills to imitate language, joint attention, pretend play, and social skills.

13
Common ABA Therapy Goals

Play Skills
Play skills can impact many areas of early childhood development. Children
with autism engage in play, but they may only play with specific toys, use
toys in a non-functional way, stick to repetitive play patterns, or more.

The benefits of teaching appropriate play skills can help with language and
communication, motor skills, problem solving, and social play.

14
 Common ABA Therapy Goals

Expressive Communication
Expressive communication is the ability to communicate your wants, needs,
ideas, and thoughts with others. This can include talking, signing, writing,
typing, using picture exchange, or a device.

I don’t Can I
Like it. have that
toy?

When children with autism are given the tools to use expressive
communication, they are able to increase their spontaneous interactions
and decrease overall frustration with the communication process.

15
Common ABA Therapy Goals

Listener Skills
Listener skills target the ability to understand and follow directions. To
respond to a direction, a child must pay attention when another person is
speaking and understand what they are saying.

Can you
please put away
your toys?

ABA goals break listener skills into teachable units that start with
responding to a speaker’s voice and making eye contact. The child will
then move onto following directions and selecting correct items
within the natural environment.

16
 Common ABA Therapy Goals

Social Skills
Basic social skills include turn taking and communication. Many children
with autism need to receive programming to learn these skills.

There are a variety of strategies that can be used to assist with social
skill development, including thoughts and feelings activities, social stories,
role playing, video modeling, and peer-mediated interventions.

17
Common ABA Therapy Goals

Personal Hygiene Skills

Children with autism may require direct assistance and practice with
personal hygiene skills, such as washing their hands or brushing their teeth.

ABA therapy helps promote independence with personal hygiene skills by

implementing visual aids and schedules that break tasks into
step-by-step processes.

18
 Common ABA Therapy Goals

Community Skills
Community skills for young children include daily activities outside of home
and school such as accompanying parents to the library or grocery store.

BEEP! BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!

Activities in the community involve exploring a new environment with

unfamiliar sensory input, which can be challenging and overwhelming for
children with a diagnosis of autism. ABA therapy can help children and
their families navigate these situations and build independence.

19
Common ABA Therapy Goals

Daily Living Skills

Daily living skills are skills required for children to be autonomous and
healthy. These include, but are not limited to, dressing, bathing, or feeding.
Children with autism often have challenges completing
daily living skills independently.

ABA therapy uses strategies to break daily living skills into multiple steps.
Learning to handle tasks in steps can help children with autism process
information and master these daily living skills.

20
 Our Multidisciplinary Team
At Chicago ABA Therapy, we believe in a multidisciplinary approach to
treatment. In our many years of experience, we have found that teams
that collaborate and share information obtain the best results.

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Since our team offers a wide range of pediatric therapy services,

the BCBA will have the opportunity to consistently collaborate with
pediatric speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, ABA
therapists, and other BCBAs to ensure your child is receiving
the most comprehensive level of care.

21
 Children Make Great Gains &
Reach Their Maximum Potential
A multidisciplinary approach to treatment targets a wide range of key
developmental skills, not just one skill area. As a result, children who
receive care from a multidisciplinary team make great gains in therapy.

SUPER
KID!

A multidisciplinary team may also provide the most comprehensive level of

care since professionals from different disciplines hold unique perspectives
and expertise.

22
Our Super Simple Scheduling®
Guarantee

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{ SCHEDULING {
super simple
No more juggling various companies
®

for ABA, speech, feeding and

occupational therapy.
We handle all of the scheduling for you.
All in one place.
It’s SUPER SIMPLE.

G UAR A N T E E D

23
 What Are The Next Steps
For My Child?
Do you think your child could benefit from
an ABA assessment with our team?

Contact our office to receive more information and

learn about next steps with Chicago ABA Therapy.

Our team provides a wide range of services for children in the Chicago area!

(773) 630-4400
www.ChicagoABATherapy.com

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About Chicago ABA Therapy
Chicago ABA Therapy, is a premier provider of in-home pediatric ABA therapy services in Chicago and the surrounding
suburbs. Our exceptional team of ABA therapists from across the U.S. has extensive training in a wide range of evidence-
based techniques, including the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT), and more.

About Megan Morien, M.A., BCBA

Megan Morien is a Chicago-based Behavior Analyst with more than 15 years of experience working
with children in the field. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Family and Human
Development from Arizona State University before completing her Master’s degree in Clinical
Psychology with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis at The Chicago School of Professional
Psychology. Prior to joining the Chicago ABA Therapy team as a Lead Behavior Analyst, Megan gained
experience working in various schools in the Chicago area, as well as providing in-home
ABA programming in Arizona and Minnesota.

About Evan Campa, M. Ed., BCBA

Evan received her bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education from the University of Illinois,
and her master’s in Early Childhood Special Education from Vanderbilt University. She is
the recipient of the Autism Scholarship at Vanderbilt. She has held many leadership and
supervisory roles in her past positions. She is a certified trainer in the Early Start Denver Model
and implements many of these skills into Chicago ABA Therapy. Evan has also created her
own organization, The Whole Child Autism Center, in Nashville. Evan has trained hundreds of
professionals and families domestically and abroad in supporting people with ASD.

About Samantha Sohngen, M. Ed., BCBA

Samantha Sohngen is a leading behavior analyst at Chicago ABA Therapy who has been
working with children with disabilities since 2009. Samantha earned her Bachelor’s degree in
Psychology from Indiana University and went on to pursue her Master’s degree at Vanderbilt
University with a focus in special education and applied behavior analysis (ABA). After
graduating from Vanderbilt, Samantha moved to Chicago, where she has taught special
education at a therapeutic day school and worked at private ABA clinics.

Madie Szaller, M.A., BCBA

Madie Szaller is a Chicago-based Behavior Analyst who graduated summa cum laude from
the University of Dayton for her Bachelor’s degree in Adolescent Young Adult Language Arts
Education and English (with a minor in Spanish) . Following her undergraduate studies,
Madie had the opportunity to pursue a position with Teach for America. During this time, she
was nominated for the Sue Lehman Excellence in Teaching Award. She went on to earn her
Master’s degree in the Art of Teaching: Special Education from National-Louis University in
Chicago and her graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis from Penn State University.

To contact Chicago ABA Therapy, please go to: $24.95

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