"If a child cannot learn the way we teach...

We must teach the way the child can learn."

Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas

"Teaching is the arrangement of contingency to facilitate learning."

B.F. Skinner

Mission Statement:

The core value of our practice is inspired by Burrhus Frederic Skinner and Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas.

At ABA SHINE, we believe that recovery is possible and we design and implement our interventions with that in mind. Our team is committed to offering evidence-based interventions that are guided by science and inspired by compassion.

We believe that Autism and related disorders are just part of our clients; it is not everything that they are. We treat each one of our clients as much more than a diagnosis.

ABA SHINE Services:

ABA SHINE supports individuals with Autism and other developmental challenges using individualized methodologies that have been tested and proven effective in the literature. THE ABA SHINE team offers exceptional ABA services delivered with care, enthusiasm, and human touch to promote fast and lasting progress. We are confident that our services exceed our clients’ expectations. According to the parents’ survey, our data shows clients’ satisfaction and social validity of our services.

ABA SHINE focuses on assessing or evaluating the client’s needs. We believe that assessments are necessary; Assessments drive the development of our intervention programs. At ABA SHINE, assessments can look different based on the client’s needs. ABA SHINE team design individualized intervention programs to overcome our client’s deficits. We use clients’ strengths to help teach new skills and support them in overcoming their challenges. We start our teaching by targeting fundamental skills and building on to new and complex skills. Every client has unique needs, and ABA SHINE tailors intervention programs to increase desired behaviors and decrease unwanted behavior. Eventually, ABA SHINE’s focal point is that all clients reach their full potential. Our goal is to work with families to produce the treatment intervention program that will help enhance the lives of our clients and their families.

Girl in field
Time to Grow sign
Our experienced clinical team at ABA SHINE offers a variety of behavioral treatment services under the umbrella of ABA. Some of our services are:
  • Early Intervention
  • Potty training
  • Picky eating
  • Sleep regulation
  • School Age Readiness
  • Communication
  • Functional Life Skills Development
  • Social Skills Development
  • Self-management
  • Self-help, self-care, and independence
  • Community safety skills
  • Parent and Caregiver Training

What is ABA?

ABA is a systematic approach to treating the symptoms of autism while increasing communication and decreasing maladaptive behaviors. It focuses on the fact that not being able to communicate is frustrating, and kids will act out as a result. Hundreds of studies have demonstrated that ABA therapy can improve communication, social relationships, play skills, and self-care for children with autism. The techniques are also vital for helping children do well in school, and even in employment situations, ABA is the most successful form of autism therapy. It is approved by the United States Surgeon General and covered by most insurance companies. ABA is evidence-based practice and delivered by qualified professionals trained in ABA therapy.

What is ABA treatment?

When researchers compare ABA with other early intervention or special education programs designed for children with autism, results consistently show that children who receive ABA treatment make more significant improvements and gain more skill areas than children who participate in other interventions. Additionally, many parents of the children receiving ABA report a substantial reduction in their daily stress compared with parents receiving other treatments.
Boys playing with toys

ABA SHINE Process:

Our services are initiated by a self-referral, referrals from insurance, or the local Regional Center. Once we receive the authorization, we initiate the first contact with the family, and then we schedule a structured intake interview with the client or caregiver, per clients’ availability.

1) Conduct FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment) that constitutes of two parts:

Part 1: Behavioral Observation and Skill Assessment
The Behavioral Observation and Skill Assessment is based on a combination of interviews with caregivers, review of pertinent records, direct observations, assessments of developmental norms, and when necessary, Comprehensive Functional Assessments, and/or Functional Analysis Assessments (this process is outlined in further detail below). This assessment is essential to identify the client’s strengths and weaknesses across different domain areas.

Part 2: Functional Assessment
This assessment is a necessary tool in ABA SHINE’s process. It is critical to determine the functions (reasons) for all challenging behaviors like aggression, tantrums, self-injurious behaviors, non-compliant, elopement, propriety destruction, vocal protest, and oppositional behaviors. ABA SHINE clinicians design appropriate and functional interventions. Comprehensive Functional Assessments may include a review of pertinent records, interviews, completion of survey instruments, direct observations of behaviors, and/or functional analysis. The functional analysis involves the arrangement of brief exposures to different environmental contingencies while measuring the behavior directly to get information about controlling variables.

girl & teacher with blocks Some of the Assessments Used at ABA SHINE:
  • Functional Assessment Interview Form (FAI) with Parent
  • Motivational Assessment Scale (MAS)
  • Functional Assessment Screening Tool (Fast)
  • ABC (Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence) Recording
  • Scatter plot Recording
  • Student-Directed Functional Assessment Interview Form
  • Functional Behavior Assessment – VB-MAPP, Vineland-III, ABLLS_R®, AFLS-, EFL, Social Savvy (administered one of them as per client age and skill deficit
  • Observation (Assessment section and plan is dependent on as per client need, our assessment are all individualized)

2) Developing Behavior Intervention plan (BIP)

ABA SHINE clinicians develop behavior intervention plans as per assessment and observation. ABA SHINE Team identifies concerning behaviors and operationally defines each behavior in layman terms so a non-ABA person can see it and recognize it. ABA SHINE clinicians develop a proactive and reactive strategy to decrease behavior and teach socially acceptable and functionally equivalent replacement behaviors.

3) Treatment Designing

Girl working on puzzle

ABA SHINE clinicians identify skill deficits and create skill acquisition goals to overcome any detected deficiencies from the assessment. Skill acquisition goals are created under various domains:

  • Communication: receptive and expressive
  • Pragmatic Skills
  • Daily Living Skills: Personal, domestic, and community
  • Socialization: Interpersonal Relation, Play & Leisure
  • Coping Skills
  • Motor skills: Gross motor and fine motor

4) Data Collection System

ABA SHINE uses an electronic data collection system to collect data. As per the Treatment plan, all goals are updated in the Electronic data collection platform by the BCBAs/BCaBA’s and case supervisors. Our RBTs and behavior therapists collect daily data electronically in real-time with accuracy.

5) Data Analysis

ABA SHINE team, BCABA’s/BCaBA, and case supervisors analyze data frequently to identify client progress and treatment effectiveness and make treatment modifications.

6) Various treatment settings

ABA SHINE provides individualized intervention services in various settings, and we designed treatment plans as per clients’ needs at school, home, and or in the community.

7) Parent training

dad playing with 2 kids

ABA SHINE provides ongoing parent training to support parents in understanding the functions of behavior and conduct monthly parent meetings to discuss progress. During the parent training /meeting, we focus on:

  • Parental Concern
  • Introduce ABA principles
  • Coach and teach parents to implement behavior plans
  • Treatment plan update
  • Sharing Visual graph to show clients’ progress

8) Electronic parent signature

ABA SHINE provides parents electronic signatures at the end of each session, where parents can see a summary of all services rendered by the ABA team.

9) Parent Portal/Dashboard

ABA SHINE provides parent parental access to all client data under the parent portal /dashboard, where parents can see all data about their child and monitor progress.

Girl dancing with ribbon

ABA SHINE Main Treatment Approaches:

Discrete Trial Training (DTT)

Discrete Trial Training (DTT) is a highly-structured, one-to-one teaching approach used in ABA therapies. It involves breaking simple skills down to their most basic parts and teaching them to the child step-by-step. DTT introduces various new skills or behavior to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ranging from very simple to more complex skills, depending on the child’s specific needs.

Our BCBA experts engage with your child to gain a basic understanding of their skills and needs. After a thorough understanding of your child’s needs, DTT is used to teach various new skills or behavior to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ranging from very simple to more complex skills.

Verbal Behavior (VB)

Verbal Behavior (VB) is used to assess and facilitate the development of language skills. We believe the ability to communicate through vocal or augmentative communication is one of the most crucial life skills to be taught and is the emphasis of all of our programs. We use tools such as the VB-MAPP (Sundberg), Vineland-III, ABLLS-R (Partington), AFLS (Partington & Mueller), and EFL (McGreevy) that helps to identify specific language objectives and give us the means to create a personalized curriculum for your child.

Natural Environment Training (NET)

Natural Environment Training, or NET, utilizes the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis to teach children in the natural environment. Natural environment teaching helps children to acquire new skills effectively. Natural Environment Training offered by our BCBA experts focuses on a child’s specific needs and embeds them within their interests. We provide NET to teach children basic functional communication skills to advance language skills and a wide variety of social skills.

Fading services:

Our In-home ABA treatment program helps us observe child behaviors in the family environment and design specific treatment models to address that particular behavior. In the ABA SHINE treatment program, the long-term goal is to generalize the child’s skills to the home, school, and community and fully participate in family, school, and community activities.

Girl daydreaming
toddler with large stuffed bear

ABA SHINE Programs

1) Early Intervention Programs

0-3 years: This plan includes parent involvement and provides the foundation for teaching your child new skills like crawling, walking, talking, listening, eating, and even playing! ABA SHINE celebrates every “first” and every milestone.

2) Comprehensive Programs

3-8 years: A comprehensive ABA program teaches new skills such as communication, socialization, play, self-care, cognition, executive functioning, and more while reducing problem behaviors. Comprehensive programs typically include structured and naturalistic teaching, play dates, community outings, and clinical team meetings.

3) Focused Programs

8 to 25 years: A focused ABA program targets teaching your child functional skills, such as compliance, social communication, self-care skills, safety skills, and independent leisure skills, while reducing severe problem behaviors.

4) Parent Consult Programs

Family involvement is essential for the ultimate effectiveness of your child’s ABA program. You will learn how to extend the treatment throughout your child’s daily routine in all settings and become empowered to make informed decisions regarding your child’s program.

5) Custom Curriculum

ABA SHINE is proud to claim the implementation of a treatment curriculum that includes over 1,000 lessons to teach your child the needed skills they need and may need in various developmental areas. When your child learns to engage in functionally equivalent appropriate behaviors, your child will no longer need to use problem behaviors to meet his/her needs. ABA SHINE clinicians also implement a specialized curriculum for infants, toddlers, adolescents, and young adults!

Baby grabbing finger
Dad swinging boy

Contact ABA SHINE

(510) 284-7057

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