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A parent notices that their child is having a hard time communicating, playing with other children, or handling changes in routine. They talk to their pediatrician and are told to schedule an autism evaluation. Then they call and find out the appointment is months away. I’ve spoken with families in that position. They aren’t necessarily looking for a particular diagnosis. They want someone qualified to spend time with their child, listen to what they’ve been seeing, and help

Why some families choose a full-day autism school-readiness program before kindergarten Most families of young children with autism follow the path that is first presented to them. Their child attends preschool through the local public school district, often for part of the day. ABA takes place after school, before school, or on different days. Parents may spend much of the week driving between programs and trying to connect what everyone is working on. What many families don

For families of children with autism, finding the right educational and therapeutic supports can make a meaningful difference. In Ohio, the Autism Scholarship Program gives eligible families another option for accessing special education services outside of their local school district. At Friendship ABA, we are proud to accept the Ohio Autism Scholarship to provide services that support the goals identified in a child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). What Is an IEP?

My path to founding FriendshipABA did not begin in a clinic. It began in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where I spent two years working with teenage boys and young adults who had grown up in the Chabad Orthodox Jewish community but no longer fit comfortably within its traditional educational system. Many had dropped out of school. Some were struggling at home or engaging in serious, high-risk behaviors. I arrived after rabbinical school expecting to serve as a counselor and ment

Parents often ask me, “How do I know whether an ABA provider is good?” Most parents are not trained behavior analysts. They may not know how to evaluate clinical data, treatment protocols, or the technical quality of a behavior plan. But they can begin with a simpler question: "Does this provider truly care about understanding my child and my family?" Are They Listening—or Completing a Checklist? A provider can ask all the required questions and still fail to understand a fam

The first person I ever tried to change using applied behavior analysis was myself. Thankfully, I was a reasonably willing participant - although consistency was not always my strongest skill. Before I worked professionally with children, I spent a year working with Dr. Yitzhak Chakiris in Chicago to apply behavioral principles to my own life. I wanted to understand a question most of us face: How do I actually become the person I say I want to become? How do I study consiste