Family FAQs

ABA therapy is evidence-based care that is considered a best practice treatment for people with autism by both the US Surgeon General and the American Psychological Association.

The goal of ABA therapy is to equip individuals with the social, behavioral, and communication skills that will allow them greater independence and access to their community over time. In essence, the targeted outcome of ABA therapy is an improvement in overall quality of life.

Our therapy at AnswersNow is not one-size-fits-all, and is very much tailored to the needs of our clients and their families.

Benefits of ABA therapy include a focus on both the child and the environment in which the child learns, plays, and lives every day.

Through a comprehensive assessment that evaluates family priorities, environmental variables, child preferences, strengths, skill deficits, and challenges, a clinician identifies goals that will help increase the child’s independence and address family concerns.

ABA therapy consists of many different approaches and can address a wide variety of concerns. In addition to social, behavioral, and communication skills, ABA therapy can help to address things like self-care, routines, safety skills, self-advocacy, play skills, and motor skills.

Our goal is to get individuals into therapy as quickly and seamlessly as possible. Our process is pretty simple:

1. Meet with a member of the AnswersNow Intake Team for a free, no-obligation phone call.
2. If eligible for our services, we schedule an Orientation Call for you to meet with one of our clinicians who will gather more information so we can begin to match your child with the best clinician possible. They will also discuss how to use the AnswersNow platform and next steps.
3. Our Clinical Team will then conduct an Assessment, where we gather more detailed information about your priorities, your child’s preferences, strengths, and challenges, and what level of support your child needs.
4. Based on your needs and goals, our Clinical Team thoughtfully matches your family with our most suitable Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).
   
5. From this moment, your child is cared for by a dedicated BCBA, connecting face-to-face via video multiple times per week or daily, depending on your child’s needs.

We prioritize Caregiver input and involvement throughout the course of care because we recognize the importance of supporting Caregivers in developing skills they can utilize when we are not around. You are the expert on your own child, and our goal is to provide you with strategies and help you develop skills that you can use every day to help your child be successful.

1. No Waitlist
‍For many families, in-person ABA is not an option due to lack of clinicians in their area and/or long waitlists preventing them from starting immediately. We currently have no waitlist and can bring families from assessment to therapy in 3-6 weeks.

2. Expert Care
‍One of the biggest benefits of our therapy is that we only work with clinicians who have a Master’s degree or PhD. We feel that by pairing our families with a dedicated, expert-level clinician, our clients can build more high-touch, consistent relationships.

For context, in most in-person ABA models, a client typically works with a Registered Behavior Technician (or RBT) for most of their therapy sessions, and only checks in with the expert-level clinician every couple weeks. The qualifications for an RBT are a high school education and one 40-hour training course, and their turnover rates can be up to 75%.

3. Flexibility
‍Because we are completely virtual, we are able to offer flexibility in scheduling. Generally, our clients receive 5 or more hours of therapy per week, including direct sessions (client and BCBA) and Caregiver support sessions. Many of our clinicians are available in the evenings and on Saturdays.

We work with individuals who have an autism diagnosis, ADHD, or other developmental disabilities who are looking for behavioral therapy.

We work with people ages 18 months to 21 years old.

Depending on the child and family’s individual needs, our BCBAs will tailor their time spent 1:1 with clients, with both client and caregiver, and 1:1 with caregivers to best target the most important goals.

With the help of our team of BCBAs, our team built a custom virtual platform that allows us to  deliver remote ABA therapy that mirrors the controlled environment of an in-person or in-clinic experience. We have successfully delivered over 10,000 hours of therapy and do everything virtually, from orientation to assessment and ongoing therapy sessions.

At AnswersNow, all of our providers are Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) who have a minimum of a Master’s degree and 1,000 hours of supervised fieldwork. In addition, AnswersNow is a BHCOE telehealth accredited organization. This means that after a rigorous evaluation process by a third party organization, it was determined that we are committed to providing quality care and uphold the Standards of Excellence in ABA Therapy.

According to the Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP), these are the benefits of telehealth ABA therapy:

1. Improves access to care: Many families face a lack of behavior analysts in their communities or waitlists that can last upwards of 2 years; we are committed to getting families from assessment to treatment in as soon as 3 weeks
2. Improves provider coordination: Allows access to a wider pool of clinicians with specialties that match an individual’s unique needs that might not otherwise be available to them
3. Promotes continuity of care: Reduces interruptions or cancellations of therapy due to inclement weather, sickness, or other unforeseen events
4. Reduces cost and improves efficiency: Helps save families money by eliminating travel costs, and more readily meets scheduling needs
5. Reduces provider burnout: Allows our behavior analysts to focus on what’s most important to them - delivering quality care to your family - rather than driving between clients’ homes all day

We work with most major insurance carriers including Medicaid.

VIRGINIA
‍‍Commercial: Aetna, Anthem, Cigna/Evernorth, Optima
‍Medicaid: Magellan, Molina, Aetna Better Health, Anthem HealthKeepers, Sentara Health Plan (formerly Optima Medicaid and Virginia Premier), United Healthcare

‍GEORGIA
‍Commercial: Aetna, Cigna/Evernorth
‍Medicaid: Fee for service GA Medicaid, Caresource, Amerigroup, Peach State Health Plan

‍TEXAS
Commercial: Aetna, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Cigna
‍Medicaid: Superior Health Plan, Dell Children’s Health Plan, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas MCO, Community Health Choice, Molina, Magellan, Texas Children's, Wellpoint MCO (formerly Amerigroup)