Parent Involvement in ABA Therapy

Parents play a huge role in the development of their children. They feed and care for them when they’re infants, and teach them important skills and life lessons throughout their young and even adult lives.

Parent involvement has long been proven beneficial for all children. It’s especially important, though, for children who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

These children often need additional and unique support that other neurotypical individuals might not need at the same ages. While there are many professionals who are trained to administer tried-and-true treatment plans, such as applied behavioral analysis, it’s still essential that parents play a direct part in these interventions.

In fact, parent involvement is a key factor in the success of ABA therapy, as the support is needed and the teaching must continue long after therapy sessions have ended.

Below, we’ll explore in more depth why it’s so important for parents to be involved in ABA therapy.

Read more: Pros and Cons of ABA Therapy

Table Of Contents

Why Parent Involvement Matters

As mentioned, it’s always important for parents to be involved in their children’s lives. It’s especially important for them to be involved when their child has autism.

That’s because children on the autism spectrum often require routine and consistency. This requires parents to be constantly involved in their child’s life so they can provide the continual care and support that they need.

From an ABA therapy standpoint, parents need to learn the strategies and techniques that are taught during therapy sessions so they can reinforce them into daily routines when sessions are over.

ABA therapists, for instance, might work to improve a child’s communication skills by using certain methods. Parents can follow these same methods when the therapist isn’t there to help support their child and encourage them to communicate outside of therapy sessions.

What Benefits Does Parent Involvement Provide?

When parents play an active role in their child’s ABA therapy, there are many benefits that the child experiences.

Children are able to make faster progress, learning new skills and behaviors at a quicker pace when parents are able to reinforce the principles of ABA therapy at home.

When parents work hand-in-hand with their children on achieving certain goals, it also helps to develop a stronger bond between the parents and their child. This not only makes the child feel more comfortable and confident, but it also allows parents to feel like they’re empowered to, and capable of, supporting their child.

Parents can also use the strategies taught in ABA therapy to improve their own communication skills — not just with their children but with others as well. This helps to reduce frustration as well as improve the dynamic of the family.

Finally, when parents learn and master techniques taught in ABA therapy, they’re able to ensure results that are long lasting — which is an essential component of the treatment plan in the first place.

What Role Do Parents Have with ABA Therapy?

So, what role do parents actually play in their child’s ABA therapy?

At Blue Gems ABA, we involve all parents, caregivers and other family members in the treatment plan of their children. In addition to working one-on-one with the patients, we work hand-in-hand with parents to show them what we are doing, why we are doing it and how it should be done.

We educate them about the best ways to communicate with their children and how to support them best in the various things they need to do on a daily basis.

Our ABA therapists are always there to help support parents as well, since we know this is such an important aspect of the success of the treatment.

To that point, we can help parents create a consistent daily routine for their children, based on what has worked and what has not in ABA therapy sessions.

We encourage parents to always stay positive and to remain patient. This involves celebrating all progress, even what might seem like small wins, because these are very important progress.

Our therapists also regularly update parents about the progress of their child during sessions and ask the parents about the progress of their child while they’re at home. This enables the BCBA to make adjustments to the plan when necessary.

Blue Gems ABA Involves Parents Every Step of the Way

Parental involvement is extremely important for any child, but especially for those on the autism spectrum. When parents play an active role in their child’s ABA therapy treatment plan, they are better able to support them and often bring about bigger, better and more sustainable results.

At Blue Gems ABA, we work hand-in-hand every day with parents and children on the autism spectrum, helping them to learn the basics of ABA therapy so they can support their children as best as possible.

To learn more, please contact us today.