- Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy
We provide ABA therapy in the home, school and clinic.
Helping individuals become more independent throughout life by improving social skills, communication, and daily living skills through ABA therapy.
What is ABA?
ABA is a scientific approach to understanding behaviors. ABA is used to decrease inappropriate behaviors while increasing appropriate, alternative behaviors.
ABA therapy is also used to improve social skills, communication, and improve daily living skills. ABA helps the individual become more independent throughout life.
What We Do:
- Decrease Maladaptive Behaviors
- Individual Social Skills
- Group Social Skills
- Discrete Trial Training (DTT)
- Natural Environment Training (NET)
- Parent Training
Assessments:
- Behavior Support Plan
- Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)
- Functional Analysis (FA)
- Essentials for Living
- Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment & Placement Program (VBMAPP)
- Assessment of Basic Language & Learning Skills (ABLLS)
About Mireles Autism and Behavioral Center
Mireles Autism and Behavioral Center was founded by Dr. Mireles, a Licensed Psychologist and LSSP, from the Rio Grande Valley who wanted to bring evidence based treatment with a bilingual, bi-cultural perspective to the Valley.
After studying across different settings, including Boston Children’s Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston ISD, he elected to return home and build a strong team of ABA health providers to address the specific needs of children and families from the RGV.
Frequently Asked Questions
An ABA session is typically a high energy interaction between the client and the therapist.
ABA sessions include some discrete trial work which might occur at the table, lots of positive reinforcement using whatever is motivating for the child: praise, tickles, hugs, high-fives, opportunities to play, sometimes edibles. Often there will be a mix of tasks that the therapist is practicing in order to assure that there is focus and mastery vs. rote repetition or boredom.
In order to be successful, the therapist must develop rapport with the client. A process of pairing with reinforcement will take place during a portion of the session. Generalization is very important for children with autism as well. A portion of the session will be spent in the natural environment, away from the table, doing incidental teaching of skills. If the child doesn’t like the therapist, he or she won’t do what the therapist directs them to do, so establishing that relationship is a critical first step.
ABA therapy stresses receptive, and expressive language skills by working on structured programs to measure vocabulary and expand capabilities in matching features and functions.
ABA goes beyond what a speech therapist does by mixing language programs with play programs, academic programs, motor skills, and activities of daily living such as toileting. ABA teaches all of the verbal operants or functional units of language as described by Skinner in his book Verbal Behavior.
When these units of language are systematically taught using principles of ABA, a child with autism benefits through an increase in receptive and expressive language, including communication, or requesting.
ABA assists in developing social interaction skills when working on programs related to turn-taking, conversation and other skills that neuro-typical kids may pick up naturally. By identifying those individual areas where a child on the spectrum has deficits and building the developmental skills using ABA, social skills can be remediated.
No! ABA is for any child or individual with skill deficits or problem behaviors and we provide services to individuals with a variety of diagnoses. However, it is important to note that if you are hoping to use your insurance coverage for ABA therapy services, most carriers require a formal ASD diagnosis with a full diagnostic evaluation for consideration for reimbursement.
