How to Choose ABA Therapy for Your Child: Key Questions to Ask

Key Points:

• Choose ABA therapy by asking about BCBA supervision, RBT training, and data-based goals.
• Confirm hours (10–40 weekly), techniques (DTT, NET, FCT), and parent training, then verify costs, insurance, and transition plans. 
• Clear answers ensure individualized support, measurable progress, and sustainable therapy for your child.

When you search for “ABA therapy questions” or “questions for ABA therapist,” you’re probably trying to find more than just any program. You want to find one that fits your child. You may be worried over choosing the wrong provider and want effective treatment, progress, and costs you can manage.

Choosing ABA therapy isn’t simple. You’ll need to choose ABA therapy questions about the ABA therapist or provider, about methods, about schedule, and about results. This article helps you know what to ask and other crucial areas. This aims to make it easier to evaluate options and choose the best fit for your child.

1. What Qualifications Should an ABA Therapist Have?

Before you decide on a provider, you must choose ABA therapy questions to help you understand various aspects of the therapy, including who will actually work with your child and who designs the therapy. The right credentials help ensure the therapy is credible and follows best practices.

When you meet an ABA provider, here are questions to ask:

• Is the therapy supervised by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)?
• What training and certification do the Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) or assistants hold?
• How much experience does the BCBA have working with children with similar challenges as my child?
• How often will the BCBA observe or adjust the sessions themselves versus delegating to technicians?

Providers who answer these with clarity and specifics tend to have higher-quality programs, including teams with licensed and credentialed staff. You should also ask whether the provider holds licenses required in your state. If they can show past client outcomes or samples (while respecting privacy), that adds trust.

2. How Are Goals Set and Progress Measured?

Ensure that the therapy has clear goals, that someone is tracking whether it works, and that you can see changes over time. Without metrics, it’s easy to lose track of what is happening or whether you should change course.

Before therapy begins, ask about the assessment and goal-setting process. Also ask how often the provider reports to you and who is involved in adjusting plans.

Here are helpful questions to ask ABA providers:

• What assessment tools will you use to evaluate my child’s skills, behavior, and needs?
• How will goals be chosen, prioritized, and written (short-term goals, long-term goals)?
• Will I be involved in setting the goals?
• How often will you review progress? What kinds of reports will I get? (written, verbal, data collection charts)
• What happens if my child is not making the expected progress?

Families ask about goals and assessment because they shape urgency. The CDC reports autism prevalence at one in 36 among 8-year-olds in 2020 monitoring data. This figure helps explain long waitlists and underscores why a tight plan for assessment and therapy matters.

3. How Many Therapy Hours and What Schedule

Hours per week, therapy duration over months or years, session length, and frequency matter greatly. But more hours isn’t always better if they overwhelm a child or a family. The dose of therapy should match your child’s needs and capacity.

Here are things to clarify:

• What is the recommended number of hours per week for my child?
• Over what period (number of months or years) will those hours apply?
• How long is each session? How many sessions per day?
• Is scheduling flexible (home, clinic, school), including options for in-home ABA therapy?
• When will therapy hours be reevaluated or adjusted?

There is no single timeline, but dosage and consistency correlate with gains. Practice guidelines note typical intensity ranges that many teams use as a baseline, adjusted for age and tolerance. 

4. What Techniques and Settings Do Providers Use?

ABA includes many techniques and settings. You want to choose techniques and settings that align with your child’s personality, comfort, and family’s lifestyle.

Here’s what to ask:

• What specific ABA techniques will you use? Examples might include discrete trial training (DTT), natural environment teaching (NET), functional communication training (FCT), etc.
• How do you address challenging behaviors? What process is used (functional behavior assessment, data-based decisions)?
• Where will therapy happen (clinic, home, school, or community)? What proportion in each setting?
• How do you support generalization of skills and include parent training to carry strategies into daily routines?

Families often hear wide ranges in proposals. Practice guidelines specify typical dosage ranges. Focused ABA generally ranges from 10 to 25 hours of direct treatment per week, while comprehensive ABA often involves 30 to 40 hours of 1:1 direct treatment before adding supervision and caregiver training. 

These ranges are a starting point and not a rule. The right number is the one your child can tolerate and benefit from, with a schedule you can hold consistently.

5. What Is My Role as a Parent/Caregiver?

ABA works best when family is involved. You’re part of the team. How providers support you matters as much as what the therapist does.

You’ll want to ask:

• Will there be parent training or caregiver coaching?
• How often will I (or caregivers) meet with the BCBA or team to review goals and progress?
• What parent resources will I get to help reinforce ABA techniques at home or in daily routines?
• How will communication happen between therapists and caregivers (frequency, format)?

You should get answers that show you’ll have clear roles and tools so you can support progress outside therapy sessions.

6. How Much Will It Cost, and What Does Insurance Cover?

Cost and insurance are often among the hardest parts of choosing ABA therapy.

Questions to cover this:

• What is the total cost (hourly/session, monthly)? What is included (assessment, reports, parent meetings)?
• Which insurance plans do you accept? Do you accept Medicaid if applicable?
• Are there any out-of-pocket expenses I should expect?
• Do you help with insurance authorization, paperwork, and claims?
• What happens if insurance changes or denies coverage?

Coverage rules are complex. Plan type controls many decisions. A fully insured plan follows state law. A self-funded plan follows federal rules and employer design. Copays, deductibles, prior authorization, and visit caps all change the final cost. Early verification helps you avoid surprise bills and keeps your search on track.

Know the broad landscape while you dig into your plan. All 50 states have taken government action to require coverage for ABA in fully insured health plans, while self-funded plans are not subject to state mandates. 

7. How Long Should ABA Be Continued and How Are Transitions Handled?

ABA isn’t always forever. Research shows that starting ABA therapy before age 4 tends to lead to stronger early gains in various developmental areas. Your child may reach many goals over time. But transitions deserve planning.

You must know the following:

• How will we know when goals have been met and when to reassess through an updated autism evaluation before reducing intensity?
• How do you support transitions (to school, from one therapist to another, moving states)?
• What plan is there for fading support and moving to maintenance?
• What happens if there’s regression or new challenges?

You want to ensure continuity and prevent abrupt gaps or loss of gains.

8. What Other Factors Should You Consider?

Some “softer” but still crucial aspects:

• Cultural and linguistic fit. Does the provider respect your family culture, language, and preferences? Will they adapt if needed?
• Safety and ethics. What methods do they have for ensuring child welfare? How do they handle challenging behaviors without punitive measures?
• Provider reputation and reviews. Ask for references or talk to other families.
• Flexibility. Can the provider adjust the timing of sessions, location, and therapy plan if your child’s needs change?
• Communication style. Is the team open to your questions? Do they explain things clearly?

How to Compare Providers

After gathering answers to all those questions, comparing providers becomes easier. You can score or rank them based on what matters most for your child. Some tips:

• Create a spreadsheet listing providers, and put columns such as “Hours/week,” “BCBA availability,” “Parent training,” “Cost,” “Location/setting,” etc.
• Rate each provider on those attributes (you might value parent involvement more than cost, depending on your situation).
• Visit a session if possible, or even observe briefly, to get a feel for how interaction happens.
• Ask families whose children have worked with those providers about actual progress and support.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 5 prompts in ABA?

The five prompts in ABA are physical, modeling, visual, gestural, and verbal. Physical prompts guide the child’s movement, modeling demonstrates the action, visual prompts use pictures or schedules, gestural prompts rely on signals like pointing, and verbal prompts use spoken or written cues to encourage responses.

What are the 7 rules of ABA?

The seven rules of ABA are applied, behavioral, analytic, technological, conceptually systematic, effective, and generality. Applied addresses meaningful goals, behavioral measures observable actions, analytic shows cause–effect, technological specifies procedures, conceptually systematic ties to principles, effective ensures change, and generality sustains it.

What are the 4 types of research questions in ABA?

The four types of research questions in ABA are demonstration, comparison, parametric, and component. Demonstration tests if an independent variable causes change, comparison identifies the better treatment, parametric determines effective intensity, and component isolates which treatment parts are necessary or sufficient.

Start ABA Therapy That Fits Your Child’s Needs

Families who take time to ask the right questions give their children the best chance to succeed. By starting ABA therapy services in Colorado, Utah, North Carolina, Maryland, New Mexico, and Nebraska, parents can connect with specialists who tailor plans to each child and provide steady guidance through every milestone.

At Attentive Autism Care, board-certified analysts design programs around real data and family input. Reach out today to discuss your goals, learn about scheduling options, and see how personalized ABA therapy can support lasting growth for your child.