Why choose ABA with TLC Kids?

At TLC we focus on engagement and increasing independence rather than focusing on compliance of behaviors like most ABA programs.  It's been clinically proven that  for new neuro synapsis to be created, activities need to be fun and enjoyable.  

We use a child led, play based model in our play spaces and believe happy learners make progress. We collaborate with occupational therapists and speech therapist to maximize sensory, feeding and communication progress.

What is ABA therapy?

ABA therapy is based on the science of how human behavior works.  In ABA the term “behavior” refers to all observable behavior, not just challenging behavior.  ABA therapy uses the science of how environment impacts behavior to teach behavioral skills related to social interaction, communication, school readiness, and self-care.

ABA therapy is also effective in decreasing behavior that can impede an individual’s quality of life – such as, physical aggression, self-injury, and elopement – by seeking to understand why the behavior is occurring and teaching replacement behaviors.  ABA focuses on teaching what to do instead of what not to do. 

ABA teaching techniques:

• Discrete Trial Learning (Training) is based on the understanding that practice helps a child master a skill.  This is a structured teaching technique that involves intensive learning of specific behaviors.  Skills are taught in repetition during several trials.  This repetitive teaching can benefit children who may need multiple opportunities to practice a skill to master it. 
• Incidental Teaching (or Natural Environment Training) is based on the understanding that it is important to give real-life meaning to the skills a child is learning.  It includes a focus on teaching skills in settings where your child will naturally use them.  Using a child’s natural everyday environment in therapy can help increase the transfer of skills to everyday situations and helps generalization.  In Incidental Teaching, the therapist utilizes naturally occurring opportunities in order to help the child learn skills.  The activity or situation is chosen by the child, and the caregiver or teacher follows the child’s lead or interest.  These teaching strategies were developed to facilitate generalization and maximize reinforcement.  Once naturally occurring situations in which a child expresses interest are identified, the therapist then uses prompts to encourage responses from the child. 
• Verbal Behavior is similar to discrete trial training in that it is a structured, intensive, one-to-one therapy.  It differs from discrete trial training in that it is designed to motivate a child to learn language by developing a connection between a word and its meaning.  For some children, teaching a word or label needs to include a deliberate focus on teaching them how to use their words functionally For example: “What is this?” “A cup.” “What do you use a cup for?” “Drinking.” “What do you drink out of?” “A cup.” 
• Pivotal Response Training is a naturalistic, loosely structured, intervention that relies on naturally occurring teaching opportunities.  The focus of PRT is to increase motivation by adding components such as turn-taking, reinforcing attempts, child-choice, and interspersing maintenance (pre-learned) tasks.  It takes the focus off of areas of deficits and redirects attention to certain pivotal areas that are viewed as key for a wide range of functioning in children.  Four pivotal areas have been identified: a) motivation, b) child self-initiations, c) self management, and d) responsiveness to multiple cues. It is believed that when these areas are promoted, they produce improvements in many of the non-targeted behaviors.

We accept all major commercial insurances for OT, PT, and Speech.

For ABA therapy we are only accepting private pay and Tricare at the moment. 

What is Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy (OT) is a diverse field of work where professionals help individuals become as independent as possible. This can be anything from Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) such as dressing, bathing, feeding, and toileting to social skills, play skills, attention, executive functioning skills, regulation, and motor coordination/control.

OTs work in a variety of settings, such as outpatient clinics, hospitals, and the home. Whether a person is affected by a major injury or is born with different abilities, we are here to help.

Intervention:

• Floor Time/Play
• Reflex Integration
• Sensory Processing
• Feeding
• Craniosacral

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Accepted Insurance Providers for OT, PT, and Speech Therapy

We are in a network with several insurance companies. To verify if our clinic takes your insurance please call 210-490-3900

What is Physical Therapy?

Physical Therapy (PT) is an intervention that focuses on helping individuals (in TLC’s case, children) with physical impairments that are impacting their mobility, balance, coordination, quality of movement, or age-appropriate gross motor skills.

Pediatric physical therapists examine and treat children from birth to age 18 for symptoms related to genetic, neurological, and orthopedic conditions. At TLC Kids Therapy, a typical session may include manual techniques to address the limitations of myofascial or soft tissue mobility, positional techniques to facilitate postural alignment, and development of gross motor skills such as rolling, crawling, walking, jumping, riding a bike, climbing stairs, climbing stairs, and transitions between positions.

Other common interventions include flexibility training to maximize range of motion, general strength training through everyday play,  and gait training to improve running and walking patterns. Family education is essential to success in physical therapy and a recommended individualized home exercise program will be given to each family to ensure the carry-over of skilled physical therapy intervention.

Physical therapy commonly collaborates with occupation and speech therapy (if needed) to optimize your child’s success in the home and school environment.

Accepted Insurance Providers for OT, PT, and Speech Therapy

We are in a network with several insurance companies. To verify if our clinic takes your insurance please call 210-490-3900

Speech Therapy (ST) is an intervention that focuses on improving a child’s speech and abilities to understand and express language.

Therapy includes coordinating the mouth to produce sounds to form words, increasing a child’s ability to understand and express language via different communication modalities (e.g., written, pictorial, body, signs, and the use of language through alternative communication systems such as computers, and iPads), and overall help strengthen and coordinate the muscles in the mouth for speech and feeding purposes.

In the latter, ST also focuses on assessing a child’s chewing skills, and whether they are moving their tongue correctly to thoroughly break down the food and propel it back for the swallow. 

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Accepted Insurance Providers for OT, PT, and Speech Therapy.