Specialty Center
Mockingbird 1
214-456-7700
Fax: 214-867-5389
Request an Appointment with codes: Autism and Developmental Disabilities
Some children with autism experience challenges like anxiety, tantrums, depression and obsessive behavior. While these issues are common in children with autism, they can create challenges in everyday activities like going to school, family outings and social events.
Behavioral intervention can help. At Children’s Health℠, psychologists, behavior analysts and psychiatrists offer behavioral intervention for children between the ages of 2 and 19. By teaching parents, children and teens new strategies that can reshape behavior, this approach works with the whole family to help your child function at their best.
214-456-7700
Fax: 214-867-5389
Request an Appointment with codes: Autism and Developmental Disabilities
Behavioral intervention offers tools, strategies and treatments that will help your child across many different settings and interactions. The expert psychologists at Children’s Health use a variety of approaches, including strategies based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
For example, for younger children with autism, we offer parent training to help you learn behavioral strategies that you can use to guide your child’s behavior. For older kids and teens, we focus on family therapy to help improve communication between you and your child, and to reduce conflict.
Having a child with autism can be stressful. Behavioral intervention teaches parents how to best respond to their child’s behavior. We teach concrete strategies to use at home and in public.
We can help:
Once you provide a referral from your pediatrician to our Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, we’ll schedule your appointment. Then we’ll meet with your family and create a treatment plan that best fits your child.
Based on your referral, our intake specialist will call you to set up an appointment. We encourage you to bring your child’s medical or school records to the first appointment, if possible.
We work with you and your child together, throughout the process. That way, we can get to know your family and determine what strategies work best for you. Families appreciate that we’re flexible in our treatment planning.
Each behavioral intervention plan is different, based on your child’s needs and age. Throughout the years, our specialists have taught children how to adapt to new environments, communicate more effectively and engage in social activities.
Families typically see us weekly, every other week or once per month. Together, we’ll determine what time frame works best and the number of treatments. We’ll work closely with you and your child to create a care plan that helps achieve your family’s goals.
Autism isn’t a disorder that goes away or something that a child grows out of. In fact, it’s normal if your child has new and different behavioral challenges as they grow up, especially after puberty. It’s common to see us regularly for three to six months, pause your treatment once your child improves, and then come back again as your child’s behavior changes. We’ll be here for you at every stage of your child’s life.
Behavioral intervention sessions feel like play to most younger children. We have puzzles, toys and games for children to play during the session.
A lot of families tell their child before their appointment:
Examples include:
We get asked this question daily. We know you’ve probably dealt with comments from strangers or even your family members who think that autism is related to parenting – but that’s not true. There’s not a single cause for why your child has autism. Research shows us that a child with autism has a brain that’s structured differently. Scientists are still learning how and why that happens.
Some children with autism experience challenges like anxiety, tantrums, depression and obsessiveness.
That’s one of the key strategies you’ll learn during behavioral intervention. By focusing on parenting strategies and learning how to reshape behavior, we can make it easier for your child to go to school, be in public and attend family gatherings. For example, one strategy we teach parents is to adjust their child’s environment to promote clear expectations, such as with the help of visuals. This will provide opportunities to reward appropriate behavior and reduce the likelihood of challenging behaviors.