Your Colorado Springs child can start kindergarten ready, not overwhelmed. Budding Futures builds the exact skills school expects, following a direction the first time, sitting with a group, asking for help, handling transitions, and using the bathroom alone, through in-home ABA led by Rachel Blackburn, BCBA. We serve every El Paso County school district. Medicaid families usually pay nothing, military families can use Tricare, and there is no waitlist right now.
Budding Futures serves children with autism from 18 months to 13 years across Colorado Springs, with school readiness focused on ages 4 to 8, roughly preschool and pre-K through the early elementary grades.
Our families live in every Colorado Springs and El Paso County school district. That includes Academy District 20, Colorado Springs District 11, Cheyenne Mountain D-12, Harrison D-2, Falcon D-49, Fountain-Fort Carson D-8, and Widefield D-3, wherever your home address lands.
For coverage, we take Health First Colorado (Medicaid), which usually means $0 for the family, plus Tricare for military families, Aetna, and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The families we help are getting ready for a first year of kindergarten, switching schools or districts, or newly arrived at Fort Carson or Peterson. Every plan is in-home across Colorado Springs, and with no waitlist right now, a BCBA can usually start soon after we verify your benefits.
Kindergarten does not ask a five-year-old to read. It asks them to follow the room, wait, ask, switch tasks, and take care of themselves.
Those are learnable skills, and they are the ones that decide how the first months go. A BCBA picks the ones your child is missing, using a VB-MAPP or ABLLS-R assessment, and the treatment plan targets those instead of everything at once. We treat challenging behaviors as communication rather than something to punish, and your child practices the social skills a classroom runs on: taking turns, joining play, and reading a friend’s face.
| Skill kindergarten expects | What it looks like | How in-home ABA builds it |
|---|---|---|
| Following group directions | The teacher says “everyone line up” and your child moves without being named. | We practice directions given to the room, not just to your child, during real home routines. |
| Sitting with a group | Staying with a shared activity for 10 to 15 minutes without leaving. | We build sitting time in small steps, starting from where your child is today. |
| Asking for help | Raising a hand, using words, or using a device instead of shutting down. | We teach one request your child can actually use, then practice it until it is automatic. |
| Handling transitions | Stopping a preferred activity and moving to the next one. | We rehearse the real morning: shoes, backpack, out the door, into the car. |
| Bathroom independence | Using the toilet and managing clothes without an adult doing it. | We work toileting into the day at home. See our Colorado Springs potty training page. |
| Separating from you | Leaving a parent at drop-off without a long meltdown. | We practice short separations at home first, then stretch them. |
Colorado sets one date. To start kindergarten in the fall, your child must be five years old on or before October 1 of that school year.
That date decides your runway. A child with a summer birthday and a fall start has less time to build these skills than a family that begins the year before.
Autism is also more common than most parents expect. The CDC now identifies about 1 in 31 eight-year-olds as autistic, so classrooms in Colorado Springs already include children with autism working on these same skills. It is far easier to prepare children early than to fix a hard first year.
This catches a lot of Springs parents. The city is not one school district. It is served by at least seven, and which one your child enrolls in depends on your home address.
Academy District 20 covers Briargate and Northgate. Colorado Springs District 11 covers the core of the city. Cheyenne Mountain D-12 sits on the south side, Harrison D-2 to the southeast, and Falcon D-49 covers the fast-growing east and the Falcon area. Fountain-Fort Carson D-8 and Widefield D-3 serve the military-connected south. Each district runs its own special education programs and timelines.
Check your address against the district before you plan anything. If your child may need extra support, ask that district about a special education evaluation early through Child Find, because that process runs on the school calendar and not on yours. Our guide to autism and schools in Colorado walks through how this works.
Parents getting a child ready for kindergarten usually weigh three settings for ABA. They train the same school readiness skills in different places, and the right one depends on your child and where your morning breaks down.
In-home ABA. A registered behavior technician and a board certified behavior analyst work in your house, on your real routine of getting dressed, out the door, and transitions. Best when the school morning falls apart at home, before drop-off. This is the Budding Futures model across Colorado Springs.
School-based ABA. Support in the school itself, where an aide or shadow helps your child use skills in the actual classroom and hallway. Most school-based ABA happens in the school, not a center. Budding Futures offers BCBA school coordination and classroom-routine support, and whether direct ABA can happen at school depends on clinical need and insurance authorization.
Center-based ABA. Therapy at a clinic or center in Colorado Springs built to look like a classroom, with a structured room and other children. Best when a child needs an intensive, highly structured setting to start. Budding Futures does not run a center; several Colorado Springs providers offer that center-based model.
For most kindergarten readiness goals, the skills have to survive your actual morning, which is why we build them in-home first and coordinate with the school as your child transitions.
The hard part of the school morning happens at your house, not in a clinic. Drop-off struggles usually start earlier: getting dressed, leaving a preferred toy, getting out the door.
Budding Futures is in-home only across Colorado Springs and El Paso County, which also means the hour-plus drive to a Denver clinic is never part of your week. Our registered behavior technicians complete 40 hours of training plus a competency assessment, and Rachel Blackburn, BCBA reviews the plan at roughly 20 percent supervision, well above the minimum.
No two plans look alike, because no two children arrive with the same gaps.
Applied behavior analysis, or ABA, starts with an assessment. Rachel Blackburn, BCBA and our clinical team use VB-MAPP or ABLLS-R to map your child’s strengths and needs, then write individualized goals that are measurable week to week. That is what makes progress visible instead of a feeling.
The treatment plan targets school readiness skills, social interaction, and daily living skills like dressing and toileting, and everything we use is evidence-based. For younger children this doubles as early intervention. When your child also sees a speech-language pathologist, an occupational therapist, or a feeding or physical therapist, we coordinate so everyone works toward the same goals. Most Colorado Springs families on Health First Colorado pay nothing; we also work with Tricare, Aetna, and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. You can start on our Medicaid ABA page, or see the full picture on the Colorado Springs ABA therapy page.
Most families start six to twelve months before the first day, which leaves time for an assessment, prior authorization, and steady practice. Starting the summer right before still helps, there is just less runway. With no waitlist right now, a Springs family can usually begin soon after benefits are verified.
The IEP or 504 itself comes from your school district: you request a special education evaluation in writing, and the district has a set number of days to respond. Budding Futures does not run that evaluation, but we coordinate with it, align our goals with the school’s, and can support you through the process. See our guide to autism IEPs in Colorado.
Yes. Through school collaboration, your BCBA can share goals and strategies with your child’s teacher and team so the classroom and home are working the same way. How much direct school involvement is possible depends on clinical need and insurance authorization.
Yes. When your child also sees a speech-language pathologist or occupational therapist, we align on shared goals so the plans reinforce each other instead of pulling in different directions. Here is how ABA, speech, and OT fit together.
Hours are flexible, including after-school times once school starts, so therapy fits your family’s day rather than a fixed clinic block. We set the weekly hours by clinical need, not a fixed number.
Your BCBA writes measurable goals and tracks them week to week, and structured parent coaching shows you how to use the same strategies at home. Our guide to what to expect walks through the first sessions.
Yes. We build the skills at home first, then coordinate with the school as your child starts, which is often the hardest stretch. See transitioning from ABA to school.
Yes. Budding Futures works with Tricare alongside Health First Colorado and commercial plans, which matters for families stationed at Fort Carson, Peterson, Schriever, or the Air Force Academy. We verify benefits up front, and there is no waitlist right now.
Usually yes, at no cost to the family. Health First Colorado covers medically necessary ABA for eligible children under 21, and Budding Futures is enrolled under Provider Types 83 and 84. Your child needs an autism diagnosis and a referral, and we handle prior authorization.
Neither is best for every child; they train the same skills in different places. In-home ABA builds them where the morning breaks down, school-based ABA practices them in the classroom, and center-based ABA uses a structured facility. Budding Futures is in-home and coordinates with your school, and does not run a center.
Neither. Budding Futures works with children from 18 months to 13 years. A 4-year-old works on early group skills and separating from a parent; an 8-year-old changing schools works on different goals, built from the same assessment.
Real Google reviews from the Colorado families we work with.
"My son loves his RBT Dani, she is a super star. As well as Mark and Rachel always keeping in check and checking in."
BadBry 48, verified Google review"Wonderful in-home therapy provider in Denver. Thank you so much!"
Ariel Becker, verified Google review"Budding Futures ABA gives amazing in-home ABA therapy in Colorado. Would definitely recommend for anyone with children with autism."
Mindee Meyer, verified Google review"The support they bring to the families is insane. You'll feel so supported and valued. They truly do care for these kids and I couldn't feel better anywhere else."
Bella Calvillo, verified Google review"This is a company that truly supports their clients, clients' families, and staff members in a way I've never seen."
KyRa Lee, verified Google review"Mark and the team at Budding Futures are truly the type of team I want to work with my child. Compassionate, driven, and they strive for excellence."
David Brody, verified Google reviewShe writes and reviews every treatment plan, and supervises the therapists who work in your home.
Read Rachel's profileHe founded Budding Futures and runs the day to day, from a family's first phone call onward.
Read Mark's profileWe serve families in-home across Colorado Springs and El Paso County, with no waitlist right now. One call and we will check your coverage, answer your questions, and connect your family with a BCBA who can start quickly.
Looking beyond therapy? See our guide to autism resources in Colorado Springs for local support groups, school and Child Find help, Medicaid guidance, and parent communities.