Eleven brings puberty and middle school at the same time, and most ABA pages skip both. Budding Futures works in your Colorado home on hygiene, body safety, regulation, and the executive-function skills middle school demands. We verify Medicaid or insurance first, run between 8 AM and 8 PM, and have no waitlist right now. Hablamos Español.
Yes. Budding Futures provides in-home ABA therapy for 11 year olds across Colorado.
| Ages served | Toddlers through teens, including 11 year olds. |
| Insurance accepted | Health First Colorado (Medicaid), Aetna, and Anthem BCBS. We verify other plans before you start. |
| Where we work | In your home, across 13 Colorado cities from Denver to Grand Junction. |
| Hours | 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, so sessions fit around the school day. |
| Waitlist | No waitlist right now. The BCBA assessment is scheduled once benefits are verified. |
| Cost | Usually $0 on Health First Colorado. We confirm your cost before therapy starts. |
Eleven is the age most therapy pages talk around. Your child is too old for the toddler programs and too young for the teen programs, and meanwhile puberty has started and middle school is a year away. Budding Futures works on exactly this stretch, in your home, where hygiene and routines actually happen. Your child can opt out of any activity, and we honor it.
ABA is short for applied behavior analysis, an evidence-based therapy for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. A board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) writes an individualized treatment plan, a registered behavior technician (RBT) delivers the sessions, and the plan can run alongside speech therapy and occupational therapy. We use positive reinforcement, we treat the caregiver as part of the team, and we never force eye contact or push a child through compliance drills.
Yes, and eleven is a good time to start. Most parents we talk to are caught off guard by how early puberty shows up. In a 2020 study in Autism Research, autistic girls between the ages of 10 and 13 began puberty significantly earlier than their peers (Corbett and colleagues). Bodies change before the coping skills catch up. An ABA program at this age teaches hygiene routines, body safety, social skills, and emotional regulation while there is still time to practice them before middle school. The developmental work and the daily routines are taught in the same place they get used, which is your home. ABA can help an adolescent build life skills and daily living skills that stick.
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 profile
Every ABA therapy program starts from an assessment, so goals are individualized rather than copied from a template. These are the goals Colorado families of 11-year-olds ask about most, and they usually cluster around social interaction, life skills, and daily routines.
| What is hard right now | How in-home ABA helps |
|---|---|
| Puberty arriving early | We teach hygiene, changing routines, and privacy skills at home, step by step, in a way that respects your child. |
| Body safety | We teach private-body-parts safety and how to tell a trusted adult, taught plainly rather than avoided. |
| Big emotions taking over the house | We teach coping and self-advocacy so a tween's hard day does not set the tone for everyone. |
| Middle school around the corner | We practice lockers, changing classes, and tracking assignments before the transition, not after it goes badly. |
Parents of school-age kids want the whole sequence up front, not just the therapy part.
| Before: the diagnosis | We do not diagnose. Families come to us with an evaluation from a pediatrician, Children’s Hospital Colorado, or JFK Partners at CU Anschutz. Through school, Colorado’s Child Find covers ages 3 through 21. |
| Insurance and authorization | We verify your Health First Colorado or commercial benefits and handle prior authorization, so you know your cost before anything is scheduled. |
| The BCBA assessment | A behavior analyst meets your 11 year old at home and uses tools such as VB-MAPP or ABLLS-R to find the real gaps, then writes an individualized treatment plan. You help set the goals. |
| During: the sessions | A registered behavior technician runs sessions in your home around school hours, working on social skills and daily living skills. A BCBA supervises at roughly 20 percent, above the BACB minimum. You can sit in on any session. |
| Working with the school | With your permission we share progress data with the school team and line up home goals with the IEP or 504 plan. |
| After: stepping down | Goals are reviewed on a schedule. As your child masters skills, recommended hours come down. |
Newly diagnosed? Start with what to do after an autism diagnosis in Colorado.
Yes, when you ask us to. School and ABA sit in two different systems, and progress tends to leak out in the gap between them. With your written permission, Budding Futures shares progress data with your child’s school team and writes home goals that line up with the IEP or 504 plan.
Two Colorado specifics are worth knowing. Child Find covers ages 3 through 21, and once you put an evaluation request in writing, the district has 60 calendar days to complete it. Summer break does not pause that clock. Middle school usually means a new building and a new team, so it is worth asking for an IEP review before the move rather than after it.
More on this: how ABA, speech, OT, and school teams coordinate.
Yes. Budding Futures provides ABA. We do not provide speech therapy or occupational therapy ourselves. When your child already sees a speech-language pathologist or an occupational therapist, we coordinate with them so everyone works toward the same communication and daily-living goals. With your permission that coordination extends to the school team.
At eleven the requests get practical. Hygiene routines like showering, deodorant, and changing clothes are taught directly at home. Hitting and meltdowns get treated as communication, so we teach a skill that works better. Toileting that never fully clicked is handled privately and on your child’s timeline. When speech is limited, communication or an AAC device comes first.
Most Colorado families on Health First Colorado pay $0 for an 11 year old’s ABA. Here is how the payers break down.
| How you pay | Typical family cost | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Health First Colorado (Medicaid) | Usually $0 | Covered when eligible, after prior authorization and a medical-necessity review. |
| Commercial insurance | $0–$500 or $0–$1,000 | Depends on your deductible, copay, and plan. We verify Aetna, Anthem BCBS, and others up front. |
| Private pay (no insurance) | ~$2,000–$8,000 | A range that depends on the weekly hours your BCBA recommends. Examples only, never a set quote. |
We verify your benefits and explain your expected cost in plain language before therapy starts. See our full ABA therapy cost guide for Colorado.
Yes. Health First Colorado covers medically necessary ABA for eligible 11 year olds through EPSDT, which covers members age 20 and under. Budding Futures is enrolled under Provider Types 83 and 84. We verify benefits and handle prior authorization, so you know your cost before therapy starts.
On a commercial plan, Colorado law is on your side. Under C.R.S. 10-16-104(1.4), plans issued or renewed in Colorado must cover autism assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, including applied behavior analysis. Senate Bill 15-015 removed the old age and dollar caps effective January 1, 2017, so Colorado coverage does not stop at a certain age. Self-funded employer plans follow federal ERISA rules instead. We identify which one you have during benefit verification.
More on the $0 path: Medicaid ABA therapy in Colorado and our Colorado credentials.
“It feels like our lives have ground to a halt around the emotional needs of our tween.”
— a parent on r/Autism_Parenting
Budding Futures brings ABA to your home, so a school-age kid is not sitting in traffic after a full day of class. We serve families up and down the Front Range and on the Western Slope.
Budding Futures supports kids across every age and stage. Explore by exact age, or see the broader guides below.
ABA Therapy for School-Age ChildrenCommunication and routines through the school years.ABA, Speech, OT, and School CoordinationWho does what, and how the teams line up.Modern, Assent-Based ABAWhat good, gentle ABA looks like today.No. Eleven is a useful age to start, because puberty and the move to middle school both land in the next two years. Hygiene, body safety, emotional regulation, and organization are all teachable now.
Yes. Showering, deodorant, changing routines, privacy, and body-safety skills are taught directly, at home, in the place those routines actually happen. In a 2020 study in Autism Research, autistic girls ages 10 to 13 began puberty earlier than their peers, so starting before you think you need to is reasonable.
Yes. We practice changing classes, using a locker, and tracking assignments, and with your permission we align those goals with the IEP so home and school are teaching the same thing.
Health First Colorado (Medicaid), Aetna, and Anthem BCBS, and we verify other plans before you start. We work in your home across 13 Colorado cities, from Denver, Aurora, and Colorado Springs to Fort Collins, Boulder, and Grand Junction.
One call is all it takes. We will check your Medicaid or insurance, answer your questions, and connect your family with a BCBA who is right for your child, anywhere in Colorado.