In-home help with conversation, turn-taking, and real friendships, from a BCBA-led team that comes to you anywhere in Colorado. Medicaid usually $0.
Budding Futures ABA teaches social skills to children with autism in their own homes, in every Colorado city. Starting a conversation, taking a turn, joining a game that is already going, losing without a meltdown. Rachel Blackburn, BCBA builds each child's plan around the specific social skills they are missing, and our team practices those skills inside your family's real day. Medicaid families usually pay nothing, and there is no waitlist right now.
Social skills are the tools kids use to connect with the people around them. Children with autism spectrum disorder usually need those tools taught directly, one at a time, in a way that makes sense to the child. Each one makes social interaction a little easier.
A VB-MAPP or ABLLS-R assessment shows us which of these your child already has, which are halfway there, and which are missing. The plan targets those specific social skills, not a one-size list. And if talking itself is the barrier, social goals ride alongside communication skills work.
Complex social skills are too big to learn in one piece, so your child's ABA therapist breaks them into smaller steps. Joining a game might start with standing near the game, then watching for a pause, then asking with one practiced phrase. Modeling lets your child watch the social behaviors first, role play makes them safe to try, and positive reinforcement keeps new skills worth using. Then the steps get chained together.
Teaching social skills this way works best inside things your child already does, which ABA therapy calls naturalistic environment teaching. Snack time becomes a turn-taking session. A card game with mom becomes practice for losing gracefully. Social stories and social scripts let your child rehearse a social situation before it happens, like a cousin's birthday party coming up on Saturday.
Every goal is written so you can watch it move. Here is the shape a real one takes: when a family member starts a game, your child takes a turn and hands it back, three exchanges in a row, in four out of five tries, two weeks running. Your child's RBT, the trained technician who runs the day-to-day sessions, collects data every visit, and Rachel reviews the plan at roughly 20 percent supervision, about four times the BACB minimum.
Some social skills training tries to make autistic kids look neurotypical. That is not what we do. Budding Futures is an assent-based practice, which means your child can say no and we honor it. We do not drill eye contact for its own sake. If looking at someone's eyes feels bad, we teach other ways to show listening, like turning toward the speaker or answering with words. The goal is a child who can handle social interaction and get what they need, at a cost they can sustain.
Parents ask us a fair question: how do you practice social skills at home when the other kids are at school? Two answers.
First, you. Structured parent coaching turns you into the practice partner your child spends the most hours with. You learn the same prompts and reinforcement your child's therapist uses, so dinner, sibling games, and bedtime all turn into extra reps.
Second, school. Budding Futures also delivers ABA therapy inside school settings across Colorado, where the peers are. Colorado districts vary widely here, and we know that terrain firsthand: in 2024, Denver Public Schools approved just 3 of 28 requests from outside providers to work in its buildings, while Jeffco, Douglas County, and Cherry Creek approved every one, according to Chalkbeat Colorado. So we reach out to your child's school, make the case based on your child's needs, and when we cannot be in the building, we coordinate with the teacher and the IEP team so the social skills built at home get used at recess.
Colorado is a good state to need ABA in. State law requires state-regulated health plans to cover ABA therapy for autism, and Health First Colorado usually covers it at $0 for eligible families. We are enrolled under Provider Types 83 and 84, the state's behavior analyst and behavior technician categories. Commercial plans typically land between $0 and $500 out of pocket, sometimes up to $1,000 depending on your deductible. Private pay runs roughly $2,000 to $8,000. We check your exact benefits up front, before therapy starts, and we never balance-bill.
| Ages | 18 months through 18 years |
|---|---|
| Setting | Your home, statewide across Colorado; school settings when the district allows access |
| Insurance | Health First Colorado (Medicaid) and major commercial carriers |
| Typical cost | Medicaid usually $0; commercial $0 to $500; private pay $2,000 to $8,000 |
| First step | Free consultation, then a benefits check, then a VB-MAPP or ABLLS-R assessment |
| Wait | No waitlist right now |
Social skills are one of the core areas we teach. See every skill ABA therapy teaches at home.
Yes. The teaching happens at home, one step at a time, with your family as practice partners. Then we make sure the skill travels: parent coaching, school coordination, and goals that only count as mastered once your child can use the skills across different settings and people.
No. We are assent-based, so if your child opts out, we honor it. We teach connection in forms your child can actually sustain.
Social skills goals are a normal part of an ABA therapy plan, and coverage follows the plan. We work with Health First Colorado and the major commercial carriers, and we verify your benefits before anything starts.
Every goal has numbers attached, your child's RBT records data each session, and you are welcome to watch any session. Progress shows up in the data before it shows up at birthday parties, and we walk you through both.
No. We serve kids from 18 months through 18 years, and social skills development does not have an age cutoff. The goals just change shape: playdates at 4, keeping friendships and group work at 10, hallway conversations and staying regulated in a crowd at 15.
She 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 profileOne conversation is all it takes to start. We answer your questions, check your insurance, and connect you with a BCBA who will build a social skills plan around your child. No pressure, no jargon.