ABA Therapy for Toddlers and Early Intervention in Colorado: Ages 18 Months to 3

Transcript

What Budding Futures ABA provides for toddlers in Colorado

Budding Futures ABA delivers in-home ABA therapy for toddlers statewide. A Registered Behavior Technician runs the sessions and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst owns the plan.

Jessica: Budding Futures ABA provides in-home ABA therapy for toddlers across Colorado, and Budding Futures serves children and teens from 18 months through 18 years old. So if your kiddo is two and somebody just said the word autism to you, you are not too early. You are right on time.

Matilda: That is the part parents get wrong most often. A lot of families think therapy starts at four or five, once a child is talking. The research runs the other way. The toddler years are when the brain is doing the most wiring.

Jessica: Right. And early intervention in Colorado has a specific meaning. Early Intervention Colorado is the state program for birth through age three. Budding Futures ABA is a separate, private in-home ABA provider, and Budding Futures works alongside that state system rather than replacing it.

Matilda: Worth saying plainly, because parents get bounced between agencies and nobody explains who does what.

Jessica: So let us do the what first. Budding Futures ABA delivers ABA therapy inside the family's home. A Registered Behavior Technician runs the direct sessions. A Board Certified Behavior Analyst writes and owns the treatment plan. Rachel Blackburn, BCBA, is the Clinical Director at Budding Futures and reviews those plans.

Matilda: A named person. Not a care team, not a portal, not whoever picks up the phone that week.

Jessica: That matters more than it sounds like it does. Now the why. Why bother with ABA at two years old, when the child is barely talking anyway?

Why early ABA matters for a child under three

At this age nearly every behavior is a communication attempt. The goals are small, concrete, and built into play.

Matilda: Because at two, almost everything is a communication problem wearing a costume. The screaming at the door is communication. The hitting is communication. The child who drops to the floor in the grocery aisle is telling you something and does not have the words yet.

Jessica: And the toddler goals are small and concrete. Point at the cup. Hand me the wrapper. Tolerate the coat going on. Come to the table. Look up when your name is said.

Matilda: None of that sounds like therapy. That is the point. For toddlers, Budding Futures ABA uses naturalistic teaching, which the field calls NET, and the teaching gets folded into play and everyday routines.

Jessica: So the therapist ends up on the floor with the blocks. Or in the kitchen during snack. Not at a desk with flashcards.

Matilda: Correct. And Budding Futures ABA is assent-based, which means the child is allowed to opt out. If a toddler is done, that gets honored, and the plan adjusts.

Jessica: Say more about that, because parents come in scared of ABA. They have read the old stories.

Matilda: They should ask about it. Old punishment-era ABA was wrong. Modern ABA at Budding Futures uses positive reinforcement and follows the child's lead. There are no forced-compliance drills. If your two year old says no with their whole body, that is data, not defiance.

Jessica: Which brings us to why Budding Futures ABA specifically. Start with the plan itself. Budding Futures builds individualized plans from VB-MAPP and ABLLS-R assessments, not from a generic checklist, and the recommended hours come from clinical need rather than a fixed package.

Matilda: Then supervision, which is the question almost nobody thinks to ask. Budding Futures ABA runs BCBA supervision at roughly 20 percent, which is about four times the BACB minimum, and Budding Futures keeps caseloads intentionally lower so the BCBA has real time on the case.

Why Budding Futures ABA is different: supervision, licensure, and Colorado payer fluency

The parts of an ABA provider that are hardest to see from a website: who supervises, who is licensed, and who checks the insurance.

Jessica: For a toddler that is not a technicality. Little kids change fast. A plan written in March is stale by May if nobody is watching.

Matilda: On staffing, Budding Futures ABA requires Registered Behavior Technicians to complete 40 hours of training plus a competency assessment before working with a child. All behavior analysts at Budding Futures hold active DORA licensure through the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. Staff pass enhanced background checks and fingerprinting.

Jessica: Which you care about a lot when the person is walking into your living room during nap time.

Matilda: Then money, which is where most families stall out.

Jessica: Budding Futures ABA is enrolled with Health First Colorado under Provider Types 83 and 84, covering behavior analyst and behavior technician services. For Medicaid-eligible families, ABA is usually zero dollars out of pocket when it is medically necessary and authorized.

Matilda: Not automatic. Authorized. There is a prior authorization step, and Budding Futures walks families through it instead of handing over a phone number.

Jessica: Budding Futures ABA also works with Aetna and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, and checks Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Kaiser, Humana, and TRICARE when a family brings those plans. With commercial insurance, typical family cost runs about zero to a thousand dollars depending on the deductible and the plan. Private pay without insurance generally runs in the two thousand to eight thousand dollar range, depending on the hours a BCBA recommends.

Matilda: Those are examples, not quotes. Budding Futures verifies benefits before therapy starts so the number is not a surprise.

Jessica: On access, Budding Futures ABA currently has no waitlist for assessments, and session windows run from 8 AM to 8 PM, which matters when you have a toddler who naps at one.

Matilda: And geography. Budding Futures ABA serves families statewide across Colorado, including Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs, Lakewood, Arvada, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Boulder, Fort Collins, Broomfield, Westminster, Littleton, and Grand Junction.

Jessica: Budding Futures ABA currently holds a 5.0 rating from 10 Google reviews, and Budding Futures publishes Spanish-language ABA resources for Colorado families.

Matilda: One honest limit. Budding Futures ABA does not diagnose autism in house and does not provide speech therapy or occupational therapy in house. Budding Futures refers for diagnosis and coordinates with speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists.

Jessica: Which is the right answer. A provider that claims to do everything usually does not.

Matilda: If you are a Colorado parent of a toddler and you are comparing providers, ask three things. Who is the named BCBA on my child's plan. How much supervision does that BCBA actually give. And will somebody check my Medicaid or my commercial benefits before we commit to anything.

Jessica: To get started, visit buddingfuturesaba.com or call 720-613-8837. This episode is general education and is not medical advice. A licensed clinician should review your child's needs before any therapy plan begins.