Family Testimonial
"I just wanted to thank you again for everything you're doing for our son. His progress has well exceeded any expectations we originally had! Although this process is sometimes very stressful and draining, his father and I both get so much enjoyment from all of the new, little things he's able to do each day. The amount of energy and dedication you've shown has been absolutely amazing and our son is blooming as a direct result!! I just hope you realize how much we appreciate what you're doing for our family...we are getting our little boy back. "
- The mother of a
young boy with autism
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Westchase Office:
6916 W Linebaugh Ave,
Suite 102
Tampa, FL 33625
813-265-0210
Wesley Chapel Office:
3717 Turman Loop,
Suite 102
Wesley Chapel, FL 33544
813-345-8584
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Greetings!
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday! The holiday season can often present the difficult choice of determining appropriate toys
and gifts for a child on the autism spectrum. In this month's
newsletter, we've compiled some suggestions, as well as tips on wrapping and selecting treats, I hope you
find helpful.
We also recently hosted a Parent Appreciation Night as our holiday gift to current and former clients where we served up pizza and entertained the little ones and their siblings for a few hours at no charge. Hopefully, parents were able to enjoy a kid-free date night as well as get some holiday shopping done! We had a great turnout and hope to do it again in the coming months. Keep an eye out for an update in your email to see when the next client appreciation event will be!
Also, clients with children who will be on winter vacation, may want to use this opportunity to increase their child's therapy hours. We currently have availabilities to suit most scheduling needs, so call either office if you would like to take advantage of the extra time off from school and other activities.
Just a reminder both offices will be closed Friday, December 25th and Friday, January 1st. In addition, only the Westchase office will be closed Thursday, December 24th. On behalf of all the therapists and staff at Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay, have a great holiday and a safe New Year!
Best,
Kelley Prince, M.A., BCBA
President, Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay
ANALYSIS · INSTRUCTION · ACHIEVEMENT
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Insurance Coverage
New Year, New Policies
Next month starts a new year and many insurance policies will renew. Florida's newly implemented Window of Opportunity Act
requires insurance companies to help pay for ABA therapy, but many
parents don't know what their provider covers, or if they're even
enrolled to receive this coverage.
With a little bit of information from you,
Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay can help determine your coverage
limits. If you're interested in finding out what your provider's limits are, click here and download our Insurance Information Form at the bottom of the page. Once you've filled in all the necessary information, either fax or email it back to us. We're more than happy to help decipher your existing insurance policies.
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Planning for the Holidays
Gift Selection and Sensory Needs
For parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends of a child with autism, toy and gift selection this time of year may be a challenge. 
It's important to understand how this child views or interacts with an activity or game.
Toys and activities that meet the sensory-based needs are great for kids on the spectrum. One suggestion for a gift is a mini-trampoline. This can help introduce a child to exercise where they learn balance as well as control of muscle groups.
Toys that work a child's fine motor skills can also be beneficial. Games in which the objective includes sorting or grasping items (such as fitting pegs into a peg board) work well. In addition, swings as well as bean bag chairs are great options. If you're thinking about buying a gift for someone else's child, make sure to discuss your selection with the parents beforehand.
Keep Wrapping Simple
Many children on the autism spectrum  don't realize an item that is gift wrapped, generally leads to something good. Therefore, it's a good idea to keep overall gift wrapping simple using something like gift bags rather than rolls of paper.
Allergy Reminder
As with many holidays come the special treats. Remember that many
children with autism spectrum disorder may
 require gluten-free (wheat and other grains) and casein-free (milk and
milk products such
as cheese, butter and yogurt) diets.
Always check the ingredients before giving a child with food sensitivities anything that may trigger a reaction. Check out this link for suggestions on some gluten-free, casein-free treats.
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Coming in January
Quarterly Newsletter
We've had great feedback on suggested topics you'd like to
see addressed. Next month, we'll focus on how
to handle issues that may arise when a child on the spectrum begins to experience the affects of puberty. Also, we'll have the latest news and updated listings on autism-related events.
As always,
please let me know if you have any suggestions on items you would like
to see featured in a future edition of either our Monthly Newsletter or
the Quarterly Newsletter.
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Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay
About Us
Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay
implements Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) programs with an emphasis on verbal
behavior. Our skill acquisition
programs, customized for each child's learning needs, focus on evoking language
and communication, self-help skills, compliance behavior and appropriate peer
and social skills. We
provide discreet trial teaching in addition to natural environment teaching,
while using errorless learning techniques. To maintain a consistent level of quality, our Board
Certified Behavior Analysts oversee programs and evaluate and document progress
every 4 weeks.
Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay
compared the rate of development in 18 clients who were between the ages of 2
and 7 years old during the onset of services. All received our intensive instruction averaging 10 hours a
week for 5 months. We found, on
average, the group more than doubled their
original skill set. Based on these findings, we're
confident that all children, regardless of skill deficits, diagnosis, or
behavior, can learn skills and develop behaviors never before thought possible
if a quality behavior analysis program is implemented.
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