Common questions Questions parents actually ask
I've read what autistic adults say about ABA. Why would this be different?+
That criticism is real, and much of it describes practices we reject: planned ignoring of distress, extinguishing harmless stimming, goals chosen without the child. Here, sessions move at your child's pace, a child's "no" changes what we do, stimming isn't a treatment target unless it causes harm, and you can watch any session, any time. We wrote a whole page on this — Why Trauma-Informed ABA — and the best answer is to come tour the center and meet us yourself.
Why do so few clinics accept FASD referrals?+
An honest answer, because you deserve one after all those calls: three reasons. First, coverage — in Nevada, private insurers generally don’t pay for ABA with an FASD diagnosis, so clinics built on private-pay panels quietly say no. Second, training — FASD changes how children learn (memory, cause-and-effect, processing), and an autism-only toolkit genuinely doesn’t transfer without adaptation. Third, honestly, it’s harder — and some clinics choose not to be set up for harder. We accept FASD referrals because North Las Vegas has foster, adoptive, and kinship families who’ve been told no everywhere else, and because Nevada Medicaid — our largest payer — covers it. We built the training and the plans for it deliberately. How to verify: ask us, on your first call, exactly how an FASD plan differs from an autism plan here. The answer should be specific. It will be.
My child doesn’t have a formal FASD diagnosis yet. Can we still talk?+
Yes. Many children with prenatal alcohol exposure carry other labels first — ADHD, ODD, “behavior problems” — or no label at all. Call us; we’ll help you understand the evaluation path in Nevada and what’s possible in the meantime.
We’re a foster family. Will the placement history be a problem?+
No — and you won’t be asked to retell it. We need what helps your child learn, not the story of how exposure happened. Foster and kinship families are a big part of who we serve, and paperwork realities (changing caseworkers, court dates, respite) are things we work around, not against.
Is ABA even appropriate for FASD?+
With adaptation, behavioral supports help — the key is a plan built for how FASD brains actually learn: more structure, more repetition, more environmental support, fewer consequence-based strategies. That adaptation is precisely what most clinics skip. Ask us to walk you through a sample FASD plan and you’ll see the difference concretely.
Can I watch my child's sessions?+
Yes — anytime, unannounced. Cameras run in every room during all hours, and parents are welcome to observe in person, or watch the live feed from our in-center family room. The cameras aren’t accessible over the internet — by design. We built it this way on purpose: trust you can verify beats trust we ask for.
