How starting actually works
If you’ve made intake calls before, you know the drill: a phone tree, an insurance check, and a vague promise about a list. This isn’t that. Here’s the whole process, with real timelines, and the form that starts it at the bottom of this page.
How to Get Started
What you can count on from us
- The BCBA who assesses your child stays on your child’s case, start to finish.
- Anyone who works with your child is trained and supervised by Paige or Tiffany, and you’ll meet them first.
- You’re in the room, and you see the data.
- Your child’s assent sets the pace, and the plan changes when the facts do.
What to have ready (spoiler: almost nothing)
With private pay, no diagnosis paperwork is required to start. If insurance is paying, your plan will require an autism diagnosis first, so have a copy of your insurance card and your child’s autism diagnostic evaluation ready. If you have reports, evaluations, or an IEP you’d like us to read, wonderful, bring them to our first conversation. Otherwise, all you need is a sense of your family’s schedule and a little patience for our questions. We ask a lot of questions. It’s a feature.
Already waiting somewhere else?
You don’t have to cancel your spot on another provider’s list to talk to us. Plenty of families keep their place in line at a larger agency while starting here, because skills don’t wait well. A four-year-old on a nine-month waitlist is a five-year-old by the time the phone rings.
If the bigger program eventually calls and it’s the right move, you’ll make that call from a stronger position, with a plan already working and a parent who knows the vocabulary.
Questions Parents Ask
We keep caseloads small on purpose, so the honest answer is: it depends on current openings, and we’ll tell you the real picture the day you ask. And with private pay, there’s no insurance authorization queue, which is where most of Connecticut’s waiting actually lives. Having two BCBAs means more openings than a one-person practice could offer.
Not with private pay. A diagnosis is what insurance requires before paying, and it’s one of the biggest reasons families wait months. If insurance is paying, your plan will require an autism diagnosis first. If you’re seeing things that worry you, we can start with what you’re seeing.
Then the first session changes, and that’s not a failure, it’s information. Our practice is assent-based: your child’s cooperation is earned, not extracted. Some kids need three visits to decide we’re acceptable. That’s fine. We’re patient and we bring good materials.
Start with the interest form
Tell me a little about what’s going on. You’ll hear back from me, not an intake department, within 24 business hours.
Interest Form
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