Questions parents ask, answered straight
These are real questions from real conversations. If yours isn’t here, ask us directly; the form and our number are one click away, and we’d rather you ask than wonder.
Understanding ABA
Applied behavior analysis is the practice of figuring out why a behavior happens and teaching a better way to meet the same need. Behavior runs on consequences: things that work get repeated. ABA uses that, carefully and kindly, to build skills and shrink hard moments.
That’s a fair question and it deserves a real answer. Some criticism of ABA’s history is earned, and the field has changed because of it. Our practice is assent-based: your child’s no means something, sessions adjust to the child, nothing targets stimming that isn’t harmful, and no goal ever aims at making a child seem less autistic. Ask us about any of this on our first call. We’d rather you ask than worry.
No, and if you ever feel a plan is sanding off who your child is rather than building what they can do, that’s a conversation we want the same day. The kid stays. The frustration is what we’re evicting.
Mostly in structure. In larger agencies, a BCBA typically oversees a big caseload while technicians deliver most of the hours, and that model works for a lot of families. Oak & Arrow is owned and run by its two BCBAs, and we keep caseloads small on purpose. The BCBA who assesses your child writes the plan and stays hands-on with your family, and anyone else who works with your child is someone Paige or Tiffany trained and supervises personally.
Getting started
Not with private pay. A diagnosis is what insurance requires before paying, which is one big reason 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.
All ages, from 0 to 25. Our team has experience across that whole range, so the plan is built around whatever your child needs support with, at whatever age they are.
We keep caseloads small on purpose, so the true answer changes with our openings, and we’ll give 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 ABA waiting actually happens.
Typically within weeks of your first message, depending on fit and scheduling.
Sessions and logistics
Mostly your BCBA watching and your child ignoring them, which is fine. We want the real routine, not a performance of it. The formal assessment comes after, and by then your child has usually decided we’re boring, which is exactly where we want to start.
Yes, and honestly, that’s a feature. You’re the constant in your child’s life; sessions are built so the strategies transfer to you. The plan has to outlive our visit.
Fewer than you may have been quoted elsewhere. Insurance-funded programs often run 20 to 40 hours because their model is built for it. Our recommendation is based on your child’s assessment and your family’s schedule, and for many kids a few focused hours a week, with parents carrying strategies between visits, does the work. If your child needs more than we can provide, we’ll say so.
Yes, that’s actually when most of our work happens, since we often need to plan around school schedules. Sessions run Monday to Friday from 3pm to 8pm and on Saturdays from 9am to 3pm.
Money
Private-pay rates and personalized monthly cost estimates are provided during your initial consultation. We’ll discuss private pay before sessions begin, so you’ll have exact numbers before you’ve committed to anything.
Yes. We’re in-network with Cigna, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare, and HUSKY (Medicaid). For other plans, Oak & Arrow is private pay, with monthly superbills you may be able to submit for out-of-network reimbursement depending on your plan. Connecticut law does require most plans to cover ABA, and HUSKY covers it too, so if in-network care is the right path for your family, we’ll say so honestly and you’ll lose nothing by having asked us first.
About Oak & Arrow
Your child’s care is led by one of our two Board Certified Behavior Analysts, both licensed in Connecticut: Paige Tully, certification 1-20-44228, or Tiffany Salvatore, certification 1-25-81796. The BCBA who does your child’s assessment writes the plan and stays on your child’s case. Some sessions may be delivered by one of our Registered Behavior Technicians, Megan Murray or Christina Hundt, trained and supervised by Paige or Tiffany, and you’ll meet anyone who works with your child before they start. Every credential is verifiable at the BACB registry.
Two Board Certified Behavior Analysts who both came to this work from the classroom. Paige taught before becoming a BCBA and founded Oak & Arrow after years of in-home and school-based work. Tiffany spent more than ten years as a K-12 special education teacher. Their full stories are on our About page.
Something we didn’t cover? Ask us.
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