Our Services
Square One programs have been designed to educate the child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and their caregivers through direct interaction and skills teaching in the natural environment. This alternative and comprehensive approach allows parents to be an equal partner in their child’s educational team through direct involvement in their learning from the start.
Benefits of a Square One Program
- Parent education is embedded throughout the entire program.
- The program design includes parents in all aspects of teaching their child, and allows learning to occur in the child’s natural environment, throughout the course of their life.
- Due to the large emphasis on parent education, total intervention hours are less than traditional ABA programs.
- Square One's program design does not include tutor level staff, resulting in less time spent training for an entry-level position that is subject to high turnover rates.
- Square One will be available to serve families in outlying areas where tutors are sparse.
- One highly trained individual (minimum qualifications are 4 years in the field and a Bachelors degree in Psychology or related field) will be paired with each family to provide direct interaction and parent education, ultimately providing more consistency.
- Autism Educators have the flexibility and desire to collaborate with Occupational, Speech and other therapists and professionals involved with the child.
- Square One’s program design prepares the child with learning readiness skills and their caregivers with knowledge of basic behavior principles.
- Square One services incorporate the skills of a LCSW who is also a School Psychologist.
Population
Children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, through age 22. Square One is vendored to serve children through the age of 13 through Alta California Regional Center.
Anticipated Client Outcomes
Square One's program outcomes are split into two parts; (1) outcomes for the child and (2) for their parents and caregivers. Square One believes that a child's greatest asset is their family. In order for a child to continue to learn beyond the length of their program, it is an absolute necessity their family understand how to effectively teach and interact with them.
Square One recognizes the outcome of each program will vary based on each child's deficits and excesses and their parents’ level of involvement and follow through.
Child outcomes:
Increased level of communication, whether through vocal language, sign language, or a picture/ item exchange system (i.e. Picture Exchange Communication System/PECS).
Increased levels of independence across the following areas:
- Receptive and expressive communication
- Imitation as it relates to play skills and the learning of new skills
- Play
- Socialization
- Self-help
- Community access
- Pre-academic skills/School readiness
Decreased behavior excesses (i.e. tantrum, self-stimulatory behavior and self- injurious behavior) through the teaching of alternative skills.
Parents/Caregiver Outcomes:
- Ability to capture and contrive teaching opportunities throughout the child's daily routines.
- A solid understanding of basic behavior principles, including principles of reinforcement, shaping and fading, identification of functions of behavior excesses, and ability to develop simple behavior intervention plans.
- Ability to arrange, plan and lead peer opportunities.
- Ability to generalize skills learned across a variety of teaching scenarios.
- Empowerment in their ability to be a leader throughout their child's educational career.