We are owned by a BCBA and an ABA parent giving us a unique perspective. We provide a bespoke service tailored specifically to your child and family’s needs. Our Program Supervisors are BCBAs and or CBAs. They are available to support parents when necessary. We specialise in providing evidence-based, data-driven, trauma informed behaviour support to pre-school children.
How much is Happy Oak’s program?
For an intensive program you should budget for about $60,000+ per annum for two to three years. We invoice each week, so you don’t pay by term. We try to work with families to their budget around this range.
We are available for consulting and our rates are within the NDIS Priceguide.
Is my child the right age for ABA?
Children learn best when they have 2-3 years of 20+ hours of intensive early intervention from when they are two/three years old. Older children can learn, it is harder to fit this intensity in when you have school. We recommend you don’t put off a diagnosis if you are told your child is too young.
How do I know ABA is helping my kid?
We rigorously measure all our programs and graph that data. We would want to see positive learning outcomes within three months. If we don’t see improvement in this time, we review the approach and take the necessary steps. That could mean a revised program with us or taking an entirely different path.
How many therapists are on my team?
You have a Supervisor and usually three therapists with set sessions each week.
Are all the staff employees of Happy Oak?
Yes, everyone is an employee. Each team member works with a number of Happy Oak learners.
We aim to teach children meaningful communication. Many children start with no verbal language and learn to talk. Others won’t, so we want to teach them an alternative so they can communicate effectively to live more independently and meaningful lives. If we recommend an alternative method of communication, this will not impact your child’s ability to learn to talk. In fact, research shows that this will more likely facilitate spoken language.
Do you do toilet training?
Yes. We aim to have all our learners toilet trained. We need parents involved in the plan!
Can you help with fussy eaters?
Yes, absolutely. We have successfully implemented many plans that expand learners’ food preferences.
Do you need an ASD diagnosis to do ABA at Happy Oak?
No, you don’t need an ASD diagnosis. We work with children with developmental delays which may be autism or other.
Do you do ASD assessments?
No, we don’t. Speak to your GP about the best way to get a diagnosis.
Is the centre a group-based program?
Our centre sessions are 1:1. Children at the same time may come together with their own therapist and goals and do some of their session time together if they are a good match. It’s lots of fun. Our learning in a group scenario happens in your kindergarten or childcare. This is one of the strengths of our program. Learning in the natural environment.
Does Happy Oak close for holidays?
We are open all year except Sundays, Public Holidays and over the Christmas and new year period. We ask parents to keep their weekly schedules for at least the school term.
What happens to my child’s kinder sessions when it's holidays and there is no kinder?
We keep the schedule the same, but we can change the location. For example, if we go to ELC and that is closed we can then go to your home.
Is ABA bad for autistic people?
There are many genuine concerns around ABA. For example, that ABA makes autistic children too compliant and forces masking. A really simple way of thinking about ABA is the effective and efficient teaching of any skill (based on scientific principles). We overlap our tailored curriculum with our philosophies of embracing neurodiversity while teaching functional communication and daily living skills. We try to teach our learners to be empowered to make choices, say no, and be independent. We want to teach children to communicate their concerns. We work with educators and parents support them in adapting environments to better suit our learners.
ABA is currently not regulated in Australia and not all ABA is equal. Being owned by a BCBA and the parent of an ABA graduate, we are continually striving to learn and provide gold standard therapy. We work hard to keep up to date with the science of ABA and listen to autistic voices.
Currently, we are an ABA provider who focuses purely on providing gold standard ABA. We write NDIS reports and provide general advice to parents, but at the moment it is up to carers to advocate for their child to secure funds and manage their NDIS. Our learners are self-managed participants.
