ABA therapy: Excused absence or not?

Parents have a lot of decisions to make when it comes to caring for a child on the autism spectrum. One of those decisions is choosing between their child going to school or receiving expert ABA therapy services from a center-based provider in their community.

ABA therapy is the gold standard treatment for autism spectrum disorders. However, it is not a substitute for school. And vice versa. School is not a substitute for ABA therapy. That’s why the decision can be a hard one to make.

But, what if there’s a third option that enables you to provide your kiddo with the best of both worlds? The answer to that question hinges on ABA therapy being an excused absence at your child’s school. If you live in Texas, we have great news. ABA therapy IS an excused absence in all schools, including those in the Plano, Frisco, and Prosper school districts.

Texas Education Code on excused absences

You can read the Texas Education Code for excused absences here. It’s not particularly long or complicated. These are the main takeaways:

  • Students are excused for a temporary absence to attend appointments with healthcare professionals.
  • Temporary absences include appointments for ABA therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy.
  • Students must start OR end their day at school on the day of their appointment for the absence to be excused.

It’s important to note the Texas Education Agency (TEA) provided guidance several years ago that stated “school districts cannot consider regularly scheduled daily or weekly absences to get ongoing treatment for a chronic health condition related to a student’s disability as “temporary” absences.” 

While that guidance is still in effect, the Texas Education Code on Excused Absences has been modified to specifically callout students with autism spectrum disorder, ensuring they CAN be excused for healthcare appointments no matter how often they’re scheduled.

The TEA has also clarified that students cannot be penalized for excused absences, and they must be counted as if the student attended school for purposes of calculating average daily attendance. Also, the school district must give students with excused absences a reasonable time to make up missed schoolwork. If it’s completed satisfactorily, the day of absence must be counted as a day of compulsory attendance.

How to make sure your child is ready to start school

Act early! ABA therapy can have the biggest impact in a child’s life when it’s started early, when their brain is forming lasting connections with the world around them during the first five years of life. Children with autism need help making some of those connections in the best way that benefits their ability to learn and reach their full potential.

That’s why an early diagnosis is critical. The earlier a child is diagnosed, long before starting school, the earlier they can receive ABA therapy in anticipation of starting school. Your ABA therapist will be instrumental in helping you know when your child is ready for school.

Children can start ABA therapy as young as two years old. Most children who start ABA therapy will be enrolled in One-on-One Therapy, where they can get the one-on-one attention they need to learn foundational communication, self-help, and social skills. From there, toddlers can progress to an ABA therapy school-readiness program.

The Behavior Exchange Early Start program – B.E.E.S. – is a popular choice for families and their toddlers with autism and other developmental and behavioral concerns. B.E.E.S. is similar to a preschool where small groups of 2 or 3 children participate in playful activities together, enabling them to learn skills that will help them make a smoother transition to school and the classroom dynamic.

How to help your child make friends in school

Thanks to ABA therapy being an excused absence in Texas, your school-aged kiddo with autism can participate in our Social Skills Groups where they’ll learn social skills they need to connect in meaningful ways with their peers.

Children who are diagnosed with autism after starting school can struggle with relating to other children as well as adults, like their teacher. Others may just need extra time learning skills that can improve their school experience and results. Social Skills Groups provide a low-pressure environment where school-aged children learn how to hold a conversation, be a good sport, read social cues, and more – all the skills a child needs to start and maintain friendships.

The best of both worlds

Your child can reap the benefits of participating in both school and receiving ABA therapy at The Behavior Exchange. It’s simply a matter of scheduling and arranging transportation with your child’s school.  

Enrollment is open year round, and your child’s therapy plan will be developed according to their unique needs and the goals you have for them. We also offer Parent Training and services for siblings to support the whole family.

To get started on a brighter future for your child, complete our contact form. A member of our incredible Intake Team will follow-up to learn more about your child and family and let you know how our Behavioral Health Center of Excellence® can help. We can’t wait to hear from you!

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Ashvina attended University of Bombay and graduated with a Bachelors of Commerce. She got her Montessori Diploma in 1985 and taught ever since. Ashvina came to TBE in January of 2016 as Admin Assistant. During the years she got the opportunity to learn and work in different departments such as HR, Finance, Office Manager and Executive Assistant. Last summer TBE bought billing in house and her current focus area is Revenue Cycle Management. She is detail oriented and enjoys working with people. Ashvina volunteers to deliver meals to seniors and local shelters on the weekend. She loves to spend time with her family and grandkids. Ashvina loves her job because she enjoys hearing different points of view, and she feels her contributions help fuel the direction of our company.

Working with children comes naturally to Angela. Her mom was a special education teacher for 30 years and often had Angela join her for Take Your Child to Work Day. And in high school, Angela spent every summer as the nanny for a little boy with an autism spectrum disorder. It was this experience where her passion for working with children with autism started to blossom.

From there, she went on to graduate from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences. She learned about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in a non-normative development class and from that moment knew that ABA would be her life’s work.

Angela moved to the DFW area shortly after and began working at The Behavior Exchange as a therapist. She worked on her Master’s in Behavior Analysis at the same time. A year after graduating, she earned certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Now, as a Clinical Director at The Behavior Exchange, she brings a life-long passion to her work, holding a special place in her heart for children with limited language skills and working closely with families to develop healthy sleep habits.

Danielle’s passion for working with families is deeply personal and from the heart. Her younger brother has an autism spectrum disorder, and through their journey as a family, she found her purpose in life as an advocate for individuals with special needs.

After graduating from the University of North Texas with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, Danielle began volunteering at The Behavior Exchange. She saw passionate therapists, meaningful change for clients, and families with hope for the future. After a summer of volunteering, she officially joined the team as Director of Admissions and found her home with The Behavior Exchange family.

With her extensive experience working as a client advocate with insurance providers, Danielle perseveres to help individuals of all ages and abilities receive the services they need to reach their full potential. She feels truly honored by each and every family who entrusts The Behavior Exchange to be part of their journey and is committed to the organization’s core values, mission, and goal of being a beacon of hope for the community.

Adam has always had a passion for helping individuals of all ages thrive and reach their full potential. He’s also an enthusiastic musician, songwriter, leader, and devoted family man, who has been helping children and team members grow with The Behavior Exchange since 2010.

Prior to joining the team at The Behavior Exchange, Adam was a mortgage loan consultant and grad student, pursuing his master’s degree in Education at the University of North Texas. He graduated in 2013 and also earned a graduate academic certificate in Autism Intervention. The following year, after years as a Behavior Therapist and seeing first-hand the power of ABA and the meaningful impact it can have on children and their families, Adam became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. He then commenced from the Stagen Leadership Academy after completing the Integral Leadership Program (ILP), a 52-week practice-based program designed to develop executives serious about transforming themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

Adam is truly grateful to be a part of a dynamic, inspiring and compassionate team, and he’s dedicated to bettering the lives of all children and their families through the delivery of the highest quality of ABA services, while supporting the amazing team at The Behavior Exchange.

Soraya is from South Africa and moved to Texas in 1996. She graduated from The University of Texas and pursued a career, at that time, in Education. Soraya taught at a Montessori school for a few years and then took on a leadership role.

During her time in the education system, Soraya realized her passion was to assist children with special needs. So she joined The Behavior Exchange as a therapist, transitioned into a supervisory role in 2017, and a year and a half later, was promoted to Clinical Operations Manager.

She quickly learned the ins and outs of ABA operations and scheduling and successfully collaborates across departments to ensure The Behavior Exchange continues to provide quality services to clients and their families. She’s thankful to be part of such an amazing organization and excited to see what the future holds.

You could say Walter’s career started when he spent hours as a young child drawing superheroes and coloring maps. This passion, along with extraordinary swimming skills, landed him a full swimming scholarship at Texas Christian University, where he graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Graphics.

During the next 13 years, his design and art direction skills, conceptual-thinking abilities, and marketing-savvy know-how were honed at a few prestigious advertising and marketing agencies around the Dallas area. In the mid 2000s, he helped his wife Tammy Cline-Soza (founder and CEO of The Behavior Exchange) create a unique and concise brand for her new business. From logos and websites to uniforms, brand voice and visuals, Walter has been the main creative force for all things The Behavior Exchange.

Aside from giving birth to The Behavior Exchange brand, Walter is helping Tammy raise two amazing, beautiful children, River and Sierra. In his spare time (the two minutes he’s got per week), you can find Walter illustrating iconic landmarks of Dallas and Texas or looking around for this next open-water swim. Once he gets back in shape.

After 20 years of building The Behavior Exchange, literally from the ground up,
Tammy couldn’t be more proud of the team, culture, and organization that it has become.

As a family helping families, The Behavior Exchanges looks for opportunities that will make the biggest impact and produce life-changing outcomes – for clients, families, and even for team members. Tammy believes that if a team, a family, a community takes care of each other, the possibilities are endless and the relationships built along the way can make life more enriching and challenges easier to navigate. You could say her goal has been to build a kind of utopia full of support, love, and expertise that brings the best services possible to the community and ensures more families have access to those services.

Tammy and her family have dedicated their lives to the mission of The Behavior Exchange and continue to grow, learn, cultivate, challenge, support, and create better models for success. To that end, she is committed to her own leadership development and actively participates in advanced training, mentoring, and deep self-exploration on how to live out her purpose to love and support her family and help others reach their full potential. She takes her position very seriously and tries to serve as a channel for what the universe wants to come to fruition.

She also loves travel, gardening, being creative, MUSIC!, tennis, yoga, meditation, journaling, reading, being in nature, adventures, and more than anything, spending time with her husband Walter and their two beautiful children, River and Sierra.