NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- "I'm exhausted," says Samantha, the mother of a 6-year-old boy who is diagnosed on the autism spectrum. It's a feeling that most parents can relate to these days, with the combination of school closures, lingering uncertainty around the rise in COVID cases across the country, and the arrival of colder weather. But for parents of children diagnosed on the autism spectrum, the difficulties are compounded.
"Routine is everything for our family. The main constant in our son's life has been our ABA therapist, who arrives daily to help cooperative behaviors, overstimulation and aggression. In the spring, we were doing telehealth out of necessity, but we are praying that things stay safe with our therapist being able to take all the necessary precautions to be able to come to our home in person," continued Samantha.
Many of the families that Proud Moments serves feel this way. Samantha added, "Back in the spring, we had no idea if we were going to be able to keep getting care for our son. When the team at Proud Moments set up telehealth, we were willing to try, but it was such an unknown."
At Proud Moments, when COVID hit in the spring of 2020, pausing or limiting access to care was never an option. "We realized immediately that our clients need services for continuity of care, no matter the environment," said Chanie Rubin, one of Proud Moments' co-founders. "We viewed it as the same service, different modality."
Even prior to state mandates, leadership administered masks and gloves to the behavioral technicians (BTs) at certain sites that were still going into homes to work with clients while a remote care model was solidified.
At the end of the day, it was Proud Moments' experts' dedication that solidified the successful continuity of care through telehealth: "The BCBAs… led the charge for us, not only by coaching their behavior technicians, but advocating the need for our services to their clients' families," said Sabrine Maali, Director of Clinical Systems.
As the weather gets colder and cases spike around the country, Proud Moments is prepared for anything. During the first wave, as people around the country were under lockdown and in many cases unfortunately postponed necessary medical and mental health care, Proud Moments was able to maintain almost ¾ of its clients on telehealth. And now, 9 months after that initial implementation, we have a solid technology platform in place with CentralReach, strong team collaboration, and an empowered employee population – a combination that gives us every confidence that we will get through this winter and beyond, continuing to deliver the gold standard of care to all of the families we serve without interruption.
"Families may be having difficulties with the household being sick. Why have an interruption in service if there is a way to provide services? Consistency is integral," added Chanie.
And at the end of the day, it always comes down to fulfilling the mission, regardless of modality of care or the difficulties that a health crisis may bring: More children will have access to care, regardless of the uncertainty surrounding the dynamics of a pandemic.
It is this mentality that gives us confidence that amid uncertainty, whatever the coming year brings, we are ready to continue to support the families we serve, safely.
About Proud Moments ABA
Proud Moments ABA is a Behavioral Health organization that provides services to individuals diagnosed with autism from birth to age 21. The organization provides medically necessary services utilizing behavior-analytic approaches ensuring that each client receives the Proud Moments gold standard of care. The highly qualified Board Certified Behavior Analysts and Licensed Behavior Analysts at Proud Moments possess years of experience and knowledge of research-based techniques, utilizing their extensive skills to improve social, behavioral and adaptive skills with individually tailored programs of therapy.
Proud Moments ABA currently operates in 13 locations across 6 states: NY, NJ, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia and Maryland.
*Components of this article were written in partnership with CentralReach, regarding the Proud Moments telehealth implementation in Spring 2020.
Contact:
Abby Kushner, Executive Vice President Marketing & Communications
Proud Moments ABA Therapy
T: (718) 215-5311
E: akushner@proudmomentsaba.com
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SOURCE Proud Moments ABA
