8 Questions to Ask a Potential ABA Provider
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Not all ABA therapy looks the same. Some providers set goals around what matters to your family. Others hand you a plan and expect you to follow it. This free guide from Great Day ABA helps you tell the difference before you commit. It covers 8 practical questions to ask any ABA provider, what a good answer should include, and the red flags that tell you to keep looking.
What’s Inside
Getting to know your child: how goals are chosen, how therapy hours are decided, and how much say you’ll have in treatment decisions.
What sessions look like: how providers handle unsafe or challenging behavior, what a typical session includes, and what happens when your child doesn’t want to participate.
Making progress: how you’ll know ABA is working, and how the team changes course when something isn’t.
Who It’s For
This guide is for parents and caregivers who are:
New to an autism diagnosis and exploring ABA therapy for the first time
Comparing ABA providers in Des Moines or anywhere else
Already in services and wondering whether their current provider is the right fit
Why these Questions Matter
Good ABA is individualized, compassionate, and built with your family. It should feel like play, choice, and real-life skills, not hours of table work or compliance drills. These questions help you find a provider who respects your child’s “no,” involves you in every decision, and shows you clear progress.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Ask how they choose goals, how they decide on therapy hours, how involved you’ll be in decisions, how they handle challenging behavior, what sessions look like, what happens when your child says no, how they measure progress, and how they adjust treatment when something isn’t working.
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Red flags include goals based only on assessment scores, required minimum hours, punishment-based approaches, “compliance training,” long stretches of table work or flashcard drills, and no clear system for changing the plan when progress stalls.
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Your provider should review progress with you regularly, in a way you understand. Over time, you should also be able to see the changes in everyday life, not just in the data.