Programs & Services (New – in development)

We provide up to 3, one-hour sessions with a Behavior Clinician to directly support parents and caregivers to address a specific need/goal and the tools to support your child/youth’s skill development. Prior to these consultations, one of our skilled Foundational Family Service Clinicians will conduct an initial call to discuss your child’s current needs/skills and gather general information to help individualize these sessions. *Please note that due to the complexity of some specific needs/ goals, the Foundational Family Service Clinicians may determine that a goal is not appropriate for targeted sessions as they may require a more comprehensive assessment to be completed (i.e., accessing a core clinical service).

Targeted Consultation topics could include, but are not limited to:

• Strategies for toilet training (e.g., assessing readiness, developing a toilet training plan)
• Early learner communication (e.g., using a choice board)
• Social skills (e.g., sharing with a sibling)
• Transition support (e.g., using a visual schedule)
• Self-advocacy skills (e.g., sharing pronouns, advocating for specialized services in the school system)

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND. We are happy to offer drop-in clinics for adolescents and caregivers to access a 50- minute consultation session with Dr. Price. Clients will be able to schedule a time during one of the clinic days, where they are able to discuss any current mental health concerns, learning basic strategies that can be implemented at home and in the community, and to receive recommendations to plan for next steps.

The RUBI Parent Training for Disruptive Behaviours is intended to equip parents with a variety of techniques and tools that can help minimize disruptive behaviours and increase desired behaviours. It provides families with a wealth of information that can assist in their day-to-day planning for their child by including teaching opportunities for play skills, daily living skills as well as opportunities to apply behaviour management skills for encouraging desired behaviours.

This group is based on the Circles Intimacy and Relationships (Level 1) curriculum by James Stanfield. The group is intended to help children with autism develop and understand social roles, relationship boundaries, and relationship-specific behaviours (e.g., it’s okay to hug your mother, but it’s not okay to hug the mail carrier) by using step-by-step dramatizations and visual examples to teach extremely abstract concepts in a very simple and concrete manner. Each session will focus on explaining the relationship between the level of intimacy between people and the way they Touch, Talk to, and Trust each other based on which “circle” of intimacy they are in. Different relationships and roles will be evaluated using 6 qualifiers: how long have you known the person, how often do you see the person, how many common bonds do you have with the person, how well do you know the person, how deep are your feelings for the person, and how safe are you with the person. The participants will get to keep a take home circle chart of their own that they’ve made that will place strangers, community helpers, neighbors, peers, friends, family members and a sweetheart (if appropriate) all with themselves at the heart of their personalized circle. We will be using words like "romantic touch” to describe interpersonal contact in romantic relationships without going into any explicit detail. The term “sweetheart” will be used to refer to a boyfriend or girlfriend. Consent and the right to withdraw consent will also be discussed. This is not intended to be a course on sexual education. The group sessions are being offered by an ABA consultant who will use ABA strategies (such as rewards, behavioural skills training and other interactive strategies) to assist in the learning of this material.

Individualized targeted 6 session consultation to work on a specific goal. These may include: functional skills such as toileting, eating, hygeine; communication goals (i.e., functional communication); identifying alternatives to disruptive behaviour, etc. In person sessions may include direct work with children and adolescents.

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND. Facing Your Fears (FYF) is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) program for children and youth with ASD who experience significant symptoms of anxiety. This group focuses on helping children and their caregivers in identifying worries, developing coping strategies, and practicing managing anxiety. This group consists of 12 weekly in-person sessions. Caregiver AND child participation in each session is required.

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND. This caregiver group involves participation in a Parent Management Training
(Kazdin, 2008) program that aims to enhance parenting skills to manage challenging behaviours in children, such as aggression, hyperactivity, and non-compliance. The training will take place virtually in a group session.
Handouts will be emailed to participants prior to each scheduled session.

Critical Core is a role playing game that features cooperation between players to achieve goals within the game. Using a game master who facilitates the play, players determine their characters strengths and abilities and use these to work collaboratively with the other players. With a focus on skills that are critical for building relationships and having meaningful social interactions, Critical Core makes learning enjoyable for players.

This brief targeted consultation aims to support parents and schools for children who have an autism diagnosis and have needs at school. The goals are to assist in the child’s frequency and quality of participation at school (e.g., increasing time that child is at school, reduction of problem behaviours, improvement of social skills, etc.). This service consists of a 1-hour consultation with the parents and a 1-hour consultation with the school team, teacher, or education assistant to determine the undesired behaviour to target, followed by a 1-hour observation of the child at school at specific times when the undesired behaviour is likely to occur.

A brief targeted behaviour treatment plan will then be created and reviewed with the teacher/education assistant. Then, the ABA consultant will meet with the teaching staff for 3, 1-hour consultations over the following weeks to review and recalibrate the targeted treatment plan as needed.

* All preparation, planning, and travel time to and from the school is included

This skills group aims to teach kindergarten and young learners foundational social play skills such as greetings, sharing, turn taking, and sustained play with peers. Participants will have the opportunity to explore a variety of play activities, participate in small group and gross motor activities, and practice cooperative play. Each session will focus on encouraging learners to join in on play activities, make requests from peers and respond to other peers in a modeled and adult facilitated peer-led environment.

This skills group aims to teach kindergarten and young learners foundational social play skills such as greetings, sharing, turn taking, and sustained play with peers. Participants will have the opportunity to explore a variety of play activities, participate in small group and gross motor activities, and practice cooperative play. Each session will focus on encouraging learners to join in on play activities, make requests from peers and respond to other peers in a modeled and adult facilitated peer-led environment.

This is a brief targeted consultation and direct support to help address specific behaviours and support the child’s skill development. The service consists of an initial 1-hour consultation with the parent(s) and child to determine the specific problematic behaviours to address. A brief targeted behaviour plan is developed. The child then participates in 6, 1-on1 sessions with the Behaviour Analyst. At the end of the 4 sessions, the parent(s) will participate in another 1-hour consultation to review the progress and retool/adjust the initial behaviour plan.

*Depending on the behaviours and presenting problems, a parent may need to be present during the 1-on1 sessions with the child.

ACT is a type of therapy that aims to help service users accept what is out of their control and commit instead to actions that enrich their lives. ACT develops psychological flexibility and is a form of behavioural therapy that combines mindfulness skills with the practice of self-acceptance, it encourages individuals to embrace their thoughts and feelings rather than fighting or feeling guilty for them. ACT is about taking effective action guided by one’s deepest values whilst being fully present and engaged.

Friendships are key for a healthy development for children and youth. Maintaining and developing
friendships can be especially tricky to navigate for children and youth with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD). This peer group is aimed at teaching and providing participants with opportunities to practice the
skills necessary for developing friendships. Participants will practice getting to know each other, how to
initiate and end conversations, conversation do’s and don’ts and how to host and be a guest at a play
date. Participants will have opportunities to learn these skills while interacting with each other and
participating in group games.

Following a 1-hour consultation meeting with our on-site BCBA, your child will receive 6 hours of 1:1 follow up service/caregiver coaching with our clinical team, at our center, for up to 4 weeks. Session dates and times will be arranged with each individual family.

This workshop provides an opportunity to learn Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) strategies to teach your child
play skills that increase and promote communication. Teaching communication skills and expanding your child’s language through play increases skill development across many areas maximizing learning opportunities. There are four individual consults with a BCBA-D included with this workshop. These consultations are individualized specific to implement the strategies reviewed at the workshop with your child. Workshops are delivered virtually and only caregivers attend those. The 1:1 consultations can be virtual or in person, based on preference and availability.

This workshop series is recommended for families with a child who has recently received an Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. After receiving news of a diagnosis, families will navigate through a lot of information to make important decisions about next steps. This series offers 3 workshops, along with 4, 1:1, 30-minute consultations with a BCBA-D. Workshop 1 will provide an overview of various services recommended to caregivers of a child with ASD. Workshop 2 will provide an overview of Autism and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) and why ABA is an effective treatment for those with ASD. Workshop 3 will focus on developing positive interactions as a foundation to teach a variety of different skills in these early stages. After attending the series of workshop there are four, 30-minute, 1:1 consultations, where caregivers meet with the BCBA-D to identify and develop basic skills that could include – communication, self help skills or day to day routines. The 1:1 consultations are for both the caregiver and child to attend. Workshops are delivered virtually and only caregivers attend those. The 1:1 consultations can be virtual or in person, based on preference and availability.