Early Intervention Services

Does your child have a developmental delay, or has an identified “risk condition” which may result in a delay?  Then we are happy to take your Regional Center referral.  Please ask for A is for Apple at your local Regional Center.

Or, if you choose to come to us directly, we’re happy to verify insurance and work with you.

The Early Intervention Program offered by A is For Apple Inc. includes working with children that are at-risk, being monitored for autism, or preemies who have developmental delays.  They may additionally need speech-language therapy and occupational therapy services.  We also specialize in serving children under the age of 3 who need ABA services.

We take pride in being a model of “best practices” using state-of-the-art methods, evaluation and therapeutic aids.

For each child, A is For Apple designs an individualized therapy program.  It can include any of the therapies we provide: behavioral/ABA, educational, social, speech-language and occupational therapy programs.

For those children who are diagnosed with autism (educationally and/or medically), the A is For Apple Early Intervention Program uses an Evidence-Based Curriculum which is approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), aligned with the National Autism Center’s (NAC) National Standards Project, and reviewed by the field’s leading minds.  Our staff is qualified, certified and trained.

This is why Bay Area Regional Centers refer parents with children under 3 to us for early intervention services.  And why insurance companies love to work with us!

Therapy techniques change as our understanding of developmental disabilities like autism continues to grow.  If the newest technique is verifiably the best for encouraging development in children with autism, we want to use it!

Young children at risk for developmental delays need as much intervention therapy as possible.  For example, a toddler with ASD who receives Early Intervention can benefit greatly from daily ABA services.

The quote below is from a report published by the Autism Society of America.  In this report, titled “Early Intervention Can Make a Difference: Utilizing Appropriate and Effective Approaches”, the Society strongly advocates for more therapy time:

“While the debate continues over how many hours of direct service is optimal for young children with ASD, the accepted range appears to be 20-40 hours per week. However, intensity of focus is as important as time intensity. Young children with ASD need to be exposed as soon as possible to frequent opportunities to practice and be reinforced for engaging in adaptive skills.”

“Comments such as, ‘He/she is too young for such intense therapy’ or ‘Let’s give him/her time to develop on his/her own’ should never be accepted, and intervention should never be postponed.”

We encourage you to read the full report here:  Early Intervention Can Make a Difference – Autism Society of America

Early Intervention serves children from birth to three years of age who:

• Have a developmental delay or disability (e.g., they have not reached certain developmental milestones like walking or speaking by a certain age)
• Were born premature
• Had surgery or an illness soon after birth, resulting in a delay or disability
• Have been diagnosed with a specific condition such as autism

Our Early Intervention program for children who have been diagnosed with ASD either educationally and/or medically uses Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) techniques.

In these situations, our methods for autism intervention programs include ABA teaching methods such as:

• Verbal Behavior/Discrete Trials Training (DTT)
• Functional Communication Training (FCT)
• Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
• Natural Environment Teaching (NET)