Navigating the Autism Spectrum

 As a behavior analyst, Kelley Prince helps children with a diagnosis of autism to improve their social, language and self-help skills. Recently, Westchase Patch sat down with Kelley at her office, Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay, to discuss autism, therapy options and resources for families with a child recently diagnosed with autism.

Patch: How did you decide to work with children with autism?

Prince: When I was in my undergrad I took a course called behavior modification.  I realized that you could work with children and improve their behavior and teach them skills through behavior analysis. At that time I found a family in Clearwater that was looking to hire someone and train them to work with their child who had autism who was four years old.  I worked with the child intensely for about 18 months, 20 hours a week and after that time he no longer had a diagnosis of autism. The child is now 18 years old and he’s doing really well. That was my first experience, and I’ve been working in the field ever since.

Patch: What made you decide to open your own business, Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay?

Prince:  I decided to work privately for families. I worked with one family and they would bring in a behavior analyst, and they would train me and supervise me. Through word-of-mouth I would work with another family.  They then initiated a graduate program at USF in behavior analysis. I went to that graduate program, and then getting out of that program I decided I wanted to continue in the field. I started working as a consultant.  I would go into different family’s homes and train these therapists for the family. I was constantly training new therapists for new families. I decided to bring my own therapists, I became incorporated  and then I trained the therapists and I sent them to all of my client’s homes to do therapy.  My first clinic was on Waters Avenue. Within the two years we were outgrown from that location…so I got this location. Due to high demand in the New Tampa area I opened my second location in Wesley Chapel.

Patch: What is a behavior analyst?

Prince: A behavior analyst is someone that comes into the situation, assesses whatever the behavioral concerns are and recommends changing environmental variables to change behavior. The idea is if we can change the behavior of someone in that child’s environment, then we get the behavior child from the child. That’s really what it’s all about…We also work with kids to teach new behaviors. A lot of the kids that have a diagnosis of autism don’t have a lot of language, social skills or self-help skills. In that situation we determine what skills they’re lacking and we do one-one-one teaching to teach those skills. We use behavioral strategies such as positive reinforcement.

Patch: What are some common misconceptions of autistic children, and how do you debunk them?

Prince: That children that have autism aren’t very social kids, and that they don’t have a lot of emotions. They really want to be social, and they want to make friends, but they just don’t have the skill set to do that. The third misconception is the idea that autism is not very common. Autism, at this point, is very common. We are looking at one in 110 children have a diagnosis of autism. One in 70 boys has a diagnosis of autism. The third misconception is where autism comes from. Unfortunately, no one knows why children are being diagnosed with autism at a more rapid rate than five or 10 years ago.  

Patch: What are some signs that a child may be exhibiting symptoms of a diagnosis of autism?

Prince: Communication, lack of gesturing and most of our kids don’t respond to their name. They may also engage in repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping, walking on their toes or spinning in circles.

Patch: What are some of theories of why autism has become so widespread?

Prince: There has been a lot of research on that including the link to childhood vaccines. At this point, they’re not showing that those vaccines cause autism. We know that there is a genetic component and that there is an environmental variable. My assumption is that it’s not just one thing. If it were one thing, we probably would’ve determined what it is.

Patch:What does a behavior analysis program entail?

Prince: In the population that I work with it involves two factors. The first factor that we look at is what problem behaviors exist and we do a behavior reduction for those clients. Then we do parent or teacher training on strategies that will help reduce that problem behavior. On the flip side, children with a diagnosis of autism are lacking behaviors that they should be exhibiting. In that situation we have another formal assessment that we do and we chart all of the skills that the child has and skills that the child still needs to work on. We set a program and goals to teach them skills in a one-on-one setting.

Patch: How can a parent proactively react to the news that their child has a diagnosis of autism?

Prince: There are a lot of resources available for a family that recently had a child diagnosed with autism.  In Tampa we have the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) at USF. That’s a place that parents can call right when they get the diagnosis. They do some consulting for families, and they also send them in the right direction for resources. There is also a lot of research that shows that certain interventions are very effective for children with autism. Applied Behavior Analysis has more research than any other intervention. Typically I would suggest parents contact the CARD center at USF, and then do some some research to find out what research based interventions are available for my child. Find out which ones are covered by insurance, and focus on the research based interventions.

Patch: What are some other resources that Tampa families can look to?

Prince: Autism Speaks is a national organization, but there is an Autism Speaks Tampa Bay. They can offer some assistance in finding local interventions that can be used for children with autism. There are a lot of parent support organizations that can be found through the CARD center and Autism Speaks.

Patch: Are all of the therapy sessions done in your offices in Westchase or New Tampa?

Prince:  No, it depends on what the needs are of the family of the child. If the child is having problem behavior out in the community or at school or home, those therapy sessions usually take place where those behaviors are exhibited. If we have a child that has to learn a lot of skills we try to do those sessions at the clinic so we can reduce distractions…we do a lot of one-on-one teaching skills at the clinic, and behavior reduction type programs outside of the office.

Patch: Autism is often described as a spectrum, how much can parents expect their child to progress?

Prince: Depending on the diagnosis, the age of the child when they begin therapy and depending on the intensity of the therapy that all relates to the prognosis of the child. We like to see children as early as two or three years old…but the idea is that if a child engages in an Applied Behavior Analysis program they are going to make progress…it just depends on all of the other factors as far as how much progress that child will make.  We have had children come in with a diagnosis, complete intensive therapy,  and go back to the same doctor and no longer have a diagnosis of autism or have a lesser diagnosis.

Patch: Do you accept insurance?

Prince: We do! There was state  legislation that was passed in April of last year that requires insurance companies in the state of Florida to cover autism related services…I would say 90 percent or more of our clients have insurance coverage.

Patch: Do you have a favorite success story?

I’d probably say that first child that I worked with. At that point I didn’t know how effective Applied Behavior Analysis was, and because it was my first experience. I was at their house 20 hours a week. I became an additional family member. He didn’t have any language when I first started working with him. It was so exciting to see every little bit of progress that he made.  At one point I was planning on moving to Atlanta during the time that I was working with him.  The family said if you’re moving to Atlanta, then we’re coming to Atlanta.

Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay is located at 6916 W. Linebaugh Avenue or visit: www.bcotb.com