Progress in ABA is measured, not estimated. Every goal is written so that it can be proved or disproved, every target is scored in every session, and the resulting data is reviewed weekly by the supervising analyst and formally with parents every three months.
You will notice this page does not claim a success rate. That is deliberate. A percentage means nothing without a definition of success, and a high percentage drawn from a small number of families is arithmetic that does not survive scrutiny. We would rather show you the method.
Progress also varies genuinely between children — with age at starting, with the child’s profile, with hours, and with how consistently strategies carry over at home. Any centre that tells you otherwise is selling something.
Goals you can actually check
“Improve communication” is not a goal, it is a hope. Here is the difference in practice.
Not thisImprove communication
ThisIndependently requests eight preferred items using a full word, with three different people, on four consecutive sessions.
Not thisBetter behaviour in class
ThisRemains seated for the full 20-minute literacy block with no more than one prompt, on four days out of five.
Not thisMore independent
ThisCompletes the full toileting routine — including washing and drying hands — with no adult prompting, across two weeks.
What a progress review contains
In person, with the data in front of you. Not a summary sheet handed over at the door.
- Every active goal, with its data from the last three months
- Goals met and retired since the previous review
- Goals that have not moved, and what we are changing about how they are taught
- New goals proposed, and why those and not others
- The weekly hours recommendation — including reducing it
- Anything happening at school or home that should change the plan
Rather hear it from a parent?
We only publish an outcome story when the family has given written permission, so there are fewer here than we could write. In the meantime, ask us to put you in touch with a current parent. Where a family is willing, we will make the introduction — and you can ask them anything you like, without us in the room.
What we cannot promise
We cannot tell you your child will talk. We cannot tell you they will get into a mainstream school, or stay in one. Nobody honest can, and a centre that does is telling you what you want to hear in order to close.
What we can tell you is what we will do: assess properly, write goals you can check, collect data every session, change the approach when it is not working, show you the evidence either way, and reduce your hours when your child no longer needs them.
If after a reasonable period the data shows we are not helping your child, we will say so and help you find something that might.
Progress and Results: Frequently Asked Questions
How to tell whether therapy is working, and what to expect.
Every goal is written so it can be proved or disproved, and every target is scored each session. You see the same charts your therapist does. If a goal has not moved after a set number of sessions, the supervising analyst changes the teaching approach and tells you what changed and why.
Small, measurable movement on early targets is often visible within the first few weeks. Meaningful change in the things parents care about most — talking, calmer days, coping at school — usually takes months rather than weeks. Anyone promising faster is guessing.
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. Progress varies with age at starting, the profile of the child, the number of hours, and how consistently strategies carry over at home. Two children on the same programme can move at very different speeds.
Because a single percentage would be meaningless without defining success, and any centre quoting one on a small number of families is asking you to trust arithmetic that does not hold. We would rather show you how progress is measured and let you judge the method.
Ask us. Where families are willing to talk to a prospective parent, we are happy to make the introduction — with their permission. Hearing it directly from another parent is worth more than anything we could write here.
Hours reduce, and eventually the programme ends. Exit criteria are agreed at the start so finishing is a plan rather than a surprise. A programme that only ever grows is a business model, not a clinical plan.
