Somewhere on the other end of the phone, a father is asking Trista Ortiz, Intake Operations Manager at CSD, whether anything is going to help his child. The diagnosis is new and he doesn’t know what to do next. In the space between his question and her answer, Trista is doing what she has done thousands of times before: staying steady and calm, staying warm, and answering him with honesty.
“I just felt so bad for this dad. First his child can’t get diagnosed and he doesn’t know what to do. I really just try to take those opportunities to take those parents under my wing as much as I can, and help them feel as comfortable as possible.”
This is the reality of CSD’s intake team. Beyond scheduling assessments or explaining insurance coverage, it’s sitting with families in their rawest, most frightening moment of their journey and answering the questions they’re too afraid or feel too guilty, or too exhausted to ask.
After years of fielding calls like this one, Trista has heard nearly every version of the questions and fear parents and caregivers can carry. Some show up on their first call with a list, having done their homework about an autism diagnosis and Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy, direct and methodical, wanting every question answered before they take the next step. Others, she says, take longer to open up, working their way slowly to building trust over the course of the conversation.
“There’s definitely the parents and caregivers who are more direct,” Trista says. “And then there’s the families where you can kind of sense the hesitance in their voice. They’ll start to open up a little more slowly.”
What doesn’t change, Trista says, is the question sitting underneath almost every other question: Is this going to help my child?
Here are common hard-to-ask questions you may have that Trista and the intake team at CSD answer honestly.
Is It Already Too Late, or Will ABA Work at All?
Are my child’s needs too severe for ABA to help?
Every child is different, and there isn’t a specific severity level that determines whether ABA can help. ABA is individualized to each child’s unique strengths, needs, and goals. This means success looks different for every child, and progress is possible across a wide range of abilities.
Did I wait too long to start ABA?
It’s never too late to help your child learn new skills. Early intervention can make a meaningful difference, but children, teens, and even adults can continue to make real progress.
Trista hears this fear constantly, and she doesn’t think it’s a coincidence. “There’s so much emphasis on early intervention,” she says, “primarily because most organizations only want to service younger children with open availability at their center-based care. But there’s so much research that progress can be made at any age, even though all that parents of many older children, teens, and young adults have been able to find are early intervention resources. So they have this fear of ‘I didn’t do it when they were young, so is this really going to help?’ And we tell them it does. ABA services can continue to be meaningful well past childhood, including into the teens and adulthood,” especially CSD’s online virtual Beyond Breakthrough ABA™ program with a live therapist.
What if we do everything right and it still doesn’t work?
If something isn’t working, your child’s individualized ABA plan doesn’t stay the same. Our clinician team reviews progress regularly, collaborates with your family and caregivers, and adjusts the approach to better meet your child’s needs, rather than continuing down a path that isn’t getting results.
My child is verbal and high-functioning. Do they even need this, or am I overreacting?
Services aren’t based on a label or a functioning level. They address whatever challenges are affecting your child’s daily life to help them progress, gain missing or new skills, and succeed socially.
Can my child be ‘fixed’ or ‘cured’?
Autism isn’t something that needs to be fixed or cured, and ABA isn’t designed to change who your child is. It’s designed to help them build meaningful skills, communicate their needs, gain independence, and take part more comfortably in daily life.
Will my child ever function ‘normally’ in society?
Rather than aiming for what may be considered normal, the focus of ABA is on helping your child build the skills they need to thrive, take part in their community, and reach their own goals, on their own terms.
What have I been doing that’s made things worse?
This is one of the quiet questions parents are almost afraid to think, let alone say, Trista says. It’s part of why parent consultation and collaboration is built into CSD services from the start. “We partner with you,” she explains, “providing tools, strategies, and guidance so you can continue supporting your child’s progress at home.” CSD’s Starship™ app provides additional caregiver training modules, so parents and caregivers have support between sessions and ongoing help learning the strategies their child’s therapy team is using.
What If My Child Fights ABA?
What if my child hates doing ABA or refuses to participate?
The goal is to make ABA a positive, engaging experience. Programming is built around each child’s own interests and motivations, whether that’s trains, dinosaurs, math, or music. CSD’s Beyond Breakthrough ABA™ uses interactive, technology-supported tools to help sessions feel less like therapy and more like something a child wants to engage in.
What if my child cries every session, or has a meltdown? Should I keep bringing them anyway?
Big emotions are common, especially when a child is adjusting to something new. Your child’s clinical team works through these moments with you. As your child becomes more comfortable with their ABA therapist and the routines, these moments typically become less frequent.
What if therapy makes my child more shut down, not less?
If this happens, CSD’s clinical quality team review and assess your child’s individualized program, and make adjustments to shift course to approaches that will open up your child to skills learning and success. No program approach is set in stone. We are always shifting and addressing any concerns to provide the best approach for successful skills building and learning with positive outcomes and progress.
The Long View
Will my child ever be independent? What if I let myself hope, and it doesn’t happen?
Go back to the call of the father asking if anything is going to help his child. Trista says there are no scripted answers for those kinds of moments. What’s important is to field such questions with composure, calm, and the intention to help. “I really focus on the things that I can answer to help families and caregivers get the ABA support they need, and to feel less overwhelmed.”
The truth behind every tough question is that nobody can promise you a specific outcome for your children, and anyone who does, Trista emphasizes, isn’t being honest with you. What CSD can promise is a team that reviews progress constantly, changes course when something isn’t working, and never stops the conversation the moment you say something is wrong.
Trista says when caregivers and parents call CSD, the intake team will never pitch a hard sell for their services, because CSD cares that you are comfortable with the support services you engage to help your child. “Even if you decide to go a different route,” Trista tells them, “we’re a resource, and we’re here to help you if you have any questions at all.”
She says the important thing is that you don’t have to have what you think are the right words to ask hard questions. And you don’t need to be ready to commit to anything. Your first call can be the start of an ongoing conversation. All you have to be willing to do, Trista says, is open up honestly and ask.