I’ve been working in ABA Therapy Services for just over a decade now, most of that time as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst supporting children in homes, clinics, and public school settings. My workdays have never followed a neat script. They’ve involved sitting on living room floors with data sheets curling at the edges, walking into school meetings where everyone is already overwhelmed, and spending long evenings at kitchen tables with parents who are hopeful but cautious because they’ve been promised progress before and felt let down—often while trying to understand whether providers such as https://regencyaba.com/ can offer support that truly fits their child’s everyday environment.
One of the first things I learned is that ABA looks very different in practice than it does in polished descriptions. Early in my career, I worked with a child whose referral focused heavily on reducing disruptive behavior at school. Once I spent time observing, it became clear the behavior spiked during unstructured parts of the day, especially when expectations were unclear. The solution wasn’t tighter control or stricter consequences. It was teaching the child how to ask for clarification and helping staff make transitions more predictable. That shift didn’t just reduce behavior—it made the child’s day feel safer.
I’ve also seen how much the setting matters. In one case, clinic sessions were going well, but progress stalled at home. When I started doing in-home sessions, I realized the family’s routines were chaotic through no fault of their own. Siblings, work schedules, and limited space all played a role. We scrapped the original plan and rebuilt it around everyday moments like meals and getting ready for bed. That’s the kind of adjustment families don’t always realize they should expect from ABA therapy services.
A mistake I see too often is an overemphasis on hours instead of outcomes. I’ve supervised cases with packed schedules that looked impressive on paper but left the child exhausted and disengaged. I’ve also seen steady progress with fewer hours when goals were focused and supervision was consistent. In my experience, the quality of planning and follow-through matters far more than hitting a specific number on a schedule.
Another common issue is treating parents as passive observers. I worked with a family where a child’s progress unraveled every weekend. It wasn’t because the child was “testing limits,” as they’d been told—it was because the parents hadn’t been coached on how to respond consistently. Once we spent real time practicing strategies together, things stabilized. ABA therapy services work best when caregivers are actively supported, not just handed instructions.
Over the years, I’ve also become more selective about what goals I’m willing to support. I’ve pushed back on plans that focus on making children appear easier to manage without asking whether the skills being taught actually improve communication or independence. Behavior reduction without skill-building doesn’t hold up long term, and I’ve seen it create new problems down the line.
Families often ask how to tell whether a provider is a good fit. From my perspective, it’s less about the sales pitch and more about how the work shows up week to week. Providers like are often part of the conversation parents are having when they’re trying to understand what real, hands-on ABA should look like in their child’s daily life, not just during sessions.
After years in this field, my view of ABA therapy services is grounded and practical. When services are individualized, thoughtfully supervised, and respectful of a child’s environment, they can meaningfully improve day-to-day life. When they’re rigid or disconnected from reality, they tend to add stress rather than reduce it. The difference isn’t theory—it’s how the work is done, session by session, in real homes and real classrooms.