Finding Support for Your Autistic Child in Pueblo: A Parent's Guide to ABA Therapy and Beyond

1. Your Child First: What They're Actually Telling You

Before we dive into therapies, providers, and insurance paperwork, let's pause. Your child is the same person today that they were before the diagnosis. The label didn't change who they are — it just gave you new language to understand their experience of the world.

Here's what I've learned from interviewing hundreds of autistic individuals for Special Books by Special Kids: your child is not broken. Their brain works differently, processes information differently, experiences the world differently. That's not something to fix — it's something to understand.

So as you consider therapies, interventions, and support services, keep coming back to this question: What is my child actually communicating, and how can I help them navigate a world that wasn't built for them?

What Your Child Might Need Support With

Every autistic child is different, but here are some areas where many families in Pueblo seek support:

• Communication: Some children are non-speaking or have limited verbal language. Others talk extensively but struggle with back-and-forth conversation or understanding social cues
• Self-regulation: Managing big emotions, sensory overload, transitions between activities, changes in routine
• Daily living skills: Getting dressed, using the bathroom independently, eating a variety of foods, maintaining personal hygiene
• Safety awareness: Understanding dangers like traffic, wandering/eloping, interacting with strangers
• School participation: Sitting in a classroom, following multi-step directions, participating in group activities

Notice that I didn't say "making eye contact" or "stopping stimming" or "acting more normal." Those aren't the goals. The goal is helping your child develop skills that genuinely improve their quality of life and independence, while respecting who they fundamentally are.

2. The Reality of Autism Support in Pueblo Right Now

Pueblo is a community with heart, but let's be honest about what you're facing. With about 14,000 students in Pueblo School District 60, and autism affecting approximately 1 in 36 children nationally, there are likely around 400 autistic students in Pueblo public schools alone. Add in younger children not yet school-age, and we're talking about hundreds of families needing support.

What's Available in Pueblo

Pueblo has several autism service providers, but the landscape isn't always easy to navigate:

• Family Support Center: Offers diagnosis and ABA therapy with a multidisciplinary team including occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists. They've been serving Southern Colorado since 2012
• Soaring Eagles Center for Autism (SECA): A non-profit founded in 2001 specifically because Pueblo County lacked affordable autism services. They focus on ABA, social skills, and life skills training
• Several private ABA companies: Including providers like Autism Care Plus, Little Champs ABA, Treetop ABA, and Achieving Stars Therapy — most offering in-home services
• School-based services: Through IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) in Pueblo schools

The Challenges You'll Face

Here's what parents in Pueblo tell me they struggle with:

• Wait times: Many providers have 3-6 month waiting lists. When your child needs help now, that feels impossible
• Language barriers: In a community where nearly half of families speak Spanish at home, finding bilingual providers can be challenging
• Geographic spread: Pueblo covers a lot of ground. Getting to appointments across town when you're working, managing other kids, and dealing with your autistic child's difficulty with transitions — it's exhausting
• Financial stress: Even with Medicaid coverage (which we'll discuss), coordinating care, taking time off work for appointments, and managing the emotional weight of it all takes a toll

You're not imagining it. This is hard. And you're not alone in finding it hard.

3. What ABA Therapy Actually Is (And What It Isn't)

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the most researched intervention for autism, and it's also one of the most misunderstood and controversial. Let me try to explain what it actually involves, separate from the debates surrounding it.

The Basic Idea

ABA is based on learning principles — how behaviors are learned, maintained, and changed. The fundamental concept is simple: behaviors that are followed by positive consequences are more likely to happen again, while behaviors that aren't reinforced tend to decrease.

In practice, ABA therapy typically involves:

• A Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) assessing your child's current skills and challenges
• Creating specific, measurable goals based on what your family identifies as priorities
• Trained therapists (usually called Registered Behavior Technicians or RBTs) working with your child one-on-one
• Breaking down complex skills into smaller, teachable steps
• Using positive reinforcement (rewards, praise, preferred activities) to encourage learning
• Collecting data on every session to track progress and adjust the approach

What Modern ABA Looks Like

ABA has evolved significantly from its origins in the 1960s. Today's evidence-based ABA should be:

• Play-based and naturalistic: Not just sitting at a table doing drills, but learning through play, daily routines, and real-life situations
• Child-led when possible: Following your child's interests and motivation rather than forcing compliance
• Focused on meaningful skills: Communication, independence, safety, social connection — things that actually matter for your child's life
• Family-centered: Teaching parents strategies to support their child outside of therapy sessions
• Flexible and individualized: Adapting to your child's sensory needs, communication style, and learning preferences

Research shows that comprehensive ABA intervention can lead to improvements in communication (effect sizes around 0.30), intellectual functioning (0.51), and adaptive behavior (0.37). Translation: for many children, it helps. But "helps" doesn't mean "cures" or "makes them normal" — it means building skills that support their independence and quality of life.

Typical Time Commitment

ABA is often recommended at 20-40 hours per week for comprehensive intervention, or 10-20 hours weekly for focused skill development. That's a massive time commitment. It affects your family's entire schedule, your other children, your work, your life.

This is why the decision about whether to pursue ABA, and at what intensity, needs to be yours — made with full information about what you're signing up for.

4. The Conversation Nobody Wants to Have: Why Some Autistic Adults Speak Out Against ABA

Many autistic adults — people who received ABA as children, or who have studied it as professionals — have serious concerns about ABA therapy. Organizations like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) have stated that ABA can "hurt" autistic people and "doesn't teach us the skills we actually need to navigate the world."

What Are Their Concerns?

The criticism isn't just about ABA's early history (which included punishment procedures that are now widely condemned). Modern concerns include:

• The underlying philosophy: Critics argue that ABA is fundamentally about making autistic children appear "less autistic" rather than supporting their actual needs
• Suppressing natural behaviors: Discouraging stimming (self-stimulatory behaviors), forcing eye contact, and other practices that help autistic people regulate themselves
• Compliance-focused: Training children to follow directions and comply with adult demands, potentially at the expense of their ability to recognize and assert their own boundaries
• Mental health impacts: Some autistic adults report that ABA contributed to anxiety, depression, PTSD, and difficulties with authentic self-expression
• Missing the real barriers: Focusing on changing the autistic child rather than addressing environmental barriers, sensory issues, and communication support

The Defense from ABA Providers

ABA practitioners counter that:

• Modern ABA is fundamentally different from harmful historical practices
• Good ABA never tries to eliminate harmless stims or force eye contact
• The therapy has substantial research supporting its effectiveness for skill development
• For severely impacted autistic individuals with minimal language and dangerous behaviors, ABA may be one of the few evidence-based options
• Many families report significant improvements in their child's communication, independence, and quality of life

Where Does This Leave You?

Honestly? In a tough spot. You're being told by medical professionals that ABA is the "gold standard" treatment. You're hearing from autistic adults that it harmed them. You're seeing your child struggle right now and you need to make a decision.

Here's what I think: both perspectives can be true. ABA can help children develop important skills. ABA can also be implemented in ways that harm children's sense of self and wellbeing. The critical factor is how it's practiced, what goals are prioritized, and whether your child's inherent dignity and neurodivergent experience are respected throughout.

If you choose to pursue ABA, do it with your eyes open. Ask hard questions. Trust your instincts about your child. And please, listen to autistic adults about their experiences — even when it's uncomfortable.

5. Finding Support in Pueblo: Your Options

Let's get practical. Here's what you need to know about finding services in Pueblo right now.

Types of Service Delivery

Providers in Pueblo typically offer one or more of these models:

• In-home therapy: A therapist comes to your house. Benefits include learning in the actual environment where your child will use the skills, convenience for your family, and addressing real-life situations as they happen. Challenges include less control over the therapy environment and needing to be home during sessions
• Center-based therapy: You bring your child to a clinic. Benefits include access to specialized equipment, structured learning environment, and opportunities for social groups. Challenges include commute time, difficulty with transitions, and may not generalize well to home
• School-based therapy: Support integrated into the school day. Benefits include no additional scheduling burden and addressing academic/social skills in context. Challenges include limited hours and goals may focus more on school compliance than broader development
• Hybrid models: Combining approaches based on your child's needs and your family's capacity

Key Pueblo Providers to Know About

Family Support Center offers a comprehensive approach with multiple specialties under one roof. Good for families who want coordinated care across speech, OT, and ABA. They've built strong relationships in the Pueblo community over 13+ years.

Soaring Eagles Center for Autism (SECA) was founded specifically to serve Pueblo families who couldn't access or afford autism services. As a non-profit, their mission is explicitly about accessibility. They serve not just Pueblo County but families across Colorado.

Achieving Stars Therapy focuses exclusively on in-home ABA services with full Medicaid coverage throughout Colorado. They're known for shorter wait times (often 2-4 weeks versus 3-6 months elsewhere) and handling all insurance paperwork for families.

Several other providers — Autism Care Plus, Little Champs ABA, Treetop ABA, Brighter Strides ABA — serve Pueblo with various service models. Each has different strengths, philosophies, and availability.

What About Services in Spanish?

This is a real gap in Pueblo. With 71% of students in Pueblo schools being Hispanic and many families primarily Spanish-speaking, finding bilingual providers is challenging. When calling providers, specifically ask:

• Do you have Spanish-speaking BCBAs and therapists?
• Are intake assessments available in Spanish?
• Can parent training be conducted in Spanish?
• Do you have interpreters available for family meetings?

Don't accept vague assurances. Your child's therapy needs to happen in the language where they're most comfortable, and you need to fully understand what's happening in their treatment.

6. Making It Affordable: Medicaid and Insurance Coverage

Let me be direct: ABA therapy without insurance coverage costs $50,000-$100,000 per year. Nobody I've met in Pueblo can afford that out of pocket. So understanding your coverage options isn't optional — it's essential.

Colorado Medicaid (Health First Colorado)

If your child qualifies for Medicaid, ABA therapy is 100% covered with no copays or deductibles. Here's what you need:

• Formal autism diagnosis from a qualified professional (pediatrician, psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist)
• Prescription for ABA therapy from a licensed medical provider stating it's medically necessary
• Active Colorado Medicaid enrollment

Medicaid covers the full scope of ABA services: initial assessment by a BCBA, direct therapy hours with RBTs, BCBA supervision and plan adjustments, and parent training sessions.

The beautiful thing about Medicaid coverage in Colorado is that good providers handle 100% of the authorization process. You shouldn't have to navigate that bureaucracy while you're also managing everything else.

Private Insurance

Colorado's autism insurance mandate (Senate Bill 09-244) requires most private insurance plans to cover autism services including ABA therapy. Coverage limits vary but typically include:

• Annual maximum benefits of $25,000-$50,000 depending on your child's age
• Coverage for diagnostic assessment
• Coverage for treatment including ABA, speech therapy, occupational therapy

Private insurance usually involves copays and may require prior authorization. Deductibles apply. Make sure you understand your specific plan's autism benefits before committing to a provider.

What If You Don't Qualify?

If your income is too high for Medicaid but you can't afford private insurance deductibles and copays, look into:

• SECA's sliding scale services: As a non-profit founded to address affordability, they may have options
• School-based services: Free through your child's IEP
• Autism Speaks grants: Provide financial assistance for uncovered costs
• Colorado's Family Support Services Program (FSSP): State-funded support for families of children with disabilities

7. Questions to Ask Any Provider (That Actually Matter)

When you're interviewing ABA providers, forget the rehearsed marketing language. Here are the questions that will tell you what you actually need to know:

About Their Philosophy and Approach

• "Can you give me specific examples of goals you would NOT work on, even if I asked you to?" (If they say they'd work on anything, that's a red flag)
• "How do you handle stimming behaviors?" (The right answer involves understanding their function, not automatically trying to stop them)
• "What do you do when my child is clearly distressed during a session?" (You want to hear about pausing, adjusting, and prioritizing your child's emotional wellbeing)
• "Do you use any form of physical prompting, and if so, how?" (Understand what level of physical contact is involved)
• "How do you incorporate my child's special interests into therapy?" (Good ABA uses what your child loves to motivate learning)

About Staffing and Supervision

• "What's your BCBA-to-client ratio?" (Anything over 15:1 means your child isn't getting adequate supervision)
• "How often will the BCBA directly observe my child's sessions?" (Should be at least twice monthly, preferably weekly)
• "What training do your RBTs receive beyond the minimum certification requirements?" (You want ongoing training, not just the bare minimum)
• "What's your therapist retention rate?" (High turnover means your child keeps getting new therapists, which disrupts progress)
• "If my child's regular therapist is sick or leaves, what happens?" (You need a continuity plan)

About Parent Involvement

• "How much parent training is included, and is it optional or required?" (Required is better — you need these skills too)
• "Can I observe every session if I want to?" (The answer should be an enthusiastic yes)
• "How do you handle it if I disagree with a goal or approach?" (You want to hear that your input is valued and respected)
• "Do you provide strategies for situations outside of therapy time?" (Therapy is only a few hours — you need tools for the other 160+ hours per week)

About Logistics and Practical Concerns

• "What's your actual wait time right now from intake to starting therapy?" (Get the real number, not the aspirational one)
• "Do you have bilingual staff?" (If this matters to your family)
• "How flexible is scheduling if my work schedule changes?" (Life happens — you need some flexibility)
• "What happens if we need to cancel a session?" (Understand the policy before you're in a crisis)
• "How do you handle insurance authorization lapses?" (This happens — you need to know the plan)

The Most Important Question

After all those questions, here's the one that matters most:

"Can you tell me about a time when therapy wasn't working for a child, and what you did about it?"

You want to hear honesty. You want to hear about flexibility, about listening to the child and family, about making changes. If they tell you therapy always works when done correctly, run.

8. Why Some Pueblo Families Choose Achieving Stars Therapy

I want to be upfront: I'm going to tell you specifically why Achieving Stars Therapy has become a go-to option for many families in Pueblo and across Colorado. This isn't just marketing — it's based on what families actually report about their experiences.

The Wait Time Difference

Here's the reality in Pueblo: most ABA providers have waiting lists of 3-6 months. When your child is 3 years old and struggling, six months is an eternity. It's a significant percentage of their entire life so far.

Achieving Stars typically gets families started within 2-4 weeks. For parents I've spoken with, this matters enormously. The early intervention research is clear: earlier is better. Every month matters.

They Handle the Bureaucracy

Navigating Medicaid or insurance authorization for ABA is genuinely complex. There's paperwork. There are specific forms. There are authorization requirements and renewal deadlines.

Achieving Stars' intake team handles 100% of this. They verify your coverage, submit documentation, manage authorizations, handle renewals. Multiple Pueblo parents have told me this alone made the difference in actually accessing services versus giving up in frustration.

In-Home Service Model

Achieving Stars specializes exclusively in in-home ABA. For Pueblo families, this addresses several challenges:

• No commute across town multiple times per week
• Skills are learned in the environment where they'll be used
• Siblings can be involved naturally
• Parents can observe and learn strategies in real-time
• Your child doesn't have to manage difficult transitions to/from clinic

Is in-home right for every family? No. But for many Pueblo families juggling work, multiple kids, and limited transportation options, it removes significant barriers.

BCBA-Driven Assessment and Planning

Every Achieving Stars client gets a personalized assessment from a Board Certified Behavior Analyst before therapy begins. This isn't a cookie-cutter program — it's built around your child's specific needs and your family's priorities.

The BCBA stays actively involved throughout treatment, adjusting strategies based on data and progress rather than following rigid timelines or protocols.

Statewide Coverage

This might not seem important until you realize how often families move within Colorado for work, housing, or family reasons. If you start services with a Pueblo-only provider and then move to Colorado Springs or Denver, you're starting over.

Achieving Stars serves all of Colorado. If you relocate within the state, your child can continue with the same provider and maintain continuity of care.

Evidence-Based Methodology

Achieving Stars uses Natural Environment Teaching (NET) combined with structured teaching methods. This means learning happens through play, daily routines, and real-life situations — not just table-top drills.

They collect data on every skill target in every session. Parents receive regular progress reports showing what's working and where adjustments are needed. This transparency matters.

What Families Should Still Ask

Even if you choose Achieving Stars, you should still ask all the hard questions I listed earlier. Specifically ask:

• What's the current BCBA caseload? (This affects how much supervision your child receives)
• Who will be your child's therapist, and can you meet them before committing?
• What's their therapist retention rate?
• How do they ensure cultural competence, especially for Hispanic/Latino families?
• What happens if the fit isn't right — can you transition to a different therapist?

Any provider — including Achieving Stars — should welcome these questions and answer them honestly.

Final Thoughts: You're Not Alone in This

If you've read this far, you're probably exhausted. You're carrying a lot right now — the weight of the diagnosis, the pressure to make the "right" decisions, the fear of your child's future, the daily challenges of parenting an autistic child in a world that doesn't always understand them.

Here's what I want you to know:

Your child is going to be okay. Not because you make perfect decisions about therapy (there are no perfect decisions). But because they have you — someone who cares enough to read a 4,000-word article about how to support them. That matters more than you know.

You don't have to decide everything today. You can start with an assessment. You can try therapy and re-evaluate in a few months. You can change your mind. You can advocate for different goals. You can stop something that isn't working. You have more agency than it feels like right now.

Listen to autistic adults, but remember they're not a monolith. Some had terrible experiences with ABA. Some found it helpful. Some needed intensive support as children and are grateful for it. Some were harmed by approaches that tried to make them "normal." All of their experiences are valid, and none of them can tell you exactly what your child needs. But they can help you ask better questions and see your child more clearly.

Trust yourself. You know your child better than any professional ever will. If something feels wrong — even if everyone is telling you it's "evidence-based" — trust that instinct. If your child is showing signs of distress, anxiety, or shutting down, that's data too. Not all progress is forward movement.

Connect with other Pueblo families. The Arc of Pueblo, SECA, and other local organizations offer parent support. Other parents who've walked this road can offer perspective, referrals, and solidarity that no professional can provide.

You're in Pueblo — a community with challenges, yes, but also with people who show up for each other. You're not doing this alone, even when it feels lonely.

Your child is lucky to have you. And whatever path you choose, I hope you find the support your family needs.