COVID-19 has significantly impacted society with drastic changes to everyday life. These changes have been especially difficult for children with autism in the San Antonio as the current shelter-in-home order has forced many services, therapies and support programs to be canceled or suspended.
However, with the development of telehealth services and a new project spearheaded by Leslie Neely, assistant professor of educational psychology at UTSA and coordinator of the applied behavior analysis program, the much-needed services will continue in a virtual setting.
“We are starting a new project that looks at how to use videoconferencing software to teach behavior therapists to conduct sessions virtually,” Neely said.
Started in early April, the project is funded by a grant from the COVID-19 Response Fund, a community fund jointly managed by the San Antonio Area Foundation and the United Way of San Antonio. The fund is comprised of nearly 30 caring businesses, donor advised funds, philanthropic foundations and government entities. It will train existing behavior analysts at the Autism Treatment Center. Those therapists will graduate to training other behavior professionals, including UTSA clinical students, in the same skills.
The San Antonio Applied Behavior Analysis, a consortium of researchers and clinicians from UTSA, the Autism Treatment Center, and the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, operates an applied behavior analysis clinic on site at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.
Prior to the pandemic, the SAABA consortium served about 50 clients between the ages of 3 and 16 years old in the San Antonio area. With the shelter-in-home directive many of those clients no longer have access to the services.
“Applied behavior analysis is a medically necessary therapy that treats severe behavior and teaches communication, social and adaptive skills,” Neely said. “Without it, many children are likely to relapse and engage in potentially life threatening self-injurious behavior.”
The goal of this telehealth model is to train a maximum number of therapists and reestablish ABA services via telehealth for clients as quickly as possible.
