Getting Started with Spark
The Spark Center for Autism provides services to children through 10 years old.
For ABA services, we offer full day and half day options with a minimum requirement of 15 hours per week of services for new clients.
Full Day Program:
- Mon – Fri: 8:30AM – 3:30PM
Half Day Programs:
- Mon – Fri: 8:30AM – 11:30AM (AM Session)
- Mon – Fri: 12:30PM – 3:30PM (PM Session)
Evening Add-On Sessions*:
- Mon – Thurs: 4:00PM – 5:30PM
*Evening hours are available for children enrolled in our full or half day option. These hours are not available as stand-alone sessions.
Speech and OT services are available between 8:30-5:30 Monday-Thursday, and 8:30-3:30 Fridays.
First Steps
If you are interested in registering for services through the Spark Center, please follow the steps outlined below. If you get lost or need help completing any of the steps, or just want more information, please contact the Spark Center for assistance.
1. Contact your insurance provider and ask about your ABA, speech, and/or occupational therapy benefits. Many providers will cover at least a portion of the services we provide. To find out if we accept your insurance, click here. It is important to also know if your insurance covers the services. You can use this form to help find out your plan’s coverage.
2. For ABA services, ensure that your child has received a medical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Without an official diagnosis, most insurance providers will not cover treatment. Please note, an educational diagnosis, such as one provided during an IEP, is not sufficient to receive insurance coverage. If you are looking to receive speech or occupational therapy as stand-alone services, you will need a script and/or referral order from your child’s primary care physician. An autism diagnosis is not necessary for most speech and OT benefits, but a script/referral order indicating a different diagnosis may be required.
3. Contact the Spark Center at 248-238-9772 or complete a referral form here. After completing our referral form, someone from the Spark Center will contact you to provide specific information about our services and answer any questions you may have, and schedule a tour.
Why Choose the Spark Center?
When it comes to working with your child, it is important to know the level of care you can expect from your service providers. When you choose the Spark Center, here are some of the highlights that set our services apart as high-quality, compassionate providers.
Communication: The Spark Center provides regular communication with all clients and caregivers, with access to daily session notes, monthly progress reports, and ongoing updates to your child’s programming. It is expected that parents also regularly communicate with our staff. Any time a caregiver has a question or concern regarding services, caregivers have multiple options for communicating with us to address those inquiries.
Treatment Consistency: All services provided at the Spark Center utilize interventions that reflect current research and best practices. The Spark Center provides high levels of supervision and oversight from clinicians, and make data-based decisions within all aspects of treatment, from programming, to team selection. Recommendations for treatment as provided by your child’s clinicians and agreed upon by you, are expected to be adhered to, both by the caregivers as well as by our staff. The Spark Center does not recommend treatment schedules that we are unable to provide. As such, you can be assured that your child will receive consistent and effective treatment.
Caregiver Training and Support: Spark Center staff will work closely with families to identify goals for services to ensure that treatment is aligned with the goals and significance to the child and family. Training of caregivers will emphasize skill development and support so that caregivers become competent in implementing concepts and principles across environments, so that the skills taught at the center generalize to the home and other environments. Caregiver training may include being present during treatment, providing models and demonstrations, and practicing skills in vivo. Caregivers may also be provided with additional resources and training opportunities to more effectively support their child’s progress.