Getting Started with Spark
The Spark Center for Autism provides services to children between the ages of 18 months – 10 years diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
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
- Mon – Thurs: 8:30AM – 5:30PM
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.
Getting Started…
If you are interested in registering for services through the Spark Center, please follow the steps outlined below. If you get lost of 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 autism benefits. Many providers will cover at least a portion of the services we provide. To find out if we accept your insurance, or for more information about your specific insurance provider, click here.
2. 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.
3. Contact the Spark Center at 248-238-9772 to complete a referral form and schedule a tour (please note, information submitted to us via email may not be secure). After completing our referral form, a clinician from the Spark Center will contact you to provide specific information about our services and answer any questions you may have.
What to expect…
While every child’s programming is individualized and tailored to their needs, there are a few things you can expect to occur throughout treatment.
Initial: Prior to starting services, we will conduct an initial behavioral assessment on your child to identify his or her specific areas of strength and weakness. We schedule this assessment to occur across two consecutive half day sessions. The primary assessments we use will break language and related skills down into different skill areas, including expressive language, listener responding, visual perceptual skills, motor skills, and social skills. We will also analyze the barriers that may be affecting your child’s ability to learn, such as non-compliance, aggressive behaviors, prompt dependency, etc. After completing the assessment and determining the baseline of your child’s skills and barriers, within approximately one week (depending on your insurance provider’s requirements), we will write a report describing the results of the assessment, create an individualized treatment plan and make our recommendation for treatment hours per week. Once we review the reports with you, we will finalize your child’s schedule and begin services.
Weekly: Your child’s team will be trained within the first week or two of services, and from then on, your child’s individual goals will be implemented in various formats (e.g., discrete trials, naturalistic teaching, social groups, etc). Staff will also provide ongoing pairing opportunities, in order to build effective rapport with your child. Your child’s BCBA will provide direct supervision from week to week, providing guidance to the technicians, and modifying protocols as needed based on your child’s progress. Each day, you will receive access to a daily progress report, summarizing the day.
Monthly: Your BCBA will set up meetings and parent training sessions with you to occur at least once per month. In addition, you will receive updates to your child’s treatment plan based on progress met to date.
Quarterly and Onward: At least every 6 months, your BCBA will re-assess your child and develop a new treatment plan based on the most up to date results of the assessment, which will be reviewed with you. 3 months into each 6 month treatment period, you will also be provided with an additional report (a “quarterly report”) which will include graphs and descriptions of all current treatment goals.