Opya

We are currently in-network with the primary commercial insurance plans in California for ABA, including Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Beacon, Blue Shield/Magellan, Cigna, Health Net/Managed Health Network, Magellan, Optum/United Healthcare, and Kaiser (Catalight). Please reach out if you are not seeing your insurance listed.

With Opya, you can begin autism therapy services in just a few steps:

Step 1: Our Getting to Know Your Child and Intake Completion

Speak with our Client Services team to determine if your child would benefit from our early intervention autism therapy model. Complete our intake process, which includes a courtesy check on your insurance coverage to ensure treatment is covered.

Step 2: Assessment and Treatment Plan Creation

One of our board-certified clinicians will conduct a comprehensive assessment of your child to develop a personalized treatment plan tailored to your child’s specific needs. 

Step 3: Care Team Assignment and Ongoing Treatment

Receive a therapy schedule for your child, meet your clinical care team, and begin daily treatment sessions. We will also provide regular parent trainings and resources to support you in your child’s treatment journey.

Early intervention ABA therapy at Opya is completely individualized. There is no one-size-fits-all treatment plan because each child is different and unique. Each treatment plan is written to meet the needs of the child. A board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) will design and oversee the plan to address the child’s skill needs, deficits, interests, as well as family preferences. These are all used to determine treatment goals in different skill areas. We use multiple assessment tools to ensure that programming is progressing. Goals are adjusted as the child progresses, and the BCBA will meet regularly with the family for parent/caregiver training.

Speech therapy is almost always recommended for autistic children since many people with autism have difficulty with social communication. Even if a child is very verbal and says a lot of words, they might need to work on communication skills like: 

• responding to questions
• starting or ending conversation
• changing conversation topics
• using gestures like pointing
• understanding other people's body language 

Speech therapy is a big focus in early intervention for autistic children and is usually the starting place for recently diagnosed kids. There is a critical period in the brain for language development and so, it's really important to teach language and communication skills as early as possible, especially if there are any delays in that area. Your child will learn effective ways to communicate which will help them grow into more independent and confident individuals.

It might be obvious when a child struggles with speaking —they are very quiet, say only a few words, or don't speak at all.

Spot speech and language delays like a doctor here.

The goal of speech therapy is to help your child communicate effectively with other people across all environments. This may take the form of using gestures, simple signs, verbal speech, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).

Some other common things speech therapists can help with:

• Nonverbal skills, such as signs or gestures
• Forming speech in a clearer way
• Communicating thoughts and feelings clearly
• Understanding and responding to questions
• Discerning facial expressions and their corresponding emotions
• Noticing and understanding body language
• Feeding and swallowing
• Stuttering

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a therapy rooted in the science of learning and behavior. Using principles of ABA, children and adults can learn to improve their communication skills, social skills, and daily living skills while also addressing problematic or challenging behaviors. The primary goal of ABA therapy is to teach helpful skills that promote independence and reduce harmful behaviors. Here's our complete guide to everything you need to know about ABA therapy.

It's a big decision to make for your family! Applied behavior analysis (ABA) seeks to improve communication skills, introduce productive habits, and reduce harmful behaviors. Watch out for ABA providers who look to "cure" autism.

High quality ABA therapy does exist where the goal is not to “fix” children, make them appear “less autistic”, or change who they are. The goal is to help people learn all that they can so they can live to their potential while embracing their unique, individual personality traits. Here's our complete guide to start and end ABA therapy.

ABA is usually covered by insurance if you have an autism diagnosis. Autism is typically the only diagnosis insurance will authorize for ABA services since its benefits have been researched extensively.

Always check with your specific insurance plan to confirm that ABA is covered for your child’s diagnoses and that the provider you are seeking care at is in-network. Here's our complete guide to everything you need to know about ABA therapy.