“Our Backpacks are Not Just a Backpack”
A Departure from Traditional ABA
In more traditional ABA clinics, clients are assigned therapy rooms where they spend most of their time. These rooms have most, if not all, the programming materials the child uses during their sessions. From their favorite toys, token boards, to picture cards and additional materials needed for trials.
At Wellspring Learning Centers, we have designed our spaces to be much more open, allowing our professionals to let the learner lead through their therapy time with us. We don’t limit clients to a specific room during the day and instead encourage them to transition often from room to room and engage in a variety of activities and play. This creates an environment where the children are happy, relaxed and engaged – the ideal state for learning.
A Simple Backpack Makes a Big Impact
The constant transitioning in our child-led approach can prove difficult since things like a token board, AAC device, PECs book, or a transition toy brought from home may need to stay with the child. Our solution is a simple backpack that allows the therapist to carry these essentials and provide reinforcement and comfort immediately.
That’s why we provide a high-end backpack for each client to use within our center. These backpacks are heavy-duty, embroidered with the WLC logo and sport a luggage tag with the client’s initials. On a child’s first day in the center, they receive their backpack along with a cuddly stuffed giraffe to take home as a cozy reminder that our center is a fun and happy place to be.
Better Outcomes
Because our protocols are set in a naturalistic environment, clients complete programming throughout the open spaces of our center. There are no specific rooms that clients must remain in to work on goals. This allows us to teach based on the child’s interests and preferences producing improved overall results. That’s why we say, “Our backpacks are not just a backpack”. At Wellspring, we are always on the lookout for simple innovations like this to help us take ABA learning to the next level – delivering treatment excellence and better outcomes.