Home / Parent Resources / Glossary & Questions
Decoder, and a list of questions worth asking.
Two tools. A plain-English glossary of the acronyms that get thrown around in this world, and a set of questions to put to any autism provider you are considering, including us.
Part one
The acronyms, translated.
Nobody should have to learn a professional vocabulary to get their child help. Until that changes, here is the cheat sheet.
People & credentials
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| BCBA | Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Master's-level clinician, nationally certified, who assesses your child, writes the treatment plan and supervises the people delivering it. BCBA-D means the same at doctoral level. |
| LBA / LaBA | Licensed Behavior Analyst and Licensed Assistant Behavior Analyst, the Texas state licenses issued by TDLR, on top of national certification. Worth asking any provider whether their analysts hold the Texas licence, not just the national certificate. |
| RBT | Registered Behavior Technician. The person who actually works with your child hour by hour, delivering the plan under a behavior analyst's supervision. |
| SLP | Speech-Language Pathologist, speech therapist. |
| OT / OTR | Occupational Therapist. Works on sensory processing, motor skills and self-care. |
Assessment & diagnosis
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| DSM-5-TR | The diagnostic manual clinicians use to decide whether someone meets criteria for autism. |
| ADOS-2 | A widely used structured observation used in autism evaluations. One instrument among several, not a required stamp, and not a diagnosis by itself. |
| VB-MAPP / ABLLS-R | Assessments that map out which language and learning skills a child already has, so goals can be written in a sensible teaching order. |
| Milestone assessment | The general term for that kind of skills inventory: what your child can do now, across communication, play, social behavior, self-care and early academics. |
| FBA | Functional Behavior Assessment. The process of working out what a difficult behavior is achieving for a child before deciding what to do about it. |
| BIP | Behavior Intervention Plan. The written plan that comes out of an FBA. |
In the therapy room
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Reinforcement | Anything that follows a behavior and makes it more likely next time. In practice: what your child will actually work for. Different for every child, and it changes. |
| Prompt / prompt fading | Help given so a child can succeed, then removed in planned steps. Fading is the part that matters, a skill still needing a prompt is not finished. |
| Generalization | A skill working somewhere other than where it was taught: a different room, a different adult, a different day. The real finish line. |
| DTT | Discrete Trial Teaching. Structured, repeated practice at a table. Useful for building something from nothing; not where a skill should stay. |
| NET | Natural Environment Teaching. Teaching inside play and everyday routines rather than at a table. |
| Mand / tact | Technical terms for asking for something (mand) and naming something (tact). Manding usually comes first, because being able to ask changes everything. |
| Pairing | The deliberate early phase where a therapist makes themselves fun to be around before making any demands. If a new therapist seems to be “just playing” in week one, this is why. |
| Extinction burst | The short spike where a behavior gets worse before it fades, because it used to work and has stopped working. Predictable, temporary, and worth being warned about in advance. |
| Stimming | Self-stimulatory behavior: rocking, flapping, repeating sounds. Usually regulating and usually harmless. Here, stimming is not a target unless it is dangerous or genuinely blocking learning. |
| Elopement | Leaving a safe area without permission: running from a classroom, a car park, a house. Treated as a safety priority, not a discipline problem. |
| AAC | Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Anything that gives a child a way to communicate other than speech: signs, picture systems, a speech-generating app or device. |
Insurance & billing
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Prior authorization | Your plan approving treatment before it starts, and re-approving it periodically. Where most of the waiting happens. |
| CPT codes | The billing codes for ABA. The ones you will see most: 97151 assessment, 97153 one-to-one therapy by a technician, 97155 treatment with a behavior analyst adjusting the protocol, 97156 caregiver training. Most are billed in 15-minute units. |
| EOB | Explanation of Benefits. Not a bill. It is your plan's account of what was billed, what it paid and what it left to you. Read it, because errors are common. |
| Single case agreement | A one-off contract letting an out-of-network provider be paid at in-network rates for one specific child, usually because nobody in network has availability. Worth asking for. |
| CentralReach | The practice system your child's records live in, used widely across ABA. You get your own login: the progress data from every session, secure messages to the team, and your invoices, which you can pay there. |
| Superbill | An itemized medical invoice you submit to your own insurer for out-of-network reimbursement. |
| Good Faith Estimate | If you are uninsured or choosing not to use insurance, federal law entitles you to a written estimate of expected costs before services. If the final bill exceeds it by $400 or more, there is a formal dispute process. |
| Self-funded / ERISA plan | An employer plan that pays claims from its own money. Governed by federal rather than Texas law, so the state autism mandate does not bind it. Why that matters → |
School & state services
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| ECI | Early Childhood Intervention. Texas services for children from birth to age three. How it works → |
| IFSP | Individualized Family Service Plan, the plan ECI writes, built around your family's routines. The under-three equivalent of an IEP. |
| FIE | Full Individual and Initial Evaluation. The school district's evaluation for special education eligibility. |
| ARD | Admission, Review and Dismissal committee, what Texas calls the IEP team, and the meeting where eligibility and the plan are decided. You are a full member of it. |
| IEP | Individualized Education Program. The legally binding document setting out a child's special education services and goals. |
| 504 plan | Accommodations for a child whose disability substantially limits a major life activity, where they do not qualify for an IEP. Both explained → |
Part two
Questions to ask any provider, us included.
Print this, or read it off your phone. A good provider will not mind these questions and will have ready answers. Watch how they respond as much as what they say: defensiveness on the money questions and vagueness on the supervision questions are the two things worth paying attention to.
Clinical
About the therapy
- How do you decide how many hours my child needs?
- Which assessment will you use, and can I see the results?
- Who writes the treatment plan, and do I get to review it before it starts?
- How do you decide which goals come first?
- How do you handle challenging behavior? What do you never do?
- How do you make sure a skill works at home and at school, not just here?
- What would make you tell me my child no longer needs this service?
Staffing
About the people
- What is the ratio, will my child ever share a therapist?
- How often does a behavior analyst directly supervise my child's program?
- Does your behavior analyst hold the Texas LBA licence as well as national certification?
- How many children does each analyst oversee?
- What is your staff turnover like, and how do you handle a therapist leaving?
- What training and certifications do your technicians hold?
Transparency
About what you can see
- Can I watch a session tomorrow, without arranging it in advance?
- Is there a viewing room, or cameras, or both?
- How do I see my child's progress data between meetings?
- How do I contact my child's team, and how fast do you reply?
- How often will we meet to review the plan?
- How do you report an incident (an injury, a bite, an escape) and how fast?
Money & fit
About cost and commitment
- Will you verify my benefits in writing before I commit?
- What will I owe per session once my deductible is met?
- What happens to my bill if authorization lapses?
- Do you charge for cancellations or missed sessions?
- Is there a minimum hours commitment or a contract term?
- What is your current availability, not the waitlist, the actual start date?
- What kind of child are you not the right fit for?
Our answers are all over this site. Supervision and ratios are on the ABA page, viewing and cameras on the center page, everything about money on the insurance page, and the awkward ones in the FAQ. If you cannot find an answer, that is a gap on our side. Call and ask, and we will fix the page.
Ask us the hard ones first.
We would rather answer them now than have you find out in month three.
