Stuck on an ABA Waiting List? 5 Essential Skills You Can Start Building at Home Today

Before starting my career in behavior analysis, I was sweeping p-ways and helming a naval ship. I’ve lived a lot of lives. There were many popular quotes thrown around and heard while I was in the U.S. Navy, one of which I am reminded of pretty often now that I’ve put down the binoculars and picked up Miss Rachel videos – Hurry up and wait. 

Many articles that are out there on ABA therapy and autism services stress that parents should act as soon as possible and start services as quickly as they can. But what about those many parents who have hurried, and now they have no choice but to wait? Most of the companies I’ve worked at have waiting lists to start services. It’s obviously a very frustrating position for parents. Many parents find themselves stuck in the uncomfortable space between knowing their child needs the support and actually receiving it. Many parents worry that this gap is lost time or that they are falling behind before therapy even begins. 

Thankfully, therapy does not only happen in a clinic or during scheduled sessions. Therapy can happen in everyday moments, during play, during daily activities, during transitions, and in any interactions. As a parent, you are already your child’s most important and consistent teacher. ABA, at its core, does not require specialized equipment, a therapy room, or professional credentials. It requires some effort and a willingness to learn. 

The goal of this article is to help parents move from passive to active waiting. While waiting, parents can start working on these five foundational skills today. They won’t necessarily replace therapy, but they can give children a strong head start and make the transition much smoother once a spot opens for services.

Why Starting Now Matters (The Power of Early Intervention)

In behavior analysis, there is a concept called behavioral momentum. In simple terms, it means that once behaviors start, they are easier to continue. It’s the same reason why it is easier to continue tidying up after starting to pick up a few things, even if the extra work wasn’t initially intended. Small successes build confidence for both the child and the parent, and they make it easier to sustain the momentum of progress. 

Teaching early skills also matters because they are the building blocks that BCBAs look for during initial assessments. If children demonstrate these foundational skills, goals can be written that build on them. If they aren’t established yet, they will be the main focus for the BCBA. Working on them while waiting gives the child a bit of a head start. At Blue ABA, parents are viewed as partners. Starting these habits now makes the transition to formal ABA much smoother for everyone. 

Skill 1: Functional Communication (Moving Beyond “The Point”)

When a child cannot yet effectively communicate their wants or needs, different behaviors may be used to get their point across. Crying, grabbing, dropping to the floor, screaming, pushing things away, throwing items, self-injury, aggression, and running away can all be ways that they’ve learned to communicate without words. They are all different attempts at saying something. 

Oftentimes, without realizing it, parents learn to respond to these methods of communication and reinforce the behaviors. The goal of functional communication is to give the child a more efficient way of being understood. It is important to note here that communication does not have to be vocal. A gesture, a sign, a sound, or a button can be considered more efficient forms of communication. Many parents want their children to work on vocalizations, and teaching other forms of communication does not mean that vocal language is not an option. For functional communication, the main priority is reducing more challenging behaviors. 

Incidental teaching is a simple way to encourage communication during everyday activities. Parents could look out for or even contrive opportunities to teach functional communication. Let’s say that a child’s favorite toy is just out of reach. Most parents would go right into moving the toy within reach. For parents working on functional communication, this can be used as an opportunity. Instead of immediately moving the toy, parents can prompt the child to point at it first, then move it within reach. 

Similarly, if a child is getting tired of a particular activity, they can be prompted to say or sign “all done.” The idea here is that any form of communication is encouraged before they are given what they want. Over time, these moments seriously add up and can reduce frustration for both the parent and the child.

Skill 2: Establishing a Visual Routine

Predictability reduces anxiety for everyone. When I look up the bus schedule to get to work, I use the times table to figure out when the bus is supposed to arrive. When I am walking down the street, I rely on the crosswalk signal to tell me it is safe to cross. This visual information around me helps to predict things better, and this is no different for autistic children. Visual information can help to increase predictability and reduce anxiety. Autistic children typically process visual information more easily than spoken language, so using it can be especially helpful. Clear, visible expectations help create easier transitions into different activities or routines. 

One great visual tool parents can use is a first/then board. These help children to understand what has to happen now for something else to happen next. This clarity can help to prevent meltdowns or reduce cooperation. Let’s say, under “first,” there is a picture of shoes, and under “then,” a picture of a park. That can make it easier for parents to communicate to their child that, before going to the park, they must put on their shoes. The goal here is to help them better understand the “order of operations” in their day. 

Skill 3: Pairing Yourself with Reinforcement

Pairing is by far my favorite concept in ABA. Pairing refers to building a relationship where the child associates an adult with positive things. It sounds like a no-brainer, but when done correctly, it can make a huge difference in how a child interacts with someone. Before teaching any expectations or demands, it is important that the child first recognizes you as someone safe and fun to be around. Pairing helps create a strong therapeutic relationship. It is one of the first things behavior technicians do with a child and something they should do throughout the entire ABA journey, and for good reason.

Parents could set aside fifteen minutes a day for narrated play. During narrated play, follow the child’s lead and avoid making any demands, including questions. Describe what you are doing and describe what they are doing. If they race their car fast down the race track, race your car with theirs with sound effects. If they are playing with dolls, narrate what the dolls are doing. Laugh with them. Smile. Be present. The goal here is to be a giver of good things, so that they are more comfortable learning new things with you.

Skill 4: Identifying the “Why” (Introduction to ABCs)

Everything happens for a reason. More specifically, in ABA, every behavior happens for a reason. Understanding why a behavior occurs, also known as the function of a behavior, is one of the most important pieces of information a person can have when teaching new behaviors and reducing challenging behaviors. In ABA, we collect ABC data to determine why a behavior occurs. The ABCs stand for antecedent, behavior, and consequence. Viewing behavior with the ABCs in mind can help parents to observe patterns. Knowing these patterns is the first step toward creating new ones. 

Collecting ABC data does not require complex tools. A notebook and a pen work great. Or, using a notes app on a cell phone is great. From there, parents can write down what happened right before a behavior, what behavior occurred, and what happened immediately after. This is basic ABC data in a nutshell. Doing this will not necessarily change the behaviors yet, but it will help parents notice how children interact with their environment and why they do what they do. This information will be especially helpful when sessions begin, so that a BCBA can start working on a behavior plan sooner. 

Skill 5: Transition Priming (The “2-Minute Warning”)

Transitions are hard. Switching from highly preferred activities to nonpreferred activities is a very common trigger for children on the autism spectrum. This is especially true when the transitions occur suddenly. So, preparing a child for transitions before they occur can make the changes a lot easier. Thankfully, this skill is incredibly easy to implement. Again, no fancy tools are necessary. A phone is really all that is needed. Simply set a timer for however long the child has to engage in whatever activity they are doing. Let them know that they have X minutes left. When the timer is up, help them transition to the next activity. 

When using transition priming, it is important to be consistent and specific. A lot of times, people will give vague or incorrect times. We all do this from time to time, me included. Think about how many times you might respond to a knock on the door with “just a second,” or tell someone something will take “five minutes” to complete, only for the five minutes to turn into about 9 or 10. Using these vague time guess-timates can be especially confusing to children with autism. Using a timer with a set amount of time eliminates confusion about how long a minute is.

Quick Start Checklist for Parents

Here is a small checklist parents can use to start implementing these skills at home today. 

• Pick one skill to focus on this week. Don’t try to work all five of these skills in at once! Working on too much at once can make everything much more stressful than implementing one thing at a time. Remember the idea of behavioral momentum. The same idea that works for children also applies to adults. Starting with one task now will make it easier to begin the next. 
• Find a “high-value” reinforcer. High-value reinforcers are great to use when pairing. Personally, I prefer to use high-value reinforcers that are even more rewarding when I am immediately involved in them. Making up a silly song and dance using a specific stuffed toy makes them laugh especially hard. It makes the toy more fun and makes pairing more effective. 
• Record one “ABC” sequence today to see if you can spot a pattern. A quick sentence or two is all it takes. It can be as detailed as you want, but remembering the three components of ABC data is all that is really needed. Even one recording a day is better than none. 
• Give yourself grace—you are learning a new language. This checklist item seems like a throwaway line, but I have worked with enough parents to know that they put a lot of pressure on themselves to be the perfect autism parent. Hundreds of possible treatments, what to do, what not to do, what should already be done, what is too late to change, what an IEP and a 504 are, insurance deductibles, their child’s only safe foods of the week, and about a thousand other things all to juggle at once. It’s a lot to say the least. 

Conclusion: You’re Already Doing the Work

Waiting for services can feel a lot like standing still, but the truth is that you’ve already made a difference. You’ve done the hard part. The diagnosis, assessments, referrals, interviews, and everything else needed to start services are completed. The act of reading this article means that you’re ready to do even more, which is the best possible next step. The skills discussed above can be started immediately to reduce frustration and create learning opportunities. These early efforts will matter more than you realize once formal ABA therapy begins.

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