IBHS Autism Group Services

Group Work for Autistics:

A Way to Enrich Traditional ABA Therapy

Children who are autistic show a consistent decline in social interaction. Consequently, social communication skills become impaired. Severe difficulties can arise with their social interactions in various settings such as school or family life. Core features of ASD also include repetitive and restrictive behaviors, interests, or activities. Group therapy is beneficial because it's a way to practice social skills.

Center-based therapy has been shown to increase skills at a higher rate when compared to home-based services. A center-based group allows for the development and growth of skill recovery.

Paragon’s Odyssey (Berks) 3-5 YEARS

Direct and clear instruction and "teachable moments" with practice in realistic settings
Support for enhancing communication and sensory processing
Learning behaviors that predict important social outcomes like friendship and happiness
A way to build up cognitive and language skills
Learning appropriate behavior and responses
A safe learning environment to try newly improved and obtained skills

Paragon’s Virtual Reality Group (Lancaster) 11-17 YEARS

Getting Your Child Started On a Better Path

How to Enroll

Call Us.

A written order will be scheduled to assess for appropriateness of group services. If your child is a current client, it is possible an update can be made to your existing written order.

Plan it.

Paragon will create an individualized treatment plan (ITP) to include ABA Group Services.

You're Ready to Attend!

After your assessment and ITP are complete, your child is ready to join one of our offered evidenced-based groups.

call to enroll

Insurance Acceptance for Autism Group Service

Insurances & Self-Pay Fees

Paragon is working hard to expand our network of availability to provide Autism services to our community. Current In-Network providers include: Medicaid. Check back to view the latest information. We also offer private pay options.

If your insurance company is out of network, we will call your insurance company to request out-of-network fees and make our best efforts to accommodate you.

REQUEST AN evaluation

Take a Deeper Dive Into Our Odyssey Group

What We Do, How We Do It, and Why It Works

Paragon’s Odyssey Group: Ages 3-5 years Old

Paragon’s Odyssey group is designed for autistic children ages 3-5. There will be many opportunities to interact with other children during a session. Children will typically share a room that has common areas. This room includes a group activity area, a play area, a snack area, and a movement area. Individual treatment plans will guide the interactions needed to increase skills with children.

Interventions based on ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) will be used as an evidence-based approach to treatment. These interventions are unique to each individual to meet specific goals that lead to behavioral changes.

Group Instruction - Schools and daycare all teach children using group instruction. An example of this activity could include sitting in small groups for increasing lengths of time. They will be supported by a 1:1 behavior technician using behavioral standards to build group behavior.

Following Routines - Children could practice everyday routines with a 1:1 behavior health technician.

Social Opportunities - Working on social skills in a clinic allows for more social opportunities than at home. Peer-related instruction requires personalization, both in the responses taught and the strategies used to increase these responses.

Functional Communication Skills - Communication is often an issue that leads to problem behavior. Paragon focuses on teaching children how to gain attention and to request items/information from other children. A 1:1 behavior health technician may create social situations to help informal teaching.

Adaptive Skills - This category is broad, but many adaptive skills lead to increased independence. A 1:1 behavior health technician will teach a child to wash their hands using chaining procedures. Other skills that children could work on are safety procedures while walking, using utensils, and accepting schedule changes.

Generalization to Natural Environments - Generalizing skills across settings can be difficult for autistic children. They often fail to generalize mastered skills to new environments and with new people. This skill is taught through multiple training models. They will practice this skill with instructors and other children.

IBHS ABA AUTISM GROUP SERVICES