Applied Behavior Consulting for Autism, LLC.

In-Home Program & School Consultations

"Nicole has worked with my son for approximately 1.5 years. Anthony is severely autistic with a host of other medical issues. He is non-verbal and can be challenging to motivate. Nicole, however, found the way in to Anthony's world. She has a no non-sense, let's get to work attitude. She is quick in re-directing, but also with praise. For Nicole, Anthony has done things that he would not do for anyone else. She adapted to the off days by modifying her approach and still completed tasks. Most of all, she has never stopped believing in what Anthony could do, given the chance and the right encouragement. We will miss Nicole greatly, but know that the families in her practice will benefit from her knowledge and love of the job. Nicole is committed to bringing children as much success as possible, bringing a smile to their face and real pride. There are no words to express my gratitude."

-Kristi

Social Skills (In-home & Center-based)

"My 9 year-old son, Darby started taking Social Skills classes with Nicole over 2 years ago.  In that time we have seen amazing progress that even his teachers noticed!  Darby is shy by nature, but with the skills he learned in class, he started initiating interactions (with appropriate eye contact!) with adults and children alike. 

In our most recent Social Skills session, Nicole had the boys working on appropriate behaviors when having a "play date" with a friend.  Each took turns being the host at their house.  In the past when children came over to play, Darby would lock himself in his room.  It took him quite a while to come out of his room because it was difficult for him to see his friends at his house.  By the 2nd meeting at our home, Darby was opening the door and asking his friends to come inside.  It was due to Nicole's patience and guidance that helped bring Darby out of his shell.

One of the main reasons we chose to do Social Skills classes with Nicole was because as a Behavioral Therapist, she had the knowledge to guide the boys in appropriate behaviors and actions.  Through her experience, she was able to understand why each of the boys struggled with specific issues and she helped them work through it.  For example, Darby being shy and not wanting his friends to be in his house, another boy having a difficult time sharing his things, and another having a difficult time taking turns doing what the others wanted to do.  All the boys truly grew from this experience."

-Myra

Social Skills (In-home & Center-based) 

"Nicole worked with my 8 year old son intermittently for two years.  He has high functioning autism.  At about age 6, my son became interested in wanting to play with other children but he didn't have the social skills to initiate or maintain that experience.  He was primarily a parallel player, but now he wanted more.  We sought out Nicole and she understood the challenge immediately.  Nicole designed and implemented an Applied Behavioral Analysis program for my son primarily focusing on social skills.  Initially, this program began as a group of children that met at the local autism center.  Each child had their own personal goals and reward system.  Nicole demonstrated an amazing ability to not only assess, but to motivate each child.  My son was excited to go to his weekly "friends class."  I saw him gradually master introducing himself and others, taking turns in conversation as well as games, and participate in activities that were not of his liking or in his comfort zone.  In short, he was learning how to be with and enjoy other children.  He blossomed socially and this spilled over into other successes such as conversation and writing.  He now had something other than his obsessions to write and talk about.
 
As his skills developed, Nicole developed a community based social skills program.  On alternating visits a group of children would visit each other's homes.  Each child had several opportunities to "host" the group.  All the children involved demonstrated significant improvement in their social skills and began to joyfully anticipate each session.  My son was very excited that now, just like his siblings, he was having friends come over and he was going over to friends' houses too.  
 
Of all the various therapies and programming that have been a part of our son's life, the experience of working with Nicole on his social skills has been the most rewarding and beneficial for his future success.  Nicole has a tremendous ability to connect with children and identify their strengths and struggles.  She then puts this information into the form of an ABA program and the kids just "take off."  Nicole provided us with hope for a bright future for our son.  I wholeheartedly recommend her consultation and treatment services without reservation."

-Laura McGuire, MD

Potty Training 

"Nicole was my son Joshua's therapist for quite some time.  He is 6 years old and he's autistic.  He's also very stubborn.  Joshua has many interesting qualities and he's an awesome kid.  However, we could not potty train him successfully.  He wore us out year upon year.  His will was obviously stronger than ours.  Finally at age 6, it was time to just do it.  Not only did Nicole give us great ideas on how and when to do things, she also made sure that my wife and I kept the strength.  Again, it wasn't easy.

Nicole spent countless hours encouraging Joshua and most importantly, being tough with us as parents.  If it wasn't for her, I firmly believe Joshua would still not be potty trained.  He is now diaper free and has much more independence.  My wife, I, and Joshua have a huge debt of gratitude to Nicole.  We will miss her greatly.  She is the most caring, compassionate, and hardest working therapist we have ever met.  Your child will be in very good hands with Nicole."

-Jeff & Tracy

In-home Program 

"I have a 4 year old son, Josh, who is diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy and is on the Autism Spectrum.  A few years ago I started an Applied Behavior Analysis program (ABA) for him.  He is non-verbal and did not imitate or follow any instruction.  We were put in contact with a wonderful ABA therapist named Nicole.  She has come faithfully weekly or biweekly for a couple years to help our son.  Her knowledge in this field has made a tremendous difference.  Josh learns differently than most children and very few people know how to teach him.  Nicole was always able to show us how to work with him daily to help him advance in many areas.  She is not only amazing with what she can do for a child, but also just as amazing in the way she relates to them.  She has a very sweet, calm, and gentle personality.  But most importantly, genuinely cares about the children she works with.  Nicole will, without a doubt, help any child grow and learn in their own special way and be a blessing to anyone she's around.  I know she was to us and will be greatly missed!"

-Donna

In-home & School Programming 

"When my husband and I met Nicole, BCBA, a year and a half ago we had no idea what an impact she would have on our son's life. We are the proud parents of a beautiful little boy who is five years old and has Angelman Syndrome. Angelman Syndrome is a neurogenetic condition that causes severe cognitive delay. In many ways he is very similar to a child with Autism. He is non verbal and as he has gotten older he has resorted to using his behavior as a way to communicate.

By the time our son was getting ready to finish his second year of Preschool we were really struggling with his aggression at home. We had no idea how to manage or discipline him. We were confused about what he actually understood. Some professionals that were involved with our son at the time kept telling us that his behavior was typical of any preschooler and not to worry about it. Then we met Nicole. She went to observe our son at his preschool and reassured us that our feelings of needing to deal with the hair pulling, spitting and hitting were in deed valid. She then came to our home and kindly suggested different ways of discipling this behavior. For example, we would always tell J.R. "no hit" or "no spit". But she showed us that this was ineffective with our son and that we needed to ignore all negative behaviors and give no attention to them at all.

I am sure that you can imagine as a parent when someone suggests that you discipline your child in a completely different way that one might be offended. However, Nicole did this in such a kind manor and did not offend us at all. We were so relieved that someone knew exactly how to manage this behavior. Since then his behavior has improved at home. We have been able to teach all of our family members our new techniques as well as any caregivers that come to our home to care for our son.

Nicole has been a huge asset when it comes to J.R's education. When she observed him at his preschool she was able to assess the fact that J.R. was very capable of learning. We just needed to find a way that he would respond. She showed us how to use Applied Behavioral Analysis to teach him. After years of speech therapy, occupational therapy, and developmental therapy we finally found a teaching technique that worked. Now our son can match colors, can sit and play with a puzzle appropriately, and has learned to use his sign language in a much more functional way.

Nicole also has been so committed to J.R's progress that she agreed to go to school with him for three hours a week this semester. She has been instrumental in training his staff in A.B.A. techniques and also in how to manage his behavior.  As a mother it is comforting  to know that she is his advocate and his voice while she is at school with him.

If you are a parent of a special needs child and could use some similar help contact Nicole. It could be life changing for your child and for your family."

-Marisa & JJ