Can my child's ABA therapist provide service at school?

If your child receives ABA therapy through an agency that is funded by your insurance, you may wonder if the ABA provider can come to your child's school to do their service hours or serve as a 1:1 aide.

Public school districts typically won’t allow a private ABA provider to do their hours at school. If your ABA provider is contracted as a non-public agency with the district, your child might be able to get ABA at school if they can get an NPA aide in the IEP. However, school districts might go with a different agency to avoid conflict of interest. You can ask your ABA agency if they are NPA with their district.

Getting contracted with an agency is a big process and can take years, so it's unlikely, but some school districts have contracted with ABA agencies to address aide shortages.

For more information, see our articles on School-Based Vs. Clinic-Based Services and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) 101.