ABA Assessment in Aurora: What to Expect and How to Prepare

An ABA assessment in Aurora is a set of conversations, observations and short activities that ends in a written plan for your child. You are part of every stage. This guide walks through each stage in order, names the tools you may hear about, and ends with a list of what to bring.

Information current as of October 2026. Every provider runs its own process, so ask yours for the details.

What are the stages of an ABA assessment?

The Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP) says a developmentally appropriate ABA assessment identifies strengths, weaknesses and barriers to progress across several domains. It typically draws on multiple methods and multiple informants. (CASP) In practice the stages look like this:

1. Records review. The BCBA reads what already exists: medical information, prior assessments, response to earlier treatment. CASP’s examples include intellectual and achievement tests, developmental assessments and evaluations of family functioning and needs.
2. Parent interview and rating scales. You describe your child’s skills and the behaviors that get in the way. CASP says caregivers are included when goals are chosen, protocols developed and progress evaluated.
3. Direct observation and structured tasks. The BCBA watches your child in natural settings and in structured interactions. CASP calls direct observation and data collection a defining characteristic of ABA.
4. Functional assessment, when needed. If behavior is disruptive or dangerous, the BCBA looks at where, when and the likely reasons it happens, using caregiver interviews, rating scales and observation.
5. Findings meeting and written plan. The BCBA reviews the results with you and writes the treatment plan.
6. Insurance authorization. Your payer reviews the plan before treatment starts.

If information is incomplete, CASP says the BCBA should refer you to other professionals for needed assessments.

What happens at the first visit?

The parent interview carries much of the weight. A BCBA typically asks what your child can do now, which behaviors worry you most, what your family’s day looks like, and what has worked or failed before. The BCBA also needs time with your child. The goal is a baseline, not a pass or fail. See our comprehensive assessment page for our service.

The Medicaid billing code for this visit describes the same pieces: a face-to-face behavior identification assessment with patient and caregivers, standardized and non-standardized tests, a detailed behavioral history, observation and a caregiver interview, interpretation of the results, a discussion of findings with you, and a written report. (HCPF)

What are the VB-MAPP, ABLLS-R and Vineland?

These are the names you will see on a report.

• VB-MAPP. Written by Mark Sundberg. The Milestones Assessment has 170 milestones across three developmental levels (0 to 18, 18 to 30 and 30 to 48 months). A Barriers Assessment looks at 24 common learning and language barriers, such as prompt dependency. A Transition Assessment covers 18 areas that help teams plan for a less restrictive setting. It also gives a baseline and a way to track skills. (Mark Sundberg)
• ABLLS-R. A criterion-referenced tool by Partington (2006) covering 544 tasks in 25 categories across language, academic, self-help and motor skills. It is completed mainly through observation of the child and can be supplemented by caregiver interviews. It compares your child to a skill list, not to other children, and produces no standard scores. (Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism Training)
• Vineland-3. An adaptive behavior assessment for birth through 90. It offers an Interview form and a Parent/Caregiver form, with a Teacher form for ages 3 to 21. It measures communication, daily living skills and socialization. (Pearson)

Your BCBA picks tools for your child’s age and needs. Published age ranges for the ABLLS-R vary by source, and the Texas page lists birth to 12 years, so ask your BCBA whether it fits your child.

Payers can ask for specific tools. Health First Colorado asks the provider to submit a standardized, norm-referenced assessment that measures adaptive behaviors, completed by the behavioral therapy provider, and says it will not mandate one tool over another. (HCPF) TRICARE requires four baseline measures before ABA starts: the PDDBI, the Vineland, the Social Responsiveness Scale and a Parent Stress Index. (TRICARE)

What goes into the treatment plan?

CASP’s “critical features” for a plan submitted for authorization include patient information, the reason for referral, background, a clinical interview, review of recent assessments, a description of each assessment with a summary of findings, operationally defined target behaviors with baseline levels, treatment procedures, data collection procedures, and proposed goals and objectives. (CASP)

CASP also says goals are prioritized by their implications for health and well-being, safety, and functional independence. Each should be specific and measurable. It warns that IQ and other global scores should not be the sole basis for deciding whether treatment is working. Bring your priorities to the findings meeting and say which goal would change your family’s week the most.

Plans also set the schedule. Our guide to how many hours of ABA children get covers that conversation.

How does insurance approval work?

• Health First Colorado (Medicaid). A provider submits a prior authorization request through the state’s utilization management vendor, Acentra. The request includes the assessment, a referral for services and the plan of care. The PAR must be reviewed by licensed clinical reviewers, standard requests are decided in no more than 7 calendar days, and an approved authorization is valid for up to six months. Assessment or progress notes should not be more than 60 days old at submission. The assessment code can be billed once every 12 months. (HCPF providers page, HCPF January 2026 review) See our Health First Colorado guide.
• Private insurance. Colorado’s autism mandate calls for a treatment plan from an autism services provider, prescribed by a licensed physician or psychologist after a comprehensive evaluation or reevaluation. (C.R.S. 10-16-104) See our private insurance guide.
• TRICARE. You first receive an authorization letter covering the assessment. After the assessment and treatment plan, you receive a letter for six months of ABA. (TRICARE)

How do I prepare?

Gather these before the first visit:

1. The diagnosis report and any other evaluation: speech, occupational therapy, psychological testing.
2. An IEP or IFSP and recent progress notes if you have them.
3. A one-page list of what your child likes, what calms them, what sets them off, and how they ask for things.
4. A rough picture of a typical weekday: wake-up, meals, school or daycare, evening, bedtime.
5. Your top three goals, in your own words.
6. Questions about the process: how many visits, who will observe your child and where, and when you will see the plan.

For your child, use a picture schedule or a simple story: you will meet a new person, play, and then go home. Bring a favorite toy and snacks. Ask whether the first visit can be short.

Once the plan is approved, in-home or in-clinic sessions begin, and parent training gives you the same strategies the team uses. We take all major insurance including Medicaid, have no waitlist and start families within two weeks of approval. Contact us to schedule an assessment, or read how to choose an ABA provider first.

Related guides

• Does Private Insurance Cover ABA in Colorado? Aurora Guide
• ABA Without an Autism Diagnosis in Aurora, CO: Your Options
• Does Medicaid Cover ABA in Aurora? Health First Colorado
• How Many Hours of ABA Per Week? An Aurora Parent's Guide

Sources

1. Council of Autism Service Providers, ABA Practice Guidelines (Version 3.0)
2. Mark Sundberg, VB-MAPP overview
3. Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism Training, ABLLS-R overview
4. Pearson Assessments, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition
5. Colorado HCPF, Pediatric Behavioral Therapies Information for Providers
6. Colorado HCPF, Pediatric Behavioral Therapy (PBT) Review, January 2026
7. Colorado HCPF, Health First Colorado Criteria for Behavioral Therapies (November 2024)
8. Colorado Revised Statutes 10-16-104 (autism spectrum disorders, subsection 1.4)
9. TRICARE, Autism Care Demonstration