ALAMO BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

Our Expertise:

We are committed to taking on cases that other agencies deny to complexity.

We are committed to ensuring that learners have excellent quality of life in the most inclusive and least restrictive setting(s) possible.

We strive to support teens and adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) in becoming confident self-advocates so they can get their wants and needs met in the speech modality they prefer.

Personalized Assessment and Collaborative Planning

A Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) will start the process by conducting a thorough assessment of your loved one's strengths and areas that may need support. This includes evaluating their current skill repertoire and an frequently-occurring problematic behaviors that may cause harm to themselves, others, or property.

Based on this assessment, the BCBA-D will recommend an individualized treatment plan, outlining a suggested number of therapy hours each week.

Together, you and the BCBA will discuss any potential barriers to achievingthis plan, such as physical, emotional, or sensory needs, as well as personal and family commitments and other therapies.

A mutually agreed-upon schedule will be created, ensuring that it fits well with your family's unique needs.

A dedicated and trained behavior technician will work with your loved one or the member, implementing the day-to-day aspects of ABA therapy. At Alamo Behavior Analysis, all behavior technicians are required to complete rigorous training and certification within 180 days of hire to become Registered  Behavior Technicians (RBTs). This includes 40 hours of training and passing test modules, an in-person competency exam, and a Board certification exam. 

Your BT or RBT will be supervised by a BCBA in person (or by telehealth in special circumstances) for 10-20% of the monthly scheduled hours to ensure  high-quality support. In order to hold the certification of BCBA, an individual must complete a Master's program, accrue 2,000 hours of supervised    fieldwork, and pass a rigorous Board exam.

The BCBA will also provide regular caregiver training sessions (whether weekly, biweekly, or monthly) to offer guidance and support tailored to your family's needs. By focusing on collaboration, personalized support, and continuous learning, ABA aims to create a positive and inclusive environment that fosters growth and well-being for your loved one.

A Message from Dr. Heather Gonzales,
Chief Clinical Officer and Co-Founder

Dr. Heather Gonzales

About Me:

I strive to be a strengths-focused and nerurodivergence-affirming clinician.  I seek to learn from autistic colleagues about their lived experience, as well as what aspects of traditional ABA they find to be coercive, unkind, or otherwise unacceptable. Due to their generous willingness to educate me, I have eliminated many of previous practices and have adopted a more naturalistic, yet still evidence-based approach.

I am proud to hold a doctoral-level certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and am also a Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) in Arizona and Texas. My academic journey includes a Master of Arts in Teacher (Elementary Education) from Trinity University, an M.Ed. in Special Education, and a Ph.D. in Special Education, both with an emphasis in autism and developmental disabilities, from the University of Texas at Austin.

With 20 years of experience in autism service provision and 14 years in ABA, I received my board certification in 2012 and my BCBA-D certification in 2016. My career centers around ABA that specializes in serving learners across all  groups with complex cases, such as those with co-occurring intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), 24/7 residential care, co-occurring Serious Mental Illness (SMI), contact with law enforcement, and frequent inpatient 
behavioral health hospitalizations.

I have comprehensive experience with complex cases involving disabilities other than autism as well, including working with individuals with Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, acquired paralysis, Traumatic Brain Injury, Angelman's syndrome, Rhett syndrome, Prader Willi syndrome, Smith Magenis syndrome, and others.

My strengths-focused and Neurodivergence-affirming approach is based on my understanding is that autism is a unique, inborn neurotype and that being autistic is not something to be fixed or "cured". Each individual I work with has personal strengths and vulnerabilities, and my goal, and the goal of my staff, is to support their growth and well-being, as well as to enhance their quality of life in a manner that is meaningful to them.

I specialize in cases of autistic individuals with significant support needs (AKA profound autism or Level 3 autism). However, if your child or member does not fit this profile, that does not mean that they may not receives services from Alamo Behavior Analysis, nor that we do not have staff with expertise for learners of other profiles. 

My approach to ABA is grounded in creating enjoyable, engaging learning experiences. For young children, this means play-based learning, while for adolescents and adults, it involves tapping into their deep interests.  I believe that learning should always be joyful and enriching, enhancing overall quality of life. I do not advocate for rote memorization using flashcards or shallow teaching methods that are based only in conditioning of behavior without scaffolding using Behavior Skills Training (BST).

Respectful communication and obtaining consent and assent are are paramount in my practice. One of the first things I teach is how to say, "No" in the learner's preferred verbal modality and how to advocate for their needs in a way that can be easily understand by any conversation partner.

It is important to note that, at Alamo Behavior Analysis, our goal is never to make the learner indistinguishable from neurotypical peers. Your child or the member's neurotype will be respected as whole and perfect as it is, with a simple understanding that they need supports to navigate a neurotypical world. Autistic self-regulating behaviors like stimming will never be suppressed or targeted for reduction unless they cause self-harm or are interfering with learning to such a extent that progress cannot be made.

If the philosophies and visions of Alamo Behavior Analysis resonate with you, we would love to serve your child or member        

Final Thoughts About ABA at Alamo Behavior Analysis

We are truly a mom- and pop-, clinician-owned agency. Dr. Gonzales has been doing the work of a BCBA for the last 12 years, but since 2021 has pivoted back to doing much of the direct ABA work herself as Alamo Behavior Analysis grows. This has been an invaluable experience to remind her both how to individualize teaching programs and to empathize wituh the very challenging direct work of BTs and RBTs. Insight from this business launching process will continue to inform Dr. Gonzales's practice as supervisor of direct technicians, a supervisor of BCBA candidates, and as the Chief Clinical Officer of Alamo Behavior Analysis.

While small, clinician-owned companies always have more logistical growing pains than larger, more established agencies, our flexible approach has allowed us to reinstate services in exceptional services, such as when a learner had to be inpatient in a behavioral health hospital for 3 consecutive months. Her team told us that they had fully expected us to drop her, and that, because of her pattern of hospitalization, she had never been able to access ABA, even though she was an adult with clear needs. Because we are small and flexible, it was easy for Dr. Gonzales to simply take over her hours once she returned to her group home and then to hire a technician when she was stabilized. This is just one example of how Alamo Behavior Analysis works to serve learners and not the bottom line.

Our ethical philosophies and thirst to serve underserved populations who have taken years to access ABA allows us to be uniquely equipped to be accept learners who would not be accommodated by bigger companies.

Dr. Gonzales also has an extensive teaching background, with a Master of Arts in Teaching (Early Childhood through 4th grade), time as a classroom teacher, and an M.Ed. in Special Education, so she has strong expertise in teaching the the staff who will be working with your child or the member.

We would be so honored to serve you, either as an agency working with your loved one or member, or as an employer