image About Alamo Behavior Analysis

Providing home and community-based ABA services in Maricopa County, Arizona


Our passionate and skilled behavior technicians (or, when the case is especially complex, Board Certified Behavior Analysts, also called BCBAs) will provide ABA in your home, a group home, a participating school, or a DTA on a regular schedule under the supervision of a BCBA.

 A BCBA will also conduct ongoing family or staff training sessions to help the skills taught to your child or the member generalize to everyone in the treatment setting. Initial assessments and insurance reauthorizations will be conducted by a BCBA.


image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
image
Mission

At Alamo Behavior Analysis, our mission is:

  • To empower individuals of all ages, along with their loved ones, by imparting life-enriching skills that enhance everyone's overall well-being.

  • To infuse the learning process with joy, dignity, and intentionality, ensuring that growth is a rewarding and enjoyable journey.

  • To extend unwavering support to families in ways that hold deep personal significance, fostering connections that uplift and inspire all members of the household.

  • To champion the rights and uniqueness of neurodivergent individuals, fostering a culture of acceptance, understanding, and celebration.

  • To equip learners with functional communication tools, enabling them to effectively express their desires and needs, promoting self-advocacy and mutual, bidirectional understanding.

  • To collaboratively develop alternatives to behaviors that impede the quality of life, always respecting emotional, sensory, and physical sensitivities.

  • With empathy at our core, we commit to fostering growth, connection, and empowerment for all we serve.
Message

From our Founder,
Chief Clinical Officer,
and Lead Behavior Analyst,
Heather Gonzales
PhD, BCBA-D, LBA, MAT, BHP

I hold a doctoral-level certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and am also a Licensed Behavior Analyst in Texas and Arizona. I received a Master of Arts in Teaching, focusing in Elementary Education from Trinity University,  an M.Ed in Special Education, focusing on autism and developmental disabilities, as well as a PhD in the same discipline, from the University of Texas at Austin. I have worked in the autism service provision space for 20 years, have been working in ABA for 14 years, received my board certification in 2012 and my BCBA-D certification in 2016.

My focus lies in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), with a specialization in supporting autistic children, adolescents, and adults, specializing in those who have co-occurring intellectual disabilities or SMI (though not exclusively) and complex cases. Additionally, I have experience working with individuals who have Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, paralysis, Traumatic Brain Injury, Angelman's Syndrome, Rhett Syndrome, and other developmental disabilities.

Central to my approach is the belief that autism is a unique neurotype and that being neurodivergent isn't something that needs fixing or erasing. In some cases, an autistic person may have a co-occurring intellectual disability or SMI that leads to significant support needs (AKA profound autism). While I wholeheartedly believe that autism is an ADA-protected disability that deserves, and often requires, personalized support needs, and I acknowledge that the intense mental load that parenting an autistic child with significant support needs brings to a family, I am not the right service provider if your goal is to help your child appear more Neurotypical (NT). I view autistic individuals as benefiting from a range of supports, where ABA is just one of the many approaches. 

I believe that ABA should be enjoyable and centered around play when working with children, and it should tap into deep interests when working with adolescents and adults. People learn best when they're engaged in activities that bring them joy and enhance their overall quality of life. I am not an advocate for rote memorization with flashcards or similar, shallow approaches to teaching.  I believe in respectful communication and will never enforce compliance against someone's will. Consent and assent are paramount, and I won't engage physically with a learner without the individual's, and their caregiver's, agreement.

Stimming and other forms of sensory self-regulation are natural and helpful methods to manage anxiety and sensory overload. I only address these behaviors if they significantly hamper learning or pose safety concerns.

I'm comfortable handling behaviors like verbal aggression, mild to moderate physical aggression, self-injury, defiance, and mild to moderate property destruction. More significant aggression, self-injury, and property destruction will not deter me from taking your learner's case, provided that the learner has an adequate ratio of support providers who will manage these behaviors. Alamo Behavior Analysis is a hands-off organization, which means that we will protect your learner or the member and other people in the environment, but we will not participate in restraints.

It's important that ABA doesn't take over a child or the member's life. They deserve quality time with family, rest, hobbies, and enjoyment. I'm committed to finding a schedule that suits your family's needs and won't pressure you into excessive commitments.

Collaboration is key, and I'll coordinate with your child's other providers to ensure a unified approach towards achieving their goals. I believe that all evidence-based therapies with trained professionals are valid and I will respect and incorporate the plans of your learner's team members into their ABA treatment plan.

I am passionate about learning from the neurodivergent community, which includes autistic individuals and those with mental health conditions. I'm also actively engaged in the perinatal mental health community.

If this resonates with what you're seeking for your family, I would be deeply honored to support your child.

image
image
image
image
image
image
1 on 1 session
Applied Behavior Analysis

What is ABA?

ABA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis, the science of learned human behavior in socially significant settings like homes, schools, and the community. ABA's foundation is reinforcement and motivation, and uses evidence-based behavioral principles to increase adaptive behaviors that improve quality of life, as well as to decrease interfering behaviors that make life more challenging for the learner and others in their environment. ABA is a science and good ABA is an art that supports learning.

A BCBA will conduct an initial assessment in the treatment setting of your child or the member's skills and any challenges to learning or problematic behaviors, and will make a recommendation based on medical necessity for a weekly number of ABA therapy hours. Then, your family and your BCBA will discuss any barriers to achieving that dosage, like your child's physical, emotional, and sensory needs, personal schedule, and other therapies. A mutually agreed upon schedule will be developed.

Next, a trained behavior technician will be assigned to your family, and that person will do the day-to-day ABA therapy with your child. At Alamo Behavior Analysis, all behavior technicians are required to become registered by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board within 180 days of hire, which means that they complete 40 hours of training, an in-person competency exam, and a board exam at a Pearson testing center. Your behavior technician will be supervised by a BCBA for between 10-20% of your child's monthly scheduled hours. Your BCBA will also conduct weekly, biweekly, or monthly family training, depending on your family's needs or the needs of the staff at the alternative treatment setting.

CONTACT

Looking for Services?


Fill out the form below and a member of our team will reach out to you.