The House approves the bill to have ABA therapists at school. This bill was presented by Rep. Alison Tant of Tallahassee of the Democratic party but was first brought up by Republican Representative Rene Plasencia of Orlando.
What is ABA? Applied Behavior Analysis, also known as ABA, is a therapy that helps children with exceptionalities to communicate, improve their social skills, and understand others. They use specific strategies for every child they cater to. These strategies apply to the specific needs of the child. They also encourage them to be more responsive towards other people and to behave accordingly.
What pushed through this bill? The personal experience of Rep. Tant and Rep. Plasencia, who both have a child with exceptionalities in their family. Rep. Tant believes that ABA therapy helped his son over time. It also helped Rep. Plasencia’s nephew in his daily life. Although ABA is a widely known therapy for children with autism, it is usually done at home or in clinics. What both representatives are proposing is to approve school-based ABA therapy. They believe that providing ABA services in a school setting, where children spend most of their time, will help them interact more and adapt easier. Some district schools already approved of having an ABA therapist at school. However, there are still some schools that do not allow it because they believe that it is against Florida laws.
With this bill being presented, both Rep. Plasencia and Rep. Tant would like to have a better clarification that an ABA therapist can be at school to help children with autism.
The House approves Senate Bill HB 1401 which will allow ABA therapists to be at school together with children with exceptionalities.
Source:
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/1410/BillText/Filed/PDF
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