Helping children to fully participate in, not just adjust to, our world.
Behavioral Dimensions
Building a better path for children with Autism
Behavioral Dimensions (BDI) has been providing comprehensive applied behavior analysis (ABA ) services to children with autism for close to twenty years. We call this program Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI). Our main mission is to bring children’s language and social skills up to age level. Our program is designed to teach children to communicate successfully with others, using a variety of methods, such as talking, gestures, picture systems or even written words. We teach them to understand the language of others, especially from parents and other family members.
We address play skills, both independent and interactive play and begin working on their social skills right from the beginning. We want our clients to become fully functioning members of their family and school. This is a big goal to accomplish and may take 1 – 3 years of intensive work. But it is truly worth this investment when we can help children return to the mainstream and participate fully in their family and community.
Behavioral Consulting at BDI is now accepting clients for telemedicine and direct on-site consulting.
Number of Certified Behavior Analysts Employed
Number of Areas/Communities Served
Number of Employees with Over Ten Years at BDI
Finding Ways to Treat Autism in Minnesota
We teach your child to fully participate in, not just adjust to, our world.
We want our clients to become fully functioning members of their family and school.
Roughly half of our toddlers enter regular first grade.
We have many children whose parents report that no one at their child’s school knows or knew that their child had autism.
Frequently Asked Questions
Isn’t it difficult for a child with autism to work for 3 hours straight?
The Senior Therapist of the autism program will work with the family to have preferred items or activities available to use as reinforcers to make learning fun for the child during his BDI shift and increase appropriate behavior. No one learns when upset and we strive for “no tears” shifts.
At the beginning of treatment for the child with autism, we will take small baby steps to teach a child how to sit at a table and pay attention to their staff and the teaching materials. As the child learns that their every effort is rewarded, sessions become more predictable and fun. The child will be given breaks as needed to keep learning at an optimal level throughout the shift, but our goal is to get as much teaching done in three hours as we possibly can.
What if my child does not learn?
Senior Therapists and Clinical Supervisors are trained to analyze data and troubleshoot learning difficulties that are child specific for each child with autism. Additional clinical and behavioral support will be scheduled in order to ensure that the child makes steady progress.
Do you have enough staff to fill all of the hours my child needs?
If there is enough trained staff in your area of Minnesota, and those staff are available during the times you desire, you will have a full schedule for your child. Every effort is made to fill open shifts with all children and the hiring process is an on-going process. Although BDI staff turnover is low, there are still situations when a child will have open shifts. Ideally, the easiest shifts to fill are those during a typical work day (between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.); however, early evening and weekend shifts can be successfully filled if staff are available.
What type of participation is required by the family?
The family is required to meet with the Senior therapist weekly to discuss the child’s progress.
If the family is interested in additional training BDI provides a series of trainings on specific parenting strategies called General Interaction Strategies (GIS). The series of trainings teach the family about reinforcement, responding to requests, offering choices, giving instructions, redirection, and responding to upsets. Once the family completes GIS, BDI can also provide assistance with toilet training, sleep disorders, feeding disorders, outings, and social skills training.
What skills are taught?
Beginning with basic imitation and matching skills, the child systematically moves through a curriculum to learn to understand and use language and social skills.
Who should receive these services?
Children with a diagnosis of ASD who display significant delays in development as well as severe behavior disorders are appropriately treated with the IBI model. The disorder is so severe that the children are unlikely to:
a) be safe in the home or community;
b) attain normal developmental milestones; or
c) succeed in a regular classroom without substantial one-to-one support.
The IBI model is only appropriate for children for whom the goal of treatment is to restore normal functioning as much as possible, and who demonstrate strong response to treatment on objective quantitative measures. Services are typically most appropriate for children under the age of 5?????, BDI’s existing data suggest response to treatment can be evaluated after nine months of treatment.
What is the time commitment?
Child must be available Monday through Friday, every day for 2 three to three and a half hour shifts for a minimum of 30 hours per week. We are only able to work around a child’s schedule who still requires naps. Additional weekday and weekend hours are available after the initial 30 hours are scheduled.
Where do the services take place?
Service occurs in the child’s home; caregiver must be present
Join Our Team!
Make a difference in a the lives of Children!
Behavioral Dimensions is looking for motivated, friendly, and outgoing Behavior Therapists and Behavior Technicians who are interesting in working with young children with autism and other related disabilities. We are excited to offer full or part time job opportunities to individuals who qualify as Mental Health Practitioners (Behavior Therapist) or Mental Health Behavior Aides (Behavior Technician)!
Be a part of a team who’s mission is to being children’s language and social skills up to age level focusing on helping children return to the mainstream and participate fully in their family and community. Behavioral Dimensions offered training sessions and workshops for those wanting a career in Behavior Therapy. People 18 years or older and college students welcome!
Employee Testimonials:
Helping children to fully participate in, not just adjust to, our world.
Behavioral Dimensions
Building a better path for children with Autism
Behavioral Dimensions (BDI) has been providing comprehensive applied behavior analysis (ABA ) services to children with autism for close to twenty years. We call this program Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI). Our main mission is to bring children’s language and social skills up to age level. Our program is designed to teach children to communicate successfully with others, using a variety of methods, such as talking, gestures, picture systems or even written words. We teach them to understand the language of others, especially from parents and other family members.
We address play skills, both independent and interactive play and begin working on their social skills right from the beginning. We want our clients to become fully functioning members of their family and school. This is a big goal to accomplish and may take 1 – 3 years of intensive work. But it is truly worth this investment when we can help children return to the mainstream and participate fully in their family and community.
Behavioral Consulting at BDI is now accepting clients for telemedicine and direct on-site consulting.
Years in Business Since 1997
Number of Areas/Communities Served
Number of Employees with Over Ten Years at BDI
Finding Ways to Treat Autism in Minnesota
We teach your child to fully participate in, not just adjust to, our world.
We want our clients to become fully functioning members of their family and school.
Roughly half of our toddlers enter regular first grade.
We have many children whose parents report that no one at their child’s school knows or knew that their child had autism.
Frequently Asked Questions
Isn’t it difficult for a child with autism to work for 3 hours straight?
The Senior Therapist of the autism program will work with the family to have preferred items or activities available to use as reinforcers to make learning fun for the child during his BDI shift and increase appropriate behavior. No one learns when upset and we strive for “no tears” shifts.
At the beginning of treatment for the child with autism, we will take small baby steps to teach a child how to sit at a table and pay attention to their staff and the teaching materials. As the child learns that their every effort is rewarded, sessions become more predictable and fun. The child will be given breaks as needed to keep learning at an optimal level throughout the shift, but our goal is to get as much teaching done in three hours as we possibly can.
What if my child does not learn?
Senior Therapists and Clinical Supervisors are trained to analyze data and troubleshoot learning difficulties that are child specific for each child with autism. Additional clinical and behavioral support will be scheduled in order to ensure that the child makes steady progress.
Do you have enough staff to fill all of the hours my child needs?
If there is enough trained staff in your area of Minnesota, and those staff are available during the times you desire, you will have a full schedule for your child. Every effort is made to fill open shifts with all children and the hiring process is an on-going process. Although BDI staff turnover is low, there are still situations when a child will have open shifts. Ideally, the easiest shifts to fill are those during a typical work day (between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.); however, early evening and weekend shifts can be successfully filled if staff are available.
What type of participation is required by the family?
The family is required to meet with the Senior therapist weekly to discuss the child’s progress.
If the family is interested in additional training BDI provides a series of trainings on specific parenting strategies called General Interaction Strategies (GIS). The series of trainings teach the family about reinforcement, responding to requests, offering choices, giving instructions, redirection, and responding to upsets. Once the family completes GIS, BDI can also provide assistance with toilet training, sleep disorders, feeding disorders, outings, and social skills training.
What skills are taught?
Beginning with basic imitation and matching skills, the child systematically moves through a curriculum to learn to understand and use language and social skills.
Who should receive these services?
Children with a diagnosis of ASD who display significant delays in development as well as severe behavior disorders are appropriately treated with the IBI model. The disorder is so severe that the children are unlikely to:
a) be safe in the home or community;
b) attain normal developmental milestones; or
c) succeed in a regular classroom without substantial one-to-one support.
The IBI model is only appropriate for children for whom the goal of treatment is to restore normal functioning as much as possible, and who demonstrate strong response to treatment on objective quantitative measures. Services are typically most appropriate for children under the age of 5?????, BDI’s existing data suggest response to treatment can be evaluated after nine months of treatment.
What is the time commitment?
Child must be available Monday through Friday, every day for 2 three to three and a half hour shifts for a minimum of 30 hours per week. We are only able to work around a child’s schedule who still requires naps. Additional weekday and weekend hours are available after the initial 30 hours are scheduled.
Where do the services take place?
Service occurs in the child’s home; caregiver must be present
Join Our Team!
Make a difference in a the lives of Children!
Behavioral Dimensions is looking for motivated, friendly, and outgoing Behavior Therapists and Behavior Technicians who are interesting in working with young children with autism and other related disabilities. We are excited to offer full or part time job opportunities to individuals who qualify as Mental Health Practitioners (Behavior Therapist) or Mental Health Behavior Aides (Behavior Technician)!
Be a part of a team who’s mission is to being children’s language and social skills up to age level focusing on helping children return to the mainstream and participate fully in their family and community. Behavioral Dimensions offered training sessions and workshops for those wanting a career in Behavior Therapy. People 18 years or older and college students welcome!
Employee Testimonials: