Assent-Based Care
Learners are active participants. A request for a break, moving away, or another expression of discomfort prompts us to pause, understand, and adjust support.
ABA Therapy · A Different Way Forward
Support grounded in connection.
A connection-centered, assent-based approach to Applied Behavior Analysis—designed to support meaningful progress while honoring each learner’s autonomy, communication, and individuality.
Who this supports
Learners building communication, safety, independence, and everyday participation.
Location & fit
Tampa Bay, Florida. Home, educational collaboration, and community settings are considered individually.
Getting started
Clinical fit, assessment requirements, and benefits are reviewed before a start is confirmed. Coverage & Payment.
What is ABA?
A science of learning, understood in context.
Applied Behavior Analysis is a science focused on understanding behavior and how it is influenced by the environment. It can be used to support communication, learning, independence, participation, safety, and everyday living skills.
Thoughtful ABA is not about making a child appear less different. It begins by asking what behavior communicates, what matters to the learner and family, and which skills would create meaningful access, choice, and quality of life.
Our starting point
Behavior makes sense in context. Before deciding what should change, we work to understand what is happening, why it matters, and how support can feel safe and useful.
“All behavior makes sense when you understand the context.”— Mona Delahooke, Ph.D.
A different experience of ABA
Progress without losing the person.
Families may arrive with questions, hesitation, or difficult past experiences. Those concerns are valid. ABA is evolving—as it should. At Divergent Trails, support is built around trust, collaboration, and goals that matter in real life.
Connection Before Expectations
Trust and rapport are not extras. They create the conditions for safe, meaningful learning.
Natural Environment Teaching
Skills are practiced through play, routines, community experiences, and the moments where they will actually be used.
Strengths-Based Learning
We begin with interests, abilities, communication, and existing strengths—not a list of deficits.
Individualized Programming
No two plans should look the same, because no two learners, families, or environments are the same.
Parent Partnership
Parents and caregivers help identify goals that matter outside a session—such as requesting help, joining a routine, or participating safely in the community.
Who may be a good fit
For families looking for something more connected.
This approach may fit families who want support that is individualized, collaborative, and aligned with their learner’s autonomy and everyday life.
“Connection is not a reward. It is the prerequisite.”— Greg Hanley, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Learners building functional communication
Including ways to request help, breaks, comfort, access, attention, or a change.
Families navigating behaviors that feel unsafe or disruptive
With careful attention to context, function, prevention, and replacement skills.
Learners working toward independence and participation
Across home, school, community, social, and daily-living routines.
Parents who want to understand—not simply manage—behavior
Through practical coaching, shared decision-making, and strategies that fit real family life.
What support can look like
Skills practiced where life happens.
Recommendations are based on assessment, clinical need, family priorities, funding requirements, and the environments where meaningful participation matters.
In-home support
Learning within daily routines, family activities, communication, transitions, and real-life responsibilities.
Educational collaboration
Coordinated support with educators when clinically appropriate and authorized.
Community-based learning
Building safety, confidence, flexibility, communication, and independence beyond the therapy room.
Parent coaching
Practical collaboration that helps helpful strategies carry into everyday family life.
“ABA uses principles of behavior to improve socially significant skills.”— Brian Iwata, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Research Behind the Trail
Evidence, ethics, and lived experience belong in the same conversation.
Our approach draws from behavior science while also taking seriously research and guidance on assent, neurodiversity, social validity, dignity, client preference, and compassionate care.
Research informs care; it does not replace individualized assessment or shared decision-making.
Assent and person-centered practice
Assent in Applied Behaviour Analysis and Positive Behaviour Support
A discussion of assent-based, person-centered assessment and intervention.
Neurodiversity-affirming practiceAffirming Neurodiversity within Applied Behavior Analysis
Practical guidance for integrating neurodiversity perspectives into ABA research and practice.
Professional ethicsBACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts
Standards addressing dignity, client and stakeholder preferences, risk, benefit, and effective treatment.
Meaningful outcomesSocial Validity in Applied Behavior Analysis
A systematic review examining how the importance and acceptability of goals, procedures, and outcomes are assessed.
NorthHope
EastPartnership
SouthIntegrity
WestCompassion
Let’s walk this together
A meaningful plan begins by understanding your learner.
Tell us what is happening, what matters to your family, and what you hope could change. We will help you understand the options and identify a thoughtful next step.
Start Your Journey