“[The Lamberts] were friends with a family whose kiddo had ASD, and they saw the process that the family was going through,” Senior Operations Manager Hannah Belota said. “[The family] was having to go through long wait periods; they were having to jump through a lot of hoops; they were trying to get all this insurance.”
The Lamberts founded ABC in 2016 with the mission to provide readily accessible care of the highest quality to kids with ASD. ABC treats children age 18 months-8 years old using Applied Behavior Analysis therapy with no patient waitlist.
ABC has 15 clinic locations in the Greater Austin-area, including one location in Cedar Park and one in Leander. Belota is the operations manager of both the Cedar Park and Leander clinics.
Belota, previously a patient care technician for a pediatric hospital in Dallas, started working at ABC as a clinic admissions associate in October 2019. In 2020, she was promoted to senior operations manager.
She said working with kids has always been the center of her career focus, and she specifically developed a passion for working with and advocating for children with ASD.
“As I started working here and learning more about autism and learning more about the power that these kiddos have, it’s become more of a passion,” she said. “Sometimes they need someone to step up and speak for them, and I’m more than happy to be that person.”
Parents of children at ABC said they like that the clinic provides one-on-one care for all its patients, and every child has an individualized treatment plan and schedule, Belota said. All of the clinics’ therapists have to be certified and registered as a board-certified behavior analyst.
ABC’s behavior technicians have smaller caseloads than employees at other similar clinics. One analyst will have up to eight patients at one time at ABC, while technicians at other clinics will have 15-25 patients at a time, Clinical Director Jamie Burgan said.
ABC gives back to the community by providing Autism Diagnostic Observation Screening tests for free to families in need. It can take families 12-18 months to receive a test, and ABC can get them done in three to four weeks, Burgan said.
In order to expand its presence in the area, ABC is opening another location near the Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in July.
“If you have questions or need resources, we can typically find those for you, and we’re there to help you every step of the way,” Belota said.
Action Behavior Centers
1101 Arrow Point Drive, Ste. 305, Cedar Park
512-605-0069
www.actionbehavior.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Sat.-Sun.
Editor's note: This story, which first appeared in the June 2022 print paper, is part of Community Impact Newspaper's annual health care edition.
