Children's Specialized, North Carolina
Streamlining DTT delivery and improving client engagement across an early intervention team.
Replacing a burdensome prep process
DTT preparation was consuming hours of clinical time and resulting in disorganized, short-lived materials that were lost before the week was over.
"I came from a world of language builder cards, printing my own pictures, laminating and cutting for hours, just to have the stimuli be lost before the week was over."
"I no longer must have sandwich bags full of printed pictures, taking 10 minutes to set up a session, and needing days to update stimuli as goals are mastered."
- ✓Session setup time dropped from 10+ minutes to near-instant access
- ✓Materials centralized, reusable, and impossible to misplace
- ✓Staff shifted focus from logistics to instruction
- ✓BCBAs save 2+ hours per week
Increasing fidelity and confidence in data
Manual session management led to variability in how trials were run and how data was recorded.
"I don't have to question if an RBT missed marking a trial as correct or incorrect."
"I know that error correction is being run at 100% fidelity since it is automated. The latency will be captured accurately by the app instead of relying on counting or forgetting a stopwatch."
- ✓Data accuracy and reliability improved across the team
- ✓Clinical directors could monitor implementation with greater assurance
- ✓BCBAs could focus on clinical decision-making, not procedural auditing
Rapid onboarding across the clinical team
New systems often come with training overhead and varied staff uptake. FirstWork was simple to implement from day one.
"I first tried the app with my clients and then trained the BCBAs and RBTs in our center and we were off and running."
"Within a week we had 14 RBTs using FirstWork for their clients' programs."
- ✓Minimal training required for successful adoption
- ✓RBTs quickly learned to run BCBA-created programs independently
- ✓Ages served ranged from 23 months to 5 years — all clients adapted effectively
Transforming engagement for previously resistant clients
Some clients refused to engage with traditional flashcard-based DTT and became distressed or resistant during instruction. FirstWork changed that.
"We had clients who would refuse to engage with traditional DTT stimuli begin doing 5-6 DTT sessions during their therapy session."
"They engaged with the material without refusal or tantrum behaviors and visibly enjoyed interacting with the app."
- ✓Previously resistant clients showed strong participation and motivation
- ✓Sessions became more enjoyable and productive for both learners and therapists
- ✓Staff observed skill emergence that had been masked by prior non-compliance
Revealing hidden skills through alternative delivery
Client resistance during assessments had led to underestimated skill levels. FirstWork enabled BCBAs to probe and assess through an engaging, low-resistance format.
"BCBAs have been able to probe skills with clients that were resistant to traditional assessment probes and gather baseline data for skills such as LRFFC and matching non-identical stimuli."
"A 5-year-old client displayed fluency in skills that were not marked in his first VB-MAPP assessment due to his non-compliance with traditional teaching methods."
- ✓Accurate skill identification allowed for more tailored programming
- ✓Clients demonstrated capabilities traditional probes had failed to reveal
- ✓Assessment became less adversarial and more data-rich
"I have greatly enjoyed FirstWork and would recommend it to any ABA company that is looking to streamline their DTT process and engage clients in a fun new way of learning."
See it with your own learners.
Start a 7-day free trial or book a demo to see how FirstWork fits your team.
No charge until day 8. Cancel anytime.
