The evidence
The research, with the sources
We are called Data Driven Educators. It would be strange to make claims without showing you where they come from. Every number on this page has a citation and a date we checked it.
The numbers
53.1
per 1,000 children in California
California has the highest identified autism rate of all 16 sites the CDC tracks, more than three times Texas. A lot of families in the Inland Empire are looking for support at the same time.
CDC ADDM Network, 2025 release (2022 surveillance year) · accessed 2026-09-06
1 in 31
children in the United States
About 1 in every 31 eight-year-olds in the U.S. is identified with autism. That number was 1 in 36 two years earlier. More children are being found, and found earlier.
CDC ADDM Network, 2025 release · accessed 2026-09-06
2012
California has required coverage since
Under SB 946, state-regulated health plans have to cover behavioral health treatment, including ABA, when it is medically necessary. Medi-Cal works under a separate rule that is often broader. If a plan tells you ABA is not covered, it is worth asking a second time.
California SB 946 (2011), effective July 2012 — Disability Rights California · accessed 2026-09-07
At home
is where new skills get their practice
Across studies, what most often carries a new skill out of the therapy room is the people at home using the same steps. That is why parent education sits inside the plan here rather than beside it. It is not a guarantee, and it is not on you alone.
Meta-analysis of parent-implemented interventions, J Autism Dev Disord (2022) · accessed 2026-09-06
Where the research is messier than the marketing
You may read that children need 25 to 40 hours a week. That was the range in the older studies. A 2024 trial found 5 to 10 hours a week did about as well as 15 or more on the measures it used. More hours is not automatically better. The right amount is the amount your child's plan calls for, and we will talk that through with you.
What the research does not say
Being honest also means saying where the evidence runs out.
- Effect sizes are averages across many children. No study can tell you what will happen for yours.
- A lot of the older research measured IQ scores and school placement. It measured far less about whether those children became happier adults.
- Studies vary enormously in what they called "ABA". Two programs with the same name can look very different.
- There are few long studies that follow autistic people into adulthood and ask them how it went.
None of that means the therapy does not work. It means anyone promising you an outcome is running ahead of the data.
Want the numbers for your own child?
That is the whole point of how we work. Ask us to show you the graphs at any visit.
HIPAA-compliant Telehealth available