One year ago, Samba ABA opened its doors to bring in-home Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy to children with autism spectrum disorder across Georgia. Twelve months later, the milestone worth marking is not the calendar, but rather every family who welcomed a clinician into their home and trusted Samba ABA with something as important as their child’s growth.
A Year of Firsts, Made Possible by Your Trust
Every first year is full of firsts: a first family welcomed into their home, a first Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) treatment plan written, a first Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) walking through a client’s front door for a first session. None of those firsts belong to Samba ABA alone. Each one happened because a parent decided to open their home, and their child’s routine, to a clinician they had just met, again and again, session after session.
Dr. Kristine Cortez, Ed.D., BCBA, LBA, leads Samba ABA around a simple idea: therapy works best when it meets a child where they already feel comfortable, at home. Watching that idea take shape over the past year, across the Atlanta metro and Coweta County, has been the real milestone. What began as one team’s commitment to convenient, caring, and effective ABA therapy grew into a program built on the relationships formed in living rooms and playrooms across the region.
Why We Marked the Moment With a Celebration
A milestone like this deserved more than an internal note. Samba ABA invited the families it works with to celebrate together at We Rock The Spectrum Kids Gym in Atlanta, an indoor space designed specifically for children with sensory needs. The venue mattered as much as the celebration itself. It is the same kind of safe, welcoming space Samba ABA works to create in every home it visits, and a fitting place to say thank you in person rather than from a distance.
There were cupcakes, of course, decorated simply with “Happy 1st Birthday Samba” in icing, because a milestone this personal deserved a small, genuine celebration rather than a quiet acknowledgment.
The People Who Made It Possible
None of the last year happens without the clinicians who show up. The BCBAs and RBTs who make up the Samba ABA team spent the past twelve months driving to appointments, adjusting plans in real time, and building trust with children who needed to see a familiar, steady face walk through the door again and again. And none of it happens without the families who let them in.
To every family who has partnered with Samba ABA this year: thank you. It has been an honor to be trusted with something this important, and that trust is the reason Samba ABA does this work.
Looking Ahead to Year Two
Year two starts now, with the same commitment that started year one: therapy that comes to the family, delivered by qualified clinicians, in a way that feels achievable rather than intimidating.
If your family is considering in-home ABA therapy in Georgia, schedule an intake call with Samba ABA to talk through what care could look like for your child.