What we're hearing
The progress being described does not match the life your family is living at home.
Reports and real life feel disconnected
A graph may move while dinner, mornings, communication, safety, or community life still feels unchanged.
You may doubt your own observations
Clinical language and numbers can make a parent wonder whether the home picture counts when it does not match the report.
The gap itself is useful information
A skill can improve in session without appearing at home, or the measurement may not be capturing the change your family actually needs.
What you see at home is data your team needs — not a complaint.
Pick one thing for today
One. Not a list.
Your path forward
What to bring up
Bring both pictures: what the report says and one concrete example from home. “The report says independent meals improved; at home we still leave the table every night” gives the team a precise gap to explain.
Include real improvement too. A fair home picture may contain gains, unchanged problems, and new concerns at the same time. You are not building a complaint; you are showing whether progress has reached the settings that matter.
What kind of help to ask for
Ask the BCBA to walk through the graph, the definition of the skill, where it was measured, and what independence means in that data. A percentage without those details cannot tell you what the family should see at home.
Ask how the team checks whether a skill carries across people and settings, and what decision point would lead to a revised goal or approach if the home picture remains unchanged.
What usually changes, and how fast
The existing data can be explained in the next clinical meeting. Gathering home examples, observing another setting, or changing a goal may require additional sessions and review.
Ask for a date when the home gap will be reviewed again. The useful timeline is not “keep watching”; it is “we will compare these measures again after this amount of information.”
Where to go next on this site
Open the Big Moments outcome if the most important home difference involves injuries, dangerous incidents, or severe disruption not reflected in session data.
Open What Is ABA for a plain-language review of how goals, data, and change are supposed to connect.
Questions for your BCBA
Pick two. Five questions asked is none asked.
Take it with you
Type into it on your phone or computer and save it there, or print it. It stays on your device — this site never sees it.