In-Home ABA Therapy in Kansas
Shining Steps brings ABA therapy to your home in Kansas. We work with children with autism, from toddlers through teens, in the Kansas City area (Johnson and Wyandotte counties) and in Wichita. A Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) designs your child’s program, and a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) works one-on-one with your child, mostly after school. You learn the same strategies, so progress carries over into dinner, bedtime and the morning rush.
We accept KanCare and all of its health plans, plus Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna. Our intake team handles the insurance checks and the paperwork, so you can focus on your child.
Call us: (913) 379-6060
Get started with in-home ABA
Tell us about your family and our intake team will check your coverage and get back to you.
We accept most insurances including
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What ABA therapy is
Applied behavior analysis, or ABA, teaches skills by breaking them into small steps and celebrating each bit of progress. It looks at what happens just before and just after a behavior, then uses that to make helpful skills easier and hard moments less frequent.
ABA can help your child build skills such as:
- Communication, from asking for a snack to telling you something hurts
- Play and social skills, like taking turns and joining a game
- Daily living, such as getting dressed, brushing teeth and using the toilet
- Safer behavior, with new ways to cope when something is hard
A Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) starts with an assessment and writes a treatment plan around your child’s needs and your goals. A Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) then works one-on-one with your child, while the BCBA supervises and updates the plan. Good ABA is not drills at a table. Much of it is play-based and built into real routines, using your child’s favorite toys, snacks and activities.
In Kansas, ABA has been a regular KanCare benefit since 2017 for members under 21 with an autism diagnosis, and behavior analysts are licensed by the state’s Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board.
Our ABA services
Every program starts with an assessment by a BCBA, who writes a treatment plan around your child’s needs and your family’s goals. An RBT then delivers sessions one-on-one, while the BCBA supervises and adjusts the plan as your child grows.
- In-home ABA. Sessions happen where your child already lives and plays, so communication, play, self-care and transitions are practiced in real routines.
- In-school support. With the school’s permission, your child’s RBT can work alongside them in the classroom.
- Community sessions. Practice at a park, a store or the library, where new skills get tested in everyday life.
- Caregiver training. Parent and caregiver training is part of every program. Your BCBA shows you the strategies and helps you use them between sessions.
- Progress meetings. You meet with your BCBA regularly to look at the data, celebrate gains and set new goals.
Most sessions take place after school. Some daytime hours are available, which can help families of younger children or parents with different work schedules.
Why in-home ABA works
Skills learned where they are used
A child who learns to ask for help at a clinic table still has to learn it again at your kitchen table. At home, your child practices with your dishes, your bathroom and your bedtime routine, so new skills fit real life from the start.
Siblings and everyday routines
Home sessions can bring a brother or sister into a board game or snack time. They can also target the hard parts of your day, like turning off a tablet or sitting down for dinner. Your RBT sees what really happens at your house, not a clinic version of it.
No drive and no waiting room
Kansas families are spread out, from the newer neighborhoods of southern Johnson County to the small towns around Wichita, and rush hour in the Kansas City metro can turn a short trip into a long one. When therapy comes to you, that time goes back to your family, and your child starts the session rested instead of worn out from the car.
Caregiver training happens naturally
With sessions in your home, you can watch, ask questions and try the strategies yourself while your BCBA is there to help. Caregiver training is part of every program, and it sticks better when it happens in your own living room.
The Team
Aron Stein
Founder and CEO
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Beth Wittwer
Clinical Director
Sora Lee
Lead BCBA
Ages and programs
Toddlers and preschoolers
If your child is under 3, start with your local tiny-k program through Infant Toddler Services of Kansas for a free developmental evaluation. Once your child has an autism diagnosis, in-home ABA can work alongside early intervention, and some daytime hours are available for little ones who are home during the day. Early goals often include asking for things, following simple directions, playing with others and toilet training.
School-age children
For kids in elementary and middle school, sessions usually happen at home after school. Goals often connect to the classroom: following routines, handling transitions, making friends and managing big feelings. With your school’s permission, an RBT can support your child in class, and your BCBA can share strategies with the IEP team. For free help with IEPs, contact Families Together, the Kansas Parent Training and Information Center.
Teens
For teenagers, ABA shifts toward independence: self-care, making a simple meal, handling money and getting around the community safely. KanCare covers ABA for members under 21, so teens can keep building these skills as adulthood gets closer.
Insurance and coverage
We accept KanCare and all of its health plans, plus Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna. KanCare is the Kansas Medicaid program. Its three health plans for 2025 through 2027 are Healthy Blue, Sunflower Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan. Aetna Better Health of Kansas is no longer a KanCare plan, so check your card if you are not sure which plan you have. Aetna commercial insurance is a separate plan, and we accept it.
What KanCare covers
- KanCare has covered ABA as a regular Medicaid benefit since January 2017, for members under 21 with an autism diagnosis.
- Your child’s health plan must approve ABA before it starts (prior authorization). We request it for you after the BCBA’s assessment.
- Starting November 1, 2026, KanCare requires the autism diagnosis to come from a licensed clinical psychologist or a qualified physician, such as a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, psychiatrist or neurologist. Children already in ABA whose diagnosis came from another type of provider have two years to have it confirmed.
Blue Cross Blue Shield in Kansas
Kansas has two Blue plans. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City serves Johnson and Wyandotte counties, which include Overland Park, Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas serves the other 103 counties, including Wichita. We work with both.
Other insurance
Kansas law requires many large-group health plans to cover autism treatment, including ABA, for children under 12, but not every plan falls under that law. Have another commercial plan? Call us and we’ll check your benefits.
See if ABA is covered for your child
Send us a few details and our intake team will check your coverage, explain what it includes and tell you what we need to get started.
- We check your Medicaid plan or insurance benefits
- We tell you what we need, usually the diagnosis report
- We match your family with a BCBA and an in-home therapist
Prefer to talk? Call (913) 379-6060
Tell us about your family
Share a few details and our intake team will get back to you.
How to get started
- Step 1: Call us. Reach us at (913) 379-6060. We’ll ask a few questions about your child, where you live and your insurance.
- Step 2: We check your benefits. Our intake team verifies your KanCare plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield plan, Aetna plan or other coverage and explains what we find.
- Step 3: Share the diagnosis. Send us your child’s autism evaluation report. For KanCare, it must come from a licensed clinical psychologist or a qualified physician. No evaluation yet? We can point you to local options.
- Step 4: Home assessment. A BCBA meets your child at home, talks with you about goals and writes the treatment plan. We then request authorization from your health plan.
- Step 5: Sessions begin. Once services are approved, your RBT starts regular sessions, with caregiver training and progress meetings built in.
Why families choose us
- Plans written by a BCBA. A Board Certified Behavior Analyst assesses your child, writes the treatment plan and supervises your child’s program.
- One-on-one sessions with an RBT. Your child works with a Registered Behavior Technician, mostly after school, with some daytime hours available.
- Therapy where life happens. Sessions take place at home, at school with the school’s permission, and out in the community.
- Training for parents and caregivers. Every program includes caregiver training and regular progress meetings with your BCBA.
- We handle the insurance work. Our intake team checks your benefits and requests authorizations. We accept KanCare and all of its health plans (Healthy Blue, Sunflower Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan), plus Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna.
- Clinical leadership. Our programs are guided by Clinical Director Beth Wittwer and Lead BCBA Sora Lee, with founder and CEO Aron Stein.
Cities we serve
Regions and counties
Our therapists travel to family homes in two parts of Kansas.
Kansas City metro
We serve Johnson County and Wyandotte County, including Overland Park, Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas, plus nearby suburbs such as Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee, Prairie Village and Merriam. Live on the Missouri side? See our Kansas City, Missouri page or our Missouri page.
Wichita area
We serve Wichita and Sedgwick County, including Derby, Haysville, Maize, Goddard, Bel Aire, Park City and Valley Center, along with Andover in Butler County.
Not sure we reach your street? Call us. We’ll tell you whether we have a therapist near you before you fill out any paperwork.
Helpful resources for families
- KanCare. Kansas Medicaid. Apply at ApplyForKanCare.ks.gov or call 1-800-792-4884. To change health plans, call the KanCare Enrollment Center at 1-866-305-5147. More at kancare.ks.gov.
- Infant Toddler Services of Kansas (tiny-k). Free developmental evaluations for every Kansas child from birth to age 3, and no-cost early intervention for those who qualify. Find your county’s program at itsofks.org.
- KDADS Autism Waiver. Parent support and training, family adjustment counseling and respite care for children ages 0 to 5 with autism. It has a waiting list. Details and the application are on the KDADS Autism page.
- Families Together. Kansas’s Parent Training and Information Center. Free help for families with IEPs, services and support. Call (800) 264-6343, or (800) 499-9443 en español. familiestogetherinc.org
- Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board. The state board that licenses behavior analysts in Kansas. Call (785) 296-3240 or visit ksbsrb.ks.gov.
- The University of Kansas Health System, Center for Child Health and Development. Interdisciplinary autism and developmental evaluations in Kansas City, Kansas. A physician referral is required. Call (913) 588-1227.
Common Questions
Yes. KanCare covers ABA for members under 21 who have an autism diagnosis, and sessions can take place in your home. Your child’s health plan, whether Healthy Blue, Sunflower Health Plan or UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, must approve the services first through prior authorization. Our intake team requests that approval for you after the BCBA’s assessment, and we accept all three plans.
No. ABA is covered through regular KanCare, not the waiver. The KDADS Autism Waiver is a separate program for children ages 0 to 5 that pays for parent support and training, family adjustment counseling and respite care. Services last up to three years, and eligible children are placed on a waiting list called the Proposed Recipient List. You can apply for the waiver while your child receives ABA.
Starting November 1, 2026, KanCare requires the diagnosis to come from a licensed clinical psychologist or a qualified physician, such as a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, psychiatrist, neurologist or primary care doctor with extra autism training. The evaluation must use a validated tool such as the ADOS or CARS. Children already in ABA whose diagnosis came from another type of provider have two years to have it confirmed.
Your card will tell you, and for most families it matches where they live or work. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City serves Johnson and Wyandotte counties, including Overland Park, Olathe and Kansas City, Kansas. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas serves the rest of the state, including Wichita. We work with both, and our intake team checks your ABA benefits before services begin.
Start with your local tiny-k program, part of Infant Toddler Services of Kansas. Every Kansas child from birth to age 3 can get a free developmental evaluation, and children who qualify receive early intervention at no cost to the family. Ask your pediatrician about an autism evaluation too. If your toddler is diagnosed with autism, call us to talk about adding in-home ABA.
Your family deserves the best
Our team works closely with each family to build a plan that fits your child and your schedule. Reach out and our intake team will take it from there.