Skills

Pros

Coordinates with the other software for RBT supervision and training offered seamlessly

Cons

Nothing specifically is noted as a problem

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Skills

Pros

Comprehensive assessment/programming, easy to use, integrated with Codemetro (which was a practice management software that I used at the time), and great feedback from both staff and supervisors (especially from supervisors who had used other data collection softwares). You can tell that SKILLS collaborated with a clinical team who knew the ins and outs of ABA as opposed to simply creating a software. I love that I am able to speak to the Product Manager on a regular basis and she is open to my feedback and relays it to the developers.

Cons

I wish we could select distractor targets to target in Random Rotation when there are more than 3 targets in the goal. This happens more often than not but even when a target is in Random rotation, it can come up 10 times in a row which isn't true random rotation. To avoid this, we have to use the NET feature but we don't love doing this as we want set notes to be written for each SD (in NET, you can only write 1 set note for each "set" which can include several different goals from different domains). I would also love it if we could have multiple DTT lessons open at the same time.

Pros

It includes programming content. This saves a lot of time and provides access to all the data as administrators which is helpful and keeps us safe from data loss.

Cons

The features are not user-friendly. There are too many things to remember to do simple things like adding a new exemplar. This makes it hard for new people to learn.

The exemplars use language that is too complex to read and understand in the moment with a child with autism. They also should include the Discrimination Stimulus as well as the desired response. It needs to be easier for RBTs to use and understand quickly. Less jargon would make it easier.

I think the system would be improved if there was a feature to capture current progress rates for the Treatment Plan rather than having to do that manually for each exemplar.

The assessment in the SKILLs system is not accepted by 2 of our insurance carriers so we have to do a 2nd assessment.

I wish the Logbook app worked on laptops or phones so everyone didn't need a tablet.

The program is hard to learn from a live training. There is too much information and you don't really understand until you begin to use it. I would appreciate a written manual or a series of watch as needed videos to address individual parts of the system.

Pros

My favorite part of this software is the incredibly comprehensive teaching curriculum for ABA therapy. There are more goals in this software than I have seen in any software of its kind. The others don't come close when it comes to how many different goals you can teach and it includes exact teaching instructions with examples.

Cons

It takes some time to learn how to use the software with ease (because it has so much information available within it), but there is a great training/support team available to help you along the way.

Pros

It is an excellent way to keep track of goals and collect data. The examples of SDs and prompts are extremely helpful.

Cons

There has to be an easier way to complete an entire assessment on a students' abilities than what currently exists. It is too time consuming.