Frequently Asked Questions

What is Skills?

Skills™ is an innovative web-based system that provides five main tools for educators (including parents, teachers, and other professionals) of children with autism:

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What is the difference between Skills Developing and Skills Living?

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Who should use Skills?

Anyone who will be involved in the design and management of a child's treatment program - this might be behavior analysts or other professionals, teachers, and parents/caregivers. Skills™ was created to promote a multidisciplinary approach in that everyone on a child's treatment team is able to input data on what interventions they are implementing with the child and view them all at once. We highly recommended that at least one person on the child's treatment team is a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) or equally qualified professional with a track record in designing ABA-based interventions for children with autism. The role of this individual is to design and direct the child's curriculum program within Skills™. For those who do not currently have a current ABA provider, Skills™ can provide a gateway to high quality supervision via the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD).

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Does Skills integrate with Practice Management Systems?

Yes, Skills integrates with many common Practice Management Systems. If you have specific questions about integrating with your PMS please email info@skillsglobal.com .

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Does Skills have a preferred practice management system integration?

While Skills does integrate with many Practice Management Systems the Calmanac Practice Management System has many features that makes integration with Skills easier and more effective. For more information you can view this demonstration. If you have additional questions please reach out info@skillsglobal.com.

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Why do I need Skills?

If you are a parent:

Skills™ offers all parents access to a comprehensive assessment, the CARD curriculum and a progress tracking system, no matter where you are located. Skills™ offers your child access to a our comprehensive curriculum, including lessons targeting higher level complex behavior, such as perspective taking (Theory of Mind) and executive functions. If you already have an ABA provider, Skills™ will save your ABA provider time and help them be more efficient. If you don‘t have an ABA provider, Skills™ is your gateway to accessing supervision by an expert in designing ABA-based intervention programs.


If you are a teacher or school:
If you are a professional:

Skills™ offers everything you need to efficiently and effectively design and manage a customized treatment program for every child. Our fully comprehensive assessment and curricula (including lessons targeting complex behavior, such as perspective-taking or (Theory of Mind) are combined with detailed data tracking capabilities and other features, to enable you to maximize treatment effectiveness and provide services to more children.


If you are an organization:
Skills™ Analytics offers

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Who developed Skills and what is your mission?

The creators of Skills™ originate from the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc. (CARD) and include the founder of CARD, Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh, two of CARD’s Research and Development Managers, Dr. Adel Najdowski and Dr. Dennis Dixon, and a team of dedicated CARD clinicians with a wealth of experience and clinical expertise. Skills™ was founded with the goal of helping as many children and their families affected by autism as possible. It is our mission to aid the provision of affordable global access to the highest quality of ABA-based intervention in the world.

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What are the assessment and curricular components of Skills?

The assessment provides a series of “yes” / “no” questions organized by curricula and listed in chronological order of child development. Based on the answers to these questions, specific skills are identified that are in your child's repertoire versus those that need to be taught. There are eight areas of assessment and corresponding curricula: (1) Social, (2) Motor, (3) Language, (4) Adaptive, (5) Play, (6) Executive Functions, (7) Cognition, and (8) Academic. Each assessment area/curriculum is composed of curricular domains. For example, the motor assessment/curriculum focuses on three domains: gross motor, fine motor, and visual motor. Within each domain, there are lessons which teach specific concepts related to the domain. For example, within the gross motor domain, there are lessons that require large motor movements such as the Catching lesson and the Jumping lesson. Each lesson is assigned to a teaching level. There are 12 teaching levels going from easiest to most difficult. Within each lesson, there are lesson sections that focus on teaching specific concepts related to the lesson. For example, in the Catching lesson, one lesson section teaches the child to Catch a Rolled Ball and another teaches the child to Catch a Thrown Ball. Within each lesson section, there are activities that are provided to teach the concept of interest. For example, one activity within the section for Catching a Rolled Ball will teach the child to catch a rolled ball with his/her hands and another will teach the child to catch a rolled ball with a glove.

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What does Skills have to offer that other programs don't?

A variety of features distinguish Skills from other programs currently available

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Will I be able to access Skills from different computers?

Yes. All you need is internet access through a browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Safari, or Firefox).

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Will Skills work on a MAC versus a PC?

What Android Devices does Skills Logbook Support?

What iOS Devices does Skills Logbook Support?

Is Logbook compatible with smartphones?

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Has there been any research conducted on Skills or eLearning?

The Language portion of the Skills™ assessment has been found to have high test-retest and inter-rater reliability (Dixon, Tarbox, Najdowski, Wilke, & Granpeesheh, 2010). Research has also demonstrated that CARD eLearning can effectively increase a user's knowledge of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) principles and procedures (Granpeesheh, Tarbox, Dixon, Peters, Thompson, & Kenzer, 2010).

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How long will it be before I see results?
How fast can I expect my child to progress?

The length of time it will take to see results will depend on a number of variables, including (but not limited to): The consistency in behavioral contingencies, intensity of treatment, the complexity and appropriateness of the lessons, and their implementation. Some skills, if taught correctly, could be gained within a day or two, whereas others may take considerably longer.

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What age range does Skills target?
Can Skills help my adult son or daughter with ASD?

Skills™ currently encompasses eight developmental areas, up to the age of 8 years. However, this does not mean that a child above 8 years of age could not benefit from Skills™. Most individuals diagnosed with autism will have holes or missing skill sets in the different developmental areas. For example, a 12-year-old boy may have typical gross and fine motor skills for his age, but show significant delays in socialization and cognition.

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My child is high-functioning - will Skills still be useful?

Absolutely! The Skills™ program was designed to provide help with all areas of human functioning including higher-level skills such as executive functions, cognition (i.e., perspective taking and theory of mind related skills), and social skills.

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Can Skills be used for children with diagnoses other than autism?

Skills™ was based on the scientific principles of learning that apply to all populations, thus Skills™ can be used not only with children with autism but also with typical children and children with other diagnoses, including Asperger's syndrome, PDD, PDD-NOS, and other developmental disabilities and delays. Similarly, Skills™ can benefit children at different levels of functioning. By completing the assessment, relevant lessons will be provided as options in programming. For example, children with Asperger's Syndrome tend to only lack in the areas of Cognition, Social Skills, and Executive Functions, whereas children with more significant delays will most likely benefit from all of the curriculum areas.

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Is it possible to share my Skills account with anyone else?

Yes. All members of a child's team can have access.

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