BASS ABA Therapy - Westchase

I am absolutely devastated and outraged by what has happened to my autistic nephew at BASS ABA Therapy – Westchase, and I feel a deep responsibility to warn every parent and guardian about this facility. This is not a safe place for autistic children. My nephew was subjected to mistreatment not once, but twice in a row, and the way this facility handled the situation was completely unacceptable. Rather than calling his parents immediately, they sent **emails** about the incidents, as if what happened wasn’t serious enough to warrant an urgent phone call. That alone speaks volumes about how little they value the well-being of the children in their care. The first incident should have never happened in the first place, but when we were informed—through an email instead of a phone call—we gave them the benefit of the doubt and hoped they would take it seriously. Unfortunately, the very next day, my nephew was mistreated again. This was not an accident or a misunderstanding; this was a **pattern of abuse**. Any competent and ethical facility would have done everything in its power to ensure that nothing like this ever happened again after the first incident, yet BASS ABA Therapy failed to protect him. Their response was dismissive, showing no real accountability or urgency, and instead of taking immediate corrective action, they simply sent another email as if my nephew’s suffering was just another routine update. What makes this even more disturbing is that BASS ABA Therapy – Westchase has a **habit of deleting negative reviews** to cover up the truth. Rather than addressing serious concerns and making meaningful changes, they choose to silence families who have spoken out against their mistreatment of children. Parents, please take this as a **huge red flag**—any business that actively removes honest feedback is more concerned about protecting its reputation than protecting the children in its care. If they did this to my nephew, how many other children have suffered similar experiences that we will never hear about because the reviews were erased? This facility has shown through its actions that it **does not prioritize the safety or well-being of the children it claims to help**. Any ethical and responsible center would have immediately called the parents and taken swift action after just one incident, yet they failed to do so **twice in a row**. I cannot stress this enough: **Do not send your child here.** If you love your child and want them in a safe, compassionate, and ethical environment, look elsewhere. We are taking further action against this facility, and I strongly encourage any other parents who have had negative experiences here to **speak out, document everything, and report them to the appropriate authorities.** No child should ever have to go through what my nephew endured. If you are considering BASS ABA Therapy – Westchase, I urge you to think twice. No amount of convenience or availability is worth risking your child’s safety and well-being.

I am extremely disappointed with the lack of care and supervision at this facility. My son has been here for less than two weeks, and within that short time, he has sustained two head injuries due to the unsafe environment and inadequate supervision. The RBT even admitted that the area where the first injury occurred should have been padded and couldn’t explain why it wasn’t. This seems to be a pattern of prioritizing billable hours over the safety of the children in their care. When the first injury happened, I was assured that I didn’t need to pick him up immediately. However, when I arrived, the extent of the injury was concerning, and my son was advised to take it easy due to concerns of a possible concussion. Despite this, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and brought him back after the swelling subsided. The very same day he returned, he sustained another injury, this time with additional swelling and visible carpet marks on his forehead. What was even more troubling was that I was only informed about this injury when I arrived to pick him up—hours after it happened—likely to avoid impacting their billable hours. I cannot trust this facility to ensure my child’s safety and well-being. I would not recommend it to anyone who values their child’s safety.

My daughter Sabrina graduated from BASS ABA's Westchase location in August 2024 (I have been meaning to leave a review of our experience since then!). Sabrina started at BASS when she was 3 years old at the prior location in Carrollwood. They helped her with all of her school readiness skills in the Learning to Learn program, such as circle time, table work, appropriate interactions with other children (taking turns, joining in play, greetings, etc). She made huge improvements in her communication, got potty trained, developed coping skills, and learned how to transition from one activity to another. Prior to BASS, she was attending a preschool in a special needs classroom at our local public elementary school. Her special needs preschool class was wonderful, but it seemed like she could benefit from true one-on-one assistance in ABA, primarily due to elopement and overall help with communicating her needs. Before ABA, she was only leading us by the hand to try to tell her dad and I what she wanted/needed. She also struggled with sensory overwhelm and biting other kids at a previous daycare before being told that it wasn't the right place to meet her needs. Even though she needed help, I was still very unsure of ABA due to it being so controversial in the general autistic community, but it was recommended to us by her doctors, as well as spoken positively about by her special education teacher. BASS was very communicative and great about answering all our questions/concerns and explaining things as many times as needed. Their team's attitudes were very positive, helpful, and caring, which I really appreciated because it's very unnerving leaving your (at the time) nonverbal child in ANYONE else's care. I'm also a first time mom, so it was extra difficult looking back at it. But meeting her board certified behavior analyst (BCBA), directors, and her speech therapist at BASS for the initial tour, ABA evaluation, and speech evaluation really put me at ease (as much as I could be put at ease!). Observing the registered behavior technicians (RBTs) working 1:1 with each child during each visit was also helpful. Just overall positive feelings like this was a great place for us. I loved that my daughter was so welcomed and cared for by her care team each day. I'd say that one of the comments from one of the BASS directors that resonated with me most was that they weren't there to try to change who my daughter was or to discourage her stimming (unless it was a safety issue), but were there to work with Sabrina to help reach her goals that were written out in her treatment plan (e.g. decrease instances of eloping). If there hadn't been a positive initial rapport between the staff, my daughter, and us, then I would've toured a different center. We had another one lined up to tour the following week, but BASS was such a great fit that we enrolled. To any family considering ABA, I'd say to make sure you and your child feel comfortable with the staff and the environment, and that the staff takes your child's safety seriously, and are always willing to answer your questions and communicate progress. They should be ready to partner with you to help your child's progress. I'd say that my only initial negative I can think of was that the center didn't have visible security cameras, and was fairly low-tech overall aside from email communications. For example, my daughter's daily progress reports were on a physical paper filled out by her RBTs she worked with each day. This wasn't a dealbreaker though and possibly more technology will be utilized in the future. At BASS, my daughter was safe, understood, and happy, while making such huge developmental progress. I am SO PROUD of her and she is also happier as she is more independent and able to communicate. Throughout ABA and after, she's still herself through and through. It is such an amazing difference to find a team of people welcoming and ready to meet your child where they're at, so I am always grateful for our time at BASS.

I want to show gratitude and appreciation to Bass, My daughter has been attending Bass since about May and Ive seen so much progress and growth with her. She’s talking more and growing so much. I wouldn’t want any other place to assist me and my baby she was also doing occupational therapy elsewhere and I switched her to Bass so she can get the therapy she needs all in one place. Special shout out to Sam,Abby,Athena,and Sher for all the love and support we lost our car during hurricane Milton and they still found a way to assist us during the difficult time. Always so attentive and response time is always so timely I was skeptical about therapy because my child has never been to daycare or anything. They reassured me and guided me every step of the way this group of women is truly amazing and you can tell that they love the work that they do and it shows because my baby has blossomed so much with their help. I’m forever grateful for you all and even when my baby starts school we still will be using bass. One of the best decisions I’ve made for my baby’s therapy and I’m content with my decisions. Thanks to the whole Bass Family we are forever grateful! 🩷

Being the parent of an autistic child is not always an easy thing. We often are confused, frustrated and sometimes just scared to death. BASS was recommended to us from a close friend that had a great experience with them. BASS was the critical key we needed to unlocking our son’s potential and helping us bridge the gap between his world and ours. The first time we walked through the door we knew we were in the right place. Sher greeted our son like he was family. She and all the staff have treated him as such. As parents we found BASS to be not only transparent but just as concerned as we were. Our son entered into BASS non-verbal and through such programs as PECS he learned to speak. Now he wakes up everyday singing and laughing. BASS has assisted with at home training (something I recommend every family to do) food therapy, potty training, speech therapy and socializing. The skills our son learned at BASS greatly helped him integrate into a mainstream classroom setting at his school. I can unequivocally say if it wasn’t for BASS, their dedicated staff and a group of hardworking RBTs and BCBAs I don’t believe our son would be as far along as he is today. Thank you BASS!!