The Uncommon Thread: ABA Autism Center

The Uncommon Thread has been life changing for my daughter and for my family. My daughter started in center in June 2025 and has made so much progress and is so happy! It is amazing to see all she is accomplishing and learning. The staff is all incredible with not only children, but us as parents. Every question is always answered and they all support the family as much as the learner. We have tried other programs, but nothing is like The Uncommon Thread. If you are looking for a program for your child look no further. I would give TUT a thousand stars if I could. We are so thankful for all they do for our daughter!

I've never worked with such a passionate group of professionals whose sole purpose is to help children with autism. From parent education to partnering with the top physicians in NJ, this place is all about finding the best supports for the child to give them the most successful outcomes. TUT is the best you'll find in NJ!

These people are a joke. Take your children elsewhere. There's a ton of ABA services in NJ, stay away from this place.

I want to start by acknowledging the positive experiences we initially had at this center. My daughter began here about a year ago with significant developmental delays. She was nonverbal, had limited eye contact, and there were concerns from her pediatrician and early intervention providers that she may be autistic. We were referred due to the center’s strong reputation in the community. The intake process was smooth, and the staff initially appeared caring and supportive. They also offered some of the best financial options we found after contacting multiple ABA centers. For the first seven to eight months, my daughter made incredible progress. We were provided with helpful resources and education as first time parents navigating a stressful situation. Overall, that period was a positive experience. One early challenge was frequent therapist changes. We were told this was normal and necessary for flexibility. While difficult, concerns were addressed when raised, and we trusted the professionals. However, communication often felt abrupt, with changes communicated last minute and little explanation provided. Eventually, we were informed that the original location would be closing and that my daughter would transition to another program. The timeline for this transition suddenly changed from a month out to the following week. We agreed, trusting it was the appropriate next step. Unfortunately, the transition felt poorly planned. A staff member assigned during this period appeared overwhelmed and lacked patience, and there was a concerning safety incident during transportation. I reported it immediately, and the staff member was removed, but there was no consistent therapist in place afterward. My daughter was moved from a smaller setting to a much larger one without any familiar support aside from the supervising clinician. After expressing concerns again, she was assigned a therapist who was excellent and truly understood her needs. With consistency, my daughter did very well. However, when that therapist was absent, my daughter experienced severe anxiety and distress. Without warning, that therapist was abruptly removed with no explanation beyond a brief email citing a clinical recommendation. This sudden change had a significant negative impact. My daughter’s anxiety increased, she cried for extended periods, and we began receiving reports labeling her as behavioral. When she spent time away from the center, her speech improved and her anxiety decreased, making it clear that the constant changes were affecting her well being. Despite ongoing concerns, additional abrupt changes continued, including a sudden change in her supervising clinician. At a parent meeting, we were told her behaviors were escalating and that a behavior plan was being created, with discussion of possibly moving her to a smaller classroom. My daughter is verbal and shows strong signs of ADHD, and many of the behaviors described aligned more with anxiety and lack of consistency than defiance. Consistency is critical for neurodivergent children. Toward the end of our time here, it no longer felt like her emotional well being was being prioritized. When we raised concerns, we were told that constant change is part of life and similar to traditional preschool, which felt dismissive. No preschool would cycle through so many caregivers in one year. We ultimately removed her from the program out of concern for her mental health. Since leaving, she has been noticeably calmer, happier, and more regulated. While the center disagreed with our decision, there was no meaningful follow up. Instead, her belongings were mailed to us which included an empty bag of crackers with a note that said best of luck with your journey. The care and compassion we initially experienced were no longer present. This program may work well for some families, and it did for us initially. However, our experience declined significantly. I encourage parents to trust their instincts and pay close attention to how their child is treated emotionally, not just clinically.

I can't say enough good things about TUT. From the moment we walked through the doors, we knew we had found a place that truly cares about our child's progress and well-being. The staff is not only highly skilled but also genuinely compassionate, making each day a positive experience for our child. Our therapists, Jamie, Jen, Joe, Gaby has been a game-changer. They took the time to understand our child's unique needs and developed a tailored program that has shown remarkable results. We've seen significant improvements in communication, social skills, and behavior. The center itself is well-organized, clean, and equipped with all the necessary resources to support therapy sessions. They also keep us, as parents, in the loop with regular progress reports and meetings, which have been invaluable in helping us understand our child's journey and how we can support it at home. Overall, TUT has provided our family with hope and confidence that our child is on the right path. We highly recommend this center to any family seeking quality ABA therapy.

TERRIBLE SERVICE !!!! ZERO STAR I generally do not write public reviews. But I had to write about this place. We took this service for our daughter for about one year. It was just a waste of time and money. I am surprised they have so many 5-star reviews. I think they created Gmail accounts and gave them 5 stars. For our daughter, one therapist used to go to her school. Another therapist used to come to our house once a week for an hour. She did nothing. One day she left early. We asked why? She replied our baby was cranky. That's why she left. How ridiculous! We took therapy because our baby was abnormal/cranky. We want therapist to work on that. Instead, she left. The therapist used to look at her watch and phone when she was supposed to take care of our baby. Another therapist used to go to her school. The minimum we expected her to teach our daughter some basics - like 'writing A, B, C,' ..'1, 2, 3' .. Therapist did nothing. They used to take some random data and use some software to make many fancy colorful plots to 'impress' the parents. But in practice, they don't do anything to solve the baby's problem. I know they have many babies taking their service. When a baby has 'delay development', parents get panicked. That 'panic' is their biggest source of income. My humble request to them : Please solve the baby's problem instead of making colorful plots or checking your phone continuously while at work. And please do not run away when the baby is cranky. It's your job to work on that.

We have nothing but wonderful things to say about The Uncommon Thread. Everyone from office staff to therapists are helpful, and willing to listen to our thoughts and concerns. We feel that they truly care about our child.

Has stayed open throughout most of the pandemic providing a crucial service to children in the area.

We had a terrible experience with the Uncommon Thread, it lacked quality and professionalism. I don’t know where to start... The diagnosing pediatrician referred us to the Uncommon Thread for therapy and being new to all of this, we went with them. Knowing what I know about ABA, I should have ran away from TUT and never looked back. The clinical team was incompetent and the clinical director was uninterested. She made several visits to our home and surprisingly did not even recognize everything that was going on. We wasted a year because TUT clinical team failed to recognize the function of my son’s behaviors and completely failed to design a program for him. They spent a year reinforcing problem behaviors that took us A LOT of time to undo afterwards. An ABA program that does not zoom in on the function of behaviors is not an ABA program. At the beginning, TUT was telling me that my son was mastering skills and moving along the VB-MAPP. It was only after I pushed for a new BCBA and a new therapist, they came back to tell me that he had not mastered a lot of skills and that they had to teach those skills ‘again’ -speaking of professionalism and integrity.... We now work with another agency and see very clearly how professionalism, quality and good communication has to look like when it comes to our precious little ones.