It all depends on what the school is doing with the other hours he is at school. If he is getting OT and speech, then that will work on some of the same skills that ABA is working on. If they are even working on social skills, then that will be helpful.

The danger with VPK (and even K) is that when they are not doing therapy, they might just be babysitting. This will not help, and might actually hurt.

At age four, I would look to the insurance company first, and get as much ABA as you can possibly get. They will not cover ABA in a school setting, and good ABA is expensive, so they will try to cut your hours. Fight for every hour you can get.

Although some children do not get much benefit from ABA, the vast majority make intellectual, emotional, and behavioral progress. And (in my opinion) every hour that you get at age four will save you two or three hours later on.

I found out too, I knew the but didn't realize, the company I work for has insurance that is self funded. They do not cover ABA. Check with your HR to see if theirs is self funded before you get too far in the process

I agree with Low Budget Dave. We thought about trying to do the school system therapy and private ABA at the same time but our provider was really worried that what the school would do would actually be counterproductive because of the inconsistency in techniques. And they didn't feel confident (probably with good reason) that the school therapists would coordinate with them on what skills to focus on and my kids would have a hard time working in so many things at once.

I would use ABA which is reward based or DIR Floor Time which is child led. The Hanen website has a great DVD called "More than Words" which shows parents how to engage kids on the go. They call it own agenda stage. Structured teaching picture schedules can also help. We noticed that our son does better with Autism specific treatment using his interests to motivate him or hands on learning. If they are not experienced with other things at least suggest a basic laminated picture schedule. Time for etc. "More than Hope for Young Kids on the Autism spectrum" and The Early Start Denver book strategies for parents have great ideas for early learners. Engaging with gestures, eye gaze,shared attention , imitation and pretend play are very important for language.

Try to get as much as you can from both. If you can get what you need from insurance take that. Do not tell actual insurance company about school ABA. School is not medical. If you get enough from insurance stick with that. If you need more and want to use both coordinate between private company provider and school. Leave insurance company out of it.