Tesserae is a Singapore-based behaviour support practice led by Board Certified Behaviour Analysts. We support children, teenagers and adults across behavioural, developmental, learning, communication, social and school-participation needs, with or without a formal diagnosis.
These FAQs cover how to get started, how our clinical approach works, the different forms of School Support we provide, and how our small-group programmes are designed. If you are unsure which service fits, you do not need to decide before speaking with us.
We support a broad range of behavioural, developmental and participation needs. This can include behaviour and emotional regulation, school readiness and learning-to-learn skills, communication, social skills, independence, routines and difficulties participating successfully at home, school or in the community.
Some people we support have autism, ADHD or developmental delays. Others have no formal diagnosis and simply need targeted help with a specific skill or behaviour.
No. We work from the skills, behaviours and everyday difficulties a person is experiencing rather than requiring a diagnostic label before support can begin.
A diagnosis can sometimes be useful for understanding a person’s broader profile or accessing particular services, but it is not a prerequisite for working on a specific behavioural, learning or participation goal with us.
Start with a complimentary Discovery Call. Tell us what you are noticing, where the difficulty occurs and what you would most like to change.
We can help you decide whether the next step is an Initial Consultation & Assessment, 1:1 Behaviour Support, School Support, a Group Programme or another professional altogether.
Our Initial Consultation & Assessment is a 2-hour appointment designed to help us understand what is happening before recommending intervention.
It includes a caregiver interview, direct observation and structured probes with the child, followed by a debrief. A written clinical summary with findings, recommendations and suggested next steps is typically provided within one week.
No. Our assessment is behavioural and developmental within our professional scope. It is designed to understand intervention needs and guide support, rather than provide a formal medical or psychological diagnosis.
If formal diagnosis is the priority, we can explain what type of qualified professional to look for and, where appropriate, collaborate with the wider team.
Our 1:1 Behaviour Support can be individualised for children, teenagers and adults.
School and group services are naturally more age-specific. For example, our current School Readiness Groups focus on ages 2–3, 4–6 and 7–8, while Social Skills Groups can span from early childhood through the teenage years depending on the goals and available group match.
Yes. Early intervention is a broad term rather than one single programme model, and many of the services we provide for younger children fall within early intervention.
Tesserae specialises in the behavioural and learning aspects of early intervention, including communication, social participation, emotional and behavioural regulation, independence, learning-to-learn skills and everyday routines.
Where a child also benefits from speech therapy, occupational therapy, psychology or another discipline, we work alongside those professionals rather than trying to provide every therapy under one roof.
Our work is grounded in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), the science of understanding how behaviour and learning are influenced by the environment.
In practice, Behaviour Support means defining a meaningful goal, understanding what is getting in the way, teaching the skills needed and measuring whether the intervention is working. Goals may involve communication, emotional regulation, routines, independence, learning, social participation or behaviour that is interfering with everyday life.
No. ABA is a science of behaviour and learning, not an autism-specific curriculum.
We support a much broader range of profiles, including people with autism, ADHD, developmental delays or learning differences, as well as mainstream or neurotypical children, teenagers and adults who may need targeted help with behaviour, regulation, routines, communication, independence or participation.
Tesserae is clinically led by Dr Dominic Leong, Southeast Asia’s only practising doctoral-level Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA-D), with programmes designed and reviewed by a team of Board Certified Behaviour Analysts.
Our approach reflects modern, progressive behaviour practice. We prioritise assent, positive and respectful teaching, functional outcomes, autonomy, generalisation and quality of life, rather than rigid programmes built around a diagnosis or a fixed curriculum.
Our clinical expertise also allows us to work across a broad range of needs and profiles, from complex developmental support to mainstream learners who need focused help in a specific area.
Most importantly, our programmes are designed to fade. We do not want someone to remain dependent on therapy simply because they started therapy. As skills strengthen, we reduce prompts, step down therapist involvement, generalise skills into everyday settings and, where appropriate, reduce the frequency or intensity of support.
The goal is not to keep someone in therapy. It is to help them need less of it.
No. BCBAs are qualified behaviour analysts who design, supervise and review programmes. Our behaviour therapists deliver day-to-day intervention under clinical supervision.
Our therapists are trained to understand the goals, teaching strategies and data behind the programme they are delivering, rather than simply completing activities with the client.
We do not use aversive or coercive approaches. Our programmes prioritise positive reinforcement, prevention, environmental changes and teaching skills that give the person more effective ways to communicate and navigate everyday situations.
We start with what would make a meaningful difference in everyday life, then turn broad concerns into observable, teachable skills.
For example, rather than using a goal such as “be more independent”, we might teach a child to follow a morning routine with progressively fewer prompts, or to request help before leaving a difficult task.
We establish a baseline and track progress against observable goals. This lets us see whether a person is acquiring a skill, how much support is still required and whether the skill is beginning to generalise.
If progress stalls, the clinical team reviews the teaching strategy, prompting, motivation, environment and goal rather than simply continuing the same programme.
There is no standard duration. Support should change as the person’s skills change.
That might mean reducing prompts, decreasing session frequency, moving from 1:1 teaching into small-group practice, shifting skills into school or everyday environments, or ending direct intervention when it is no longer needed. We build programmes with progression and fading in mind from the outset.
Yes. Behaviour support is often one part of a wider developmental or support plan.
With the appropriate consent, we can coordinate goals and share relevant observations with speech therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, educators and other professionals so support is better aligned across settings.
Our School Support includes School Observation & Consultation, In-School 1:1 Behaviour Support and School Transition Support.
The right service depends on whether you are trying to understand a difficulty at school, intervene on specific ongoing goals or support a defined transition into a new environment.
A School Observation & Consultation is primarily an assessment service. We observe the student in the environment where the difficulty occurs, gather teacher input and provide recommendations based on what we see.
In-School 1:1 Behaviour Support is intervention. Our therapist works directly with the student on specific behavioural, learning-participation, communication, regulation or independence goals within the school environment.
We provide School Transition Support, which may include short-term, higher-intensity support around starting school, changing schools or classes, moving country or adjusting to a major change in routines or expectations.
The intention is not to assign an adult to permanently shadow the student. Support is goal-directed and should reduce as the student becomes more able to manage with the natural supports available in school.
Push-in support happens within the classroom or normal school activity, allowing the therapist to work on skills in the environment where they are needed.
Pull-out support takes place outside the classroom for part of the school day when a quieter or more focused environment is useful for teaching a specific skill. A programme may use either or both depending on the goal and what the school permits.
Yes, where the service is clinically appropriate and the school approves external therapist access. We work across MOE and international school settings and adapt the model to the school’s requirements.
No. Independence is the goal from the outset.
As skills become stronger, we aim to fade prompts, reduce therapist involvement and help the student rely increasingly on classroom routines, teachers, peers and other natural supports. The level and duration of support should be driven by the student’s goals, not by an assumption that a 1:1 adult is permanent.
Our current clinically designed small-group programmes focus on two areas: Social Skills Groups and School Readiness Groups.
Groups introduce learning conditions that cannot be fully reproduced in 1:1 teaching: other children, shared adult attention, waiting, different responses, ordinary distractions and the unpredictability of participating with peers.
Age is one consideration, but it is not enough on its own.
We consider current communication and social skills, behavioural support needs, individual goals, level of support required and how the children are likely to interact and learn alongside one another. We do not force a group match simply because a place is available.
Yes. Being in the same activity does not mean every child is learning the same skill.
One child may be working on responding to a group instruction while another is learning to wait, ask for help or participate with less prompting. Children can therefore have different goals, teaching strategies and levels of support within the same shared routine.
Not necessarily. Some children already have the foundational skills to benefit directly from group practice.
Others may benefit from concentrated 1:1 teaching first, or from 1:1 Behaviour Support and group practice running in parallel. We make that recommendation from the child’s current skills rather than treating 1:1 as an automatic prerequisite.
We would rather wait for an appropriate match than place a child into a group that is unlikely to benefit them.
Depending on the goals, we may recommend 1:1 support in the meantime or contact you when a more suitable peer group becomes available.
Our Social Skills Groups can span age bands including 2–3, 4–6, 7–8, 9–11 and teenagers.
Age helps us make activities relevant, but placement also depends on the person’s current communication and social skills, goals and compatibility with the other participants.
Goals can range from early foundations such as imitation, turn-taking and shared play to joining peers, conversations, cooperation, flexibility, perspective-taking, conflict resolution, friendship and navigating more complex teenage social situations.
The aim is not to teach a script for appearing “normal”. We want participants to communicate effectively, navigate social situations with greater choice and build relationships that matter to them.
Speech and language therapists specialise in speech, language and communication.
Our Social Skills Groups use behavioural teaching and real peer interaction to practise how communication and social skills work in changing situations. The two services can complement one another where both are useful.
Our current School Readiness Groups are organised around ages 2–3, 4–6 and 7–8.
The age band informs the broad demands of the group, but placement and goals are also based on the child’s baseline skills, support needs and the group environment that will be most useful for learning.
Our School Readiness Programme is delivered entirely by trained behaviour therapists, with a maximum 1:4 therapist-to-child ratio.
Every child has an individualised teaching plan within the group. Goals are observable, progress is tracked and therapists adjust prompting, reinforcement, task difficulty and support based on how the child is learning.
Age-related goals are also informed by developmental milestones referenced in Singapore’s Child Health Booklet, alongside direct assessment of the individual child.
No. We may use books, counting, drawing, table activities or other classroom-style tasks, but those activities are the context rather than the end goal.
We are primarily teaching the skills around learning: listening, communicating, waiting, starting, persisting, transitioning, participating and becoming more independent.
Yes, depending on the service and clinical need.
1:1 Behaviour Support can take place at our centre or at home. School Support takes place in the relevant school environment, subject to school approval. We recommend the setting based on where the target skills need to be assessed, taught or generalised.
Not necessarily. Whether parent participation is useful depends on the goals and the stage of intervention.
Where a parent is not present during the session, our therapists can provide updates and a debrief so families understand what was worked on and what may be useful to practise outside therapy.
There is no single schedule that is right for everyone.
Frequency depends on the goals, current level of support required, where the difficulty occurs, learning pace and what is realistic for the individual and family. We recommend frequency after understanding the person rather than prescribing a standard number of therapy hours.
Yes. A skill may be introduced at the centre, practised at home, used with peers in a group or generalised into school.
We use multiple environments when doing so serves a clear purpose. The goal is for the skill to work where the person actually needs it, not only when their therapist is present.
Book a complimentary Discovery Call.
You do not need to know which service you need before speaking with us. Tell us what you are seeing and we can help you work out the most useful next step.
Can't find an answer to your question?
You do not need to choose a programme before speaking with us. Book a complimentary Discovery Call and tell us what you are noticing at home, school or in everyday life. We can help you decide what the most useful next step may be.
