ABA therapy for children in Kyrgyzstan: what's actually available and what lawmakers are demanding
ABA therapy for children in Kyrgyzstan did not come up as a separate item in the Health Ministry's statements in June: the talk was about rehabilitation in general, a new center for children with ASD and a network of centers in the regions. The press coverage names no opening dates. For a family that needs help now, the takeaway is simple: there is no point waiting for a ready-made state solution. It is more useful to find out what works today and what you can start in parallel.
What the Health Ministry said on 12 June 2026
On 12 June, at a session of the Ala-Too deputy group, Deputy Health Minister Bakytbek Kadyraliev reported a negative trend in autism. According to Kaktus.media, 380 children with an ASD diagnosis are registered, but the ministry considers that figure unreliable. For Down syndrome and cerebral palsy the trend is positive.
What works now
In Bishkek, the State Center for Rehabilitation and Development of Children serves more than 500 children with 17 specialists, which averages about 30 children per specialist. A similar center operates in Tokmok. In Osh, a children's home is being turned into a specialized unit, and at the Chui regional center “Maksat” 70 children up to age 14 go through rehabilitation over 60 days, with medical and social help, psychological support and speech correction.
Public materials do not say which methods these centers use. If ABA with an individual program matters to you, ask about it by phone before you visit.
What is planned
Next to the Bishkek center, the ministry wants to open four units: a cerebral palsy center with a new building, a center for children with ASD and Down syndrome, a hostel for parents and a rehabilitation department together with the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy. The network of centers is promised to grow across all regions. Training is already under way: 22 physician-trainers are ready and more than 2,000 medical workers are studying.
What deputies say
Earlier, on 10 February 2026, at a session of the Jogorku Kenesh committee on labor, health, women's affairs and social issues, deputy Zhyldyz Sadyrbaeva gave this assessment: existing centers do not cover even a fifth of the need for children with ASD, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. A day at a private center costs roughly 3,000 som. The deputy's proposal: open centers at least in the regional capitals. The Health Ministry said then that a rehabilitation town would be built in the village of Archaly in the Chui region.
Why not to rely on the figure of 380
The ministry itself calls it unreliable, which leaves a family with one conclusion: the decision to look for help should not depend on whether your child appears in departmental statistics. Assessment and first sessions matter from the moment you notice difficulties.
ABA therapy for children in Kyrgyzstan: where to start without waiting for new centers
State plans are drawn up for years, and a child's development cannot be put on pause. The first step is available right away: a skills assessment with VB-MAPP or ABLLS-R is done remotely and depends on neither your city nor a waiting list. Its results show where to begin and which skills to build first. After that, sessions can run online, and a state center can serve as a supplement if it has a place.
If you doubt that the online format works at all, we went through the research in our article on how well online ABA works. To know the budget in advance, there is a separate breakdown of what ABA therapy costs. And for families living far from big cities, there is a piece on working with a specialist online when no one is nearby.
What to ask a center by phone
Before visiting any center, ask whether there are free places and a waiting list, how often sessions run, who leads the program and whether it comes with a written plan, whether parents take part and how results are measured. The answers quickly show whether the format suits your family.
How this works in Sense Behavior programs
We do not depend on where in Kyrgyzstan a family lives or whether a state center has opened nearby: your child's program is built on our own assessment, and sessions run online from any city. You can start with a free 30-minute consultation, where we will go through what is already available to your child and how to fit sessions into your family's routine.