Dear FEATers
My husband and I recently went on the FEAT site and listened to the archived radio broadcast of Bill Good's interview of Jean Lewis regarding the school barring our ABA therapists to the schools to be their education assistants. For all of you out there that need to know what the whole deal is you have to listen. Just go the the FEAT board and click on the link to THE MEDIA and they are posted there in QuickTime and RealPlayer format. They are pre-Hewko but they are chocked full of powerful info you need….ammo to get you geared up to get an ABA therapist into the school sytem.
The gist of it is:
– Hewko decision has already paved the way. School counts on us not knowing about this. They know Hewko but pretend they never heard of it
– Our kids need an ABA therapist in the school because it is a medically prescribed treatment program and it can only be administered by a trained ABA therapist. Don't take their "ABA aides" that fudge their resume or lie on their hours of ABA experience. Insist on your own.
– Never enter any meetings with anyone you don't want to. You have a right to get up and walk out of a meeting that is not going as planned
– Ask, ask and ask what is this doing to service _____________?(fill in your child's name) but give them the answer to your question because if you leave them any open end you will get a bunch of bull.
A: We need our ABA therapist in the school to deliver the medically necessary treatment and only my ABA therapist is trained, ready to go, and has worked with _____________. The generic trained ones are what they are: generic. One size fits all…no way !
Medical necessary treatment for physical conditions like diabetes, cancer or HIV we would not dream to negotiate but put AUTISM in there and we're on our own.
BTW, the inside joke is that the government has "promised" our kids will heal by 18 because that's when the money runs out. So your kid will be healed…government guarantee…LOL
Just do yourselves a favor, anyone thinking of getting your home therapist on board, listen to the radio broadcasts on FEAT site, document like and mad, and never take no for an answer. My tip: no policy says that you take the protocol to appeal at a snail's pace. You have to go up the ladder at a very aggressive pace because the cost of not doing it as your child's future. OH, by the way, buckle your seat belt…it's going to be one heck of a ride.
Thank you for letting me paraphrase some of your stuff Dave and Jean
Cheers
Luke's Mama
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