Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Deleted User
MemberThe funding I mentioned is the meager autism funding for children over the age of 6. The amount is $6000 per year and won't cover much cost wise in an ABA program but every little bit helps!
Perhaps with some proper testing D's school will see learning potential and hopefully set up some appropriate goals. But realistically, if you want someone to individualize goals for D, I wouldn't wait on your school. Even with a proper assessment, they will likely overlook, underestimate and dismiss D. A qualified consultant can provide you with additional training to maximize you work with D and help to connect you with staff. THey will set systematic academic goals that will allow D to learn. Again this would be something that the ABLE clinic may be able to assist you with as they have several consultants on staff and are also connected with those who are not on their staff but reputable.
The thought of D, wasting his day in the resource room with dot to dot worksheets has stuck in my mind… the days of glorified babysitting for our children must end! What a waste of desperately needed money that could be utilized to change D's daily life.
Please feel free to email me privately at michelle_karren@hotmail.com if you have any questions that you can not post on the FEAT board (i.e. confidential)
MemberDanielle
I would highly recommend that you call the Able Clinic. My experience has been with Dr. Davies, and he is fabulous but I have heard great things about all of the staff at the Able clinic. You will be in highly qualified hands regardless of who you see.
When you call, you will speak to a very informed and helpful woman whose name is escaping me at the moment, but she is well informed on accessing extended healthcare to cover the costs. She will point you in the right direction and if she has dealth with your extended healthcare provider will know the process to go through.
Its interesting that the school tells you the assessment is fine for 5 years when the government requires us to re-assess every 2 years to receive funding! I have to say, regardless of the child's progress or lack thereof, five years is an incredibly long time and no child should go five years without re-assessing their progress! And if the school is still working off of a 3 year old assessment then there is significant pieces of information that they are missing. No child should stay working at the same goals year after year. NO child is untreatable. Every child can achieve goals and learn providing they are taught using effective teaching strategies with goals that are individually designed for them. Perhaps your school might need to be reminded that your child has a right to an education. And remember, you do not have to stay at one school, even changing to another school within the public system can result in great changes.
I would highly recommend that you explore finding services from a highly qualified consultant as it sounds like there will be numerous complications in the initial set up of D's program. I say this because a program is often more challenging initially for an "older" child. An 8 year old child has spent a significant amount of time establishing patterns of behavior that need to be changed when a program starts.
My 2 cents on what makes someone a qualifed consultant:
-Higher education, preferably a Masters in Psychology, Special Education or Applied Behavior Analysis. There are a few really good consultants out there who do not have this but have EXTENSIVE experience and training. I emphasiz a FEW.
-THe ideal is someone who has been trained in an ABA clinic or school situation where they have been supervised by those with PhD's in either psychology or ABA (or Special Ed)
-Training should have occurred at a reputable clinic
-They should have at least 3 references they can give you who can speak about their quality of workSigns your potential consultant is less than qualified:
-they are on the government list but no one has actually heard of them before… you can always post on the feat board, asking people to email you about their experiences with so and so.
-they have a bachelor's degree only and several years in the field. Its hard to put a number on the number of years of experience… but if a consultant did not have a higher degree (MA, Msc), i would not hire them unless they had numerous years in the field with extensive training in a clinical setting. There are some "consultants" with a bachelor's degree or less and I kid you not, 3 years of experience in the field. I find this frightening.
– they worked in a related but not this exact field (i.e. they were a teacher, a SLP) and then attended a workshop or week long course and then declared themselves to be a Behavioral Consultant. You can not learn all you need to learn at a workshop. NO matter who is teaching it.
-They say that they use an eclectic approach. ABA is scientifically based and proven, time and time again, and part but not all of its success is its intensive approach. Beware of those who decide to do a little of this and little of that. ABA only works when it is intensive. A few hours of ABA a week is not going to benefit D, at least not the way a consistent, intensive approach would.
-THey spend much of their time trying to sell you on how great they are. A good consultant is usually overbooked. They don't need to sell themselves to you. You might luck out and find one that just happens to have available time, but expect to wait a few months for someone of quality.ABA is an extremely powerful tool that when used correctly can accomplish what may seem unthinkable, but when done incorrectly it can also achieve unthinkable results… unthinkable because you might never have imagined someone could mess up your child so quickly.
If you need more information on qualifications, I would recommend contacting one of the FEAT parents as they can provide you with much more detail on what makes someone qualified to program for your child.
I did want to end by saying that it is NEVER too late to start a quality ABA program and never too late for a child to make progress and experience phenomenal growth! There are parents who participate on this board who started much later than D and who have seen tremendous changes occur. D is a very lucky child to have found such a great family to love. Good luck with your program start up and in battling your school.
MemberOops, forgot to mention, if applying for school position in Maple Ridge, please title your email as "application" so that I do not delete it as junk mail.
All resumes will be reviewed, however I will only contact those applicants who are short listed.
MemberDo you want to gain valuable and hard to find work experience in the classroom?
We are currently recruiting for our sons school position for September 2006. The position will begin with extensive training on our home program, followed by training and work-experience assisting our son in various community activities and finally, training with our current Educational Assistant within the school setting.
You will receive extensive and ongoing 1:1 training from our Behavior Consultant and Senior Instructor (estimated M.A, and BCBA completion Fall 2006), making this an excellent opportunity for those who wish to continue on this field and receive BCBA supervision. For those who plan to pursue their PDP, a year of experience within a classroom is excellent experience for your CV.
The Candidate:
able to work independently and as a team
reliable, eager to learn, able to take constructive feedback and implement it immediately
FUN!
Sports experience an asset but not requiredThe Position:
A 34 hour position (5x 6.0 hr school days + 2x 2 hour afterschool shifts); Pay determined and provided through our school; home based program pay determined by experience
Attending a bi-weekly staff meetings and home consults
Producing data based reports for analysis by our Behavior Consultant
Working within the classroom to assist our son where necessary
REQUIREMENT: a commitment until July 2007
Two weekly shifts within our home, running playdates, academic programs and assisting as necessary in various sportsThe Location:
In Maple Ridge, start time 8:15 a.m.
School position takes place at a Private Christian School
Our IEP is designed by our Consultant and fully supported by our school
Additional shift hours occur in our home and in the communityPart time training to occur as soon as possible, based on your schedule. Hours will increase in May/June and again in July.
Please send a resume and cover letter discussing your qualifications to Michelle_Karren@hotmail.com. We welcome all applicants, including those with little or no training in the field! We are looking for just the right person, experience is not required as training is provided.
MemberSTARTING OVER
WE ARE A FAMILY WITH 2 AUTISTIC CHILDREN STARTING OUR ABA PROGRAM OVER AGAINWE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO THERAPISTS OR ANY INTERVENTION FOR EITHER OF OUR 2 CHILDREN AT THE MOMENT AND OUR FAMILY IS IN CRISIS
WE LIVE IN A RURAL AREA IN CHILLIWACK, WHICH IS LESS THAN 5 MIN FROM THE HIGHWAY. BECAUSE OF OUR LOCATION WE WOULD BE WILLING TO CONSIDER TRAVEL EXPENSES. WE WILL BE NEEDING 1 OR 2 LEAD THERAPISTS AND HOPEFULLY 8 LINE THERAPISTS
IF THERE ARE ANY FAMILIES IN OUR AREA THAT MAY HAVE A THERAPIST THAT WOULD BE WILLING TO COMMUTE, PLEASE, PLEASE PASS ON OUR INFO
AGAIN, WE ARE WILLING TO DISCUSS TRAVEL EXPENSES, AND WE REALLY NEED SOMEONE WITH EXPERIENCE THOUGH WE WILL BE CONDUCTING WORKSHOPS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF LISA WINCZ AND MICHELLE AUTON AND TRAINING WILL ALSO BE PROVIDED.FEEL FREE TO EMAIL:
ATLAS_SHRUGGING_NOW@YAHOO.CA
OR CALL (604) 794-3243 AND ASK FOR AMIE OR DEREKTHANK YOU,
AMIEMemberDear Fellow Featers,
I am so glad and thank you for posting school related topics.
My son is in play time pre-school right now w/ non ABA assistant. I can not put him in the regular pre school because there is no available ABA assistant. I ask help fr. my social worker but she said I can use my AUTISM FUNDING for an ABA assistant to go to my son's school.
I told her that one of my therapist is willing to go to my son's school but my autism funding is over used/worned out for 36 hours /wk., team meetings, consultant hrs. & etc.Can somebody tell me what to do & where to go to get help. Do I have to talk to the school or MCFD.
Your help would greatly appreciated.
Thank you & please e-mail me @ geminiya@shaw.caMemberI do think you raise a good point Dave, some private schools are very expensive, but some are not. The amazing prep school variety is pricey, but there are other schools out there that are more affordable (never cheap, but $1800 tuition vs. 10,000 a year tution is a big difference). And with the funding inequality righted, some religious private schools may be able to allow for tuition remission. I know that some schools allow some children in on "scholarship" or other such decreased tuition situations. This has not often been the case in the past though for chidren with autism because they are a financial burden for private schools.
I also agree that there will likely be some costs that will not be covered by this funding, just as not all of the costs involved in the public system are truly covered by the money allotted to a child with autism (i.e. the school's slp salary does not come from the child's funding).
But this announcement does right a great inequality for our children. Now as parents we have the option to choose an education that will focus on their child's needs. Some of the power that the public system has held over our children has been weakened. Instead of parents being forced to have to deal with the system because they have no options, now there are some options, although not perfect, and sometimes difficult to achieve, nonetheless an option.
We chose private school for our child after meeting with our school district and recognizing that our child's tremendous gains could potentially be lost if we tried out their way. Our child's therapy began in a time when there was no funding and most of his years under 6 had been paid for by our pockets and that of our familes. We weighed the costs and decided that the tuition and the extra costs were cheaper than what we had paid for home therapy and jumped in hoping for the best.
The result? Our behavior consultant is welcomed and highly respected by our teachers and other staff at the school. Additional overlaps by qualified personnel to take data and provide supplementary info has been no problem. We chose,hired and trained our school support staff (Aides). The school pays them, we have in the past had to pay part of the costs. Our IEP's are written by our behavioral consultant. Our IEP meetings are friendly, cooperative with the school asking our consultant and our staff to teach and inform them. All of our IEP goals are accepted and unlike many families in the public system there is no arguing or "modifying" of IEP goals to weaken or change them. (I know that some families have had positive pubic system experiences, but I also know that many of my clients and many of the families I know have faced IEP meetings that are filled with angry words, arguing and disrespectful treatment of qualified experts).
Judging from the large number of families who chose to go private at the end of last school year, some parents will leave the public system now, others will leave when the school becomes unbearable and some will stay. But those parents who do leave will communicate a message to the system. The system may not listen at first but as they begin to lose the money, our children's money, which is not always utilized as it should be, they will HOPEFULLY listen.
Perhaps in an effort to keep this funding (and believe me, they do want it, they just want the money and for the parents to be quiet and obedient) they will provide families with more choice and pay attention to our demands for qualified staff.
I would say that this funding may put a few jobs at risk… and rightly so.
MemberI do think you raise a good point Dave, some private schools are very expensive, but some are not. The amazing prep school variety is pricey, but there are other schools out there that are more affordable (never cheap, but $1800 tuition vs. 10,000 a year tution is a big difference). And with the funding inequality righted, some religious private schools may be able to allow for tuition remission. I know that some schools allow some children in on "scholarship" or other such decreased tuition situations. This has not often been the case in the past though for chidren with autism because they are a financial burden for private schools.
I also agree that there will likely be some costs that will not be covered by this funding, just as not all of the costs involved in the public system are truly covered by the money allotted to a child with autism (i.e. the school's slp salary does not come from the child's funding).
But this announcement does right a great inequality for our children. Now as parents we have the option to choose an education that will focus on their child's needs. Some of the power that the public system has held over our children has been weakened. Instead of parents being forced to have to deal with the system because they have no options, now there are some options, although not perfect, and sometimes difficult to achieve, nonetheless an option.
We chose private school for our child after meeting with our school district and recognizing that our child's tremendous gains could potentially be lost if we tried out their way. Our child's therapy began in a time when there was no funding and most of his years under 6 had been paid for by our pockets and that of our familes. We weighed the costs and decided that the tuition and the extra costs were cheaper than what we had paid for home therapy and jumped in hoping for the best.
The result? Our behavior consultant is welcomed and highly respected by our teachers and other staff at the school. Additional overlaps by qualified personnel to take data and provide supplementary info has been no problem. We chose,hired and trained our school support staff (Aides). The school pays them, we have in the past had to pay part of the costs. Our IEP's are written by our behavioral consultant. Our IEP meetings are friendly, cooperative with the school asking our consultant and our staff to teach and inform them. All of our IEP goals are accepted and unlike many families in the public system there is no arguing or "modifying" of IEP goals to weaken or change them. (I know that some families have had positive pubic system experiences, but I also know that many of my clients and many of the families I know have faced IEP meetings that are filled with angry words, arguing and disrespectful treatment of qualified experts).
Judging from the large number of families who chose to go private at the end of last school year, some parents will leave the public system now, others will leave when the school becomes unbearable and some will stay. But those parents who do leave will communicate a message to the system. The system may not listen at first but as they begin to lose the money, our children's money, which is not always utilized as it should be, they will HOPEFULLY listen.
Perhaps in an effort to keep this funding (and believe me, they do want it, they just want the money and for the parents to be quiet and obedient) they will provide families with more choice and pay attention to our demands for qualified staff.
I would say that this funding may put a few jobs at risk… and rightly so.
MemberTHE CHILD WHO COULDN'T PLAY
i don't know if any other parents out there use limewire-it's a free file sharing program…
here's a where you can get it:
http://www.limewire.com/english/content/ftc.shtmlanywho, though i have not had the time/energy as of lately to do much autism surfing, i have 'the child who chouldn't play' documentary in a shared folder, anyone that uses limewire is more than welcome, it was hard to find the address where i initially downloaded the documentary from… and have since lost it…
when searching limewire, type 'the child who couldn't play' in the 'any type' file name box, it should find it
eventually, i will get around to putting more autism stuff in said folder
if anyone has trouble accessing, feel free to email me at:
atlas_shrugging_now@yahoo.ca**i also have contact info for any parents seeking a private diagnosis in the vancouver area
again, feel free to contact me and i will be happy to helpwarmest wishes
AmieMemberThe posts asking for qualified instructors helps me see where I fit in. I'm somewhere in the ASD myself, so if kids started yelling and protesting that they could not possibly learn to swim, I'd be on their side — so I cannot be an instructor yet, can I ? Which videos on the Lovaas method or ABA should I be watching first ???
The only thing I can say is "When I was 5 I was exactly like you. By the time I was 8 I had learnt to cycle well. At 12 I mysteriously started to like swimming…" And so on. Perhaps because being near water calmed me ?
George
2005 B.C. -
AuthorPosts