[Deleted User]

I don't know if this is a major bone of contention with families on this list, but just wanted to add something ( since I missed the original post of concern?)about therapists going on to become consultants.

Bridget Taylor was once a "therapist".

I for one am thrilled to know that home grown guys and gals love this work and our kids enough to spend years in proper education programs like North Texas to give back to Canada and the high need we have for qualified and bonifide consultants.

I am very appreciative of our brothers and sisters to the south of us who offer their services to our children due to the current lack of expertise in the area of consulting that plagues this country. I wish our doller were at par. Their insight and expertise while priceless is unfortunately quite pricey.

As a parent myself I realize we live in a world of hyper vigilance. I think though it would behoove us to encourage bright young stars to invest not only in their futures but to invest in our children's futures and surely the thousands and thousands more that will come, given the stats of increase in ASD.

Ultimately it will ALWAYS be our responsibility as parents to ensure the qualifications and expertise of ANY health care or treatment professional working with our children, from peds to neurologists, dentists and ABA consultants.
If you do your job properly, your child will most likely be in good hands. There will always be some of us who have negative experiences, and they are deeply felt when the affect is upon the child. I believe it is critical to the development of Bonifide ABA consultation in Canada that we not only look to the program for example at North Texas to implement here, but to assist those who are willing to take the YEARS to become what our children in this country desperately need. Caring, qualified and bonifide ABA consultants.

Best Wishes to my BC friends
norrah whitney

[Deleted User]

I am curious about how many young people you are referring to. To my knowledge, the only therapist to recently post regarding an intention to become a consultant was myself.

To set your minds at ease, allow me to state my education and future plans. By no means am I expecting to become a consultant at any time before 2006.

I currently hold a Bachelor's degree in Music Composition from the University of Calgary. I also have a 3-year degree in Psychology from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

Beginning next fall (September 2003), I hope to begin correspondence courses from Athabasca University in Psychology, in order to receive that fourth year qualification I am currently lacking and to raise my GPA to a suitable level. I'd also like to take a few counseling courses along the way. I expect this to take at least one year, possibly two.

After I have completed this coursework, I expect to enrol in the University of Northern Texas' ABA Certification Course. It's a correspondence course and will provide me with all of the necessary academic background to qualify to sit for the BCBA exam (previously mentioned). At the same time as I am doing the coursework from UNT, I hope to be completing the mentored programming requirement for said exam. This mentored programming is meant to be at least 20 hours per week of running programs as a consultant, under the direct supervision (mentorship) of a consultant who is either Board certified or qualified to sit for the exam.

Once I am qualified to sit for the exam, I will probably decide where I want to go in order to 'set up shop' as a consultant, move there, begin to get myself established, and, as soon as humanly possible, write and pass the exam.

In the meantime, I work as a line therapist on two teams and a lead therapist on a third, as well as providing respite care for an older autistic child (through the North Shore Association for the Mentally Handicapped). I've been 'doing ABA' since August 1999, and I am now 26 years old. I don't expect to become a consultant before my thirtieth birthday.

I hope that sets some minds at rest.

-Janna (if you want to find out more about me, feel free to check out my web site at http://www.crosswinds.net/~jlhasd)

[Deleted User]

Dear Graham, if you post your email (and a fax # if you have one) I would be happy to get you some info that should help. Unfortunately I cannot discuss on this board.

Just another guy who has been there and who's child suffered that.

[Deleted User]

My son is in grade 3 and has had a "full-time" SEA since kindergarten. "Full-time" equates to 5 hours a day and a typical school day is 5 hrs 20 minutes.
We just had our IEP and the rules have changed this year. The integration teacher at the school said that the IEP rules are now that I was to leave the school the day of the IEP with the IEP in my hand. The purpose of the IEP is to consult with your "team" (speech/lang path, integration teacher, classroom teacher, SEA etc) and decide on an individual education program (hence the IEP) with reasonable goals and challenges for your child to meet throughout the school year.
Your principal was right in that the SEA assigned to the classroom is essentially that.. assigned to the classroom in order to help the teacher. The SEA is not supposed to be your child's teacher but only to be an extra body in the classroom to help out.
I have some of the same concerns regarding safety issues as my son will wrap anything and everything around his neck and has no real concept of danger. He needs the full-time one-to-one aid. If this was taken away from him, I'm not sure of what would happen because the last thing I heard was that EVERY person in BC has the right to an education upto grade 12. I would not keep my son home due to lack of a SEA. It's up to the school to find those dollars with which to support the children who needs the help.

[Deleted User]

M.S.P – A suggestion for training

Well if we train anybody let's train MSP to add selected Lovaas consultants to their billing. Let them set up a billing number to submit to MSP. Training costs money no matter how you look at it, I suggest training MSP. If we all have a limit that's okay.

A momma

[Deleted User]

Feat Members:

As I read the posts and hear stories from the different families, it seems that there are many young people here trying to become 'consultants'; most of whom have no academic credentials beyond a B.A. in a related discipline(if even that!)

Is anyone else here concerned about this? I worry that, in the absence of enough properly-trained, graduate-level behaviourists, many people are or will be setting up shop as 'ABA consultants' when they really have no business doing so.

I'd like to hear your views on this.

[Deleted User]

Dear Listies

Look to the Province of Ontario. Look at the significant if not disasterous problems of the IBI program. The province of BC is modeling after the Ontario program.
They have already
1. tried to create bottle neck multi-diciplinary and in many if not almost all cases, diagnosing "teams" from selected "government contractees"
RED FLAG NUMBER 1
2. Individualized "program options" /Individualized "funding option"
punative in many cases rather than beneficial
RED FLAG NUMBER 2
3. Province wide training by SOLE trainer or contract
there are HUGE dangers in this.
RED FLAG THREE
what do you call a doctor who graduated at the bottom of his class?
* doctor *
not all trainers are created equally, nor are training programs
I smell lucrative government contract here, but as we have historically witnessed in other areas of management of Autism by provincial governments it is often the lowest bid in that gets the cash cow.
ONE TRAINING INSTITUTE MUST BE BLOCKED.
Not all children with Autism respond the the same forms of treatment.
To clarify what I mean is given that 99.9% of children will respond favourably to ABA within that group some will do better with no no prompt , versus errorless learning, some will do better with randomized trials vs 10 trials.
Even within well established health care protocols there is diversity within treatment.
Are all Cancers equal? They are all cancer, but yet have different treatment protocols that reflect the individual's case and other variable factors.
TRUE high quality training will come from allowing REAL individualized funding with CONSUMERS/PARENTS demand for services. MANY VERY reputable ABA US providers will move to BC in a HEART BEAT if the business is there. I know because I have spoken with many who are willing to come and basically set up almost Lovaas like replications sites or clinics bringing up their people and training Canadians until there is a huge pool of diverse high quality therapists and consultants to choose from AS WE CHOOSE OUR DOCTORS.

Just some things to think about. Just remember BC is looking to Ontario. See what has happened there to avoid the same major pitfalls.

[Deleted User]

""MSP has no idea of how to provide for our kids. I think irregardless of how we look at it, training has to be involved. The question is: by WHO (and who profits)? We don't have the staff in the province but we don't need more of the same stuff we already have (EIBI made in BC).""

Well if we train anybody let's train MSP to add selected Lovaas consultants to their billing. Let them set up a billing number to submit to MSP. Training costs money no matter how you look at it, I suggest training MSP. If we all have a limit that's okay.

[Deleted User]

The following information gleaned from: http://www.autismoutreach.org/question.htm

I check this one periodically to just make sure I know exactly what I'm getting myself into as I start to work towards becoming a consultant.

*****

Tips for Interviewing an ABA Consultant
Make sure to check around your surrounding area for Consultants
Get information packets from at least 3 different organizations
Ask other parents for referrals
Ask for references (both for the Organization and Consultant)

Questions to Ask Organizations
How long has the Organization been in business?
Does the Organization have an affiliation with any other Organizations?
What is the Organizations’ philosophy?
What methodologies does the Organization endorse?
Does each Consultant working in the Organization have the same level of credentials?
If not, what are the differences among the consultants?
What is the fee structure, how is it set up?
What is the hourly rate and how is the hour billed?
What are the travel costs?
Is there a charge for email and phone consultation?
How do the consultants communicate with families (email/phone/fax/in-person visits/etc.)
Does each consultant have office hours?
Do consultants offer therapy or shadowing?

Education
What degree does the Consultant hold?
What is the Consultant’s major of study?
Is the Consultant board certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board?
If so, when?
If not, when does Consultant expect to complete qualifications to obtain certification from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board

Experience
How long has the Consultant been programming?
Where and by whom was the Consultant trained?
What methodologies has the Consultant been trained in?
Has the Consultant ever worked 1:1 using the types of methodologies he/she has been trained in and using to program?
What age range has the Consultant worked with?
What developmental range has the Consultant worked with?
Does the Consultant have experience in programming for other disabilities as well as Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Oh, and for parents looking to hire new therapists or setting up a team for the first time, you might find this site particularly informative, it's all about hiring therapists (called 'tutors' here): http://207.21.243.44/feat/tutor.html

-Janna (as always, just trying to spread information!)

[Deleted User]

I highly doubt that the Community Living transfer has anything to do with the Training proposed by the government. I have been at Community Living meetings and that has not been on the agenda. On the other hand, they did take note of the fact that many parents were complaining about the lack of trained Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Behavoural Consultants and Individual Therapists.

I spend all of my personal time training therapist, interviewing therapist, etc, only to have them leave. I mention OT, PT and Speech because they were on the list for Individualized funding. I haven't been able to use my $1667 every month because I haven't found the staff. I know if I get on the 'wait list' of one of the expensive foreign consultants, they would gladly relieve me of this extra money. But since someone asked this of Dr. Kysela, I put this to ALL Consultants: have ANY of your clients ever 'recovered'? It seems the kids are in therapy for years (sometimes indefinately). Do they ever get better (and is it in the best interest of the Consultant to 'cure' a child)?

Yes, parents must learn ABA and no, we can't do it all by ourselves. My concern is that everyone profits except our kids.

The government wants to increase the amount of trained (Canadian) professionals in the province. That may not be a bad thing, but will the families profit? Families have proposed that the government set a mandate that everyone working in the field of autism must be trained and certified by a criteria of best practices as determined by parents. I pay a great deal for my education and training, so should professionals who want to work with our children. The fee required to be trained and certified should go directly back into autism services, and this should be parent controlled. Why doesn't government love this idea?

MSP has no idea of how to provide for our kids. I think irregardless of how we look at it, training has to be involved. The question is: by WHO (and who profits)? We don't have the staff in the province but we don't need more of the same stuff we already have (EIBI made in BC).

We need to be realistic as to how to proceed. We need a plan because throwing more money at the problem will just attract all the wrong professionals. Remember what happened in Alberta? They have expensive services but the services are crap. Overnight people were becoming experts in the field. The kids don't get better by money alone.

On the other hand, I know the government is not without a plan. They could impliment services AND training if they wanted to. Parents are not without skills. Those who have not been out fighting in the courts have researched, pooled together all the right professionals (including a certified Behaviouralist as the last post mentioned), using proven models known to work in the States, only to be told Dr. Kysella is the man for the job.

Perhaps all parents should have been fighting it in the courts. But enough already, we been down that road and our kids just keep getting older. Government has all they need to go forward with training AND services. We need to pressure on them to scrap IBI Providers and go with what the parents want.

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