[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

This is in regards to Mehdi's post last week, who received a ruling that an old therapist was considered an employee.

I have some experience in the past with the CRA and the fine line between self-empolyed and employee. As far as the government is concerned, this is a grey area and there are certain factors that they consider when making a ruling.

It is very important that all parents running an ABA program understand the conceptual differences between self-employed and employee. You need to remember that your therapists and consultants are independent contractors; they are *not* your staff.

You as a parent should think of yourself as the one who is paying for the services of the contractor. I see lots of postings where families are looking to "hire" a new therapist for their team — be careful that you don't think of it as though you are the employer bringing on a new recruit.

This link is the CRA's guide for determining employed vs self-employed: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4110/rc4110-e.html

Some of the factors that contribute to the decision include:
* control
* tools & equipment
* financial risk
* opportunity for profit

I would also recommend families set up a contract with their therapists that both parties sign, so that the working relationship is understood by both sides. Pay particular attention to the aspect of "control" as described in the CRA link. For example, you should not stipulate that the therapist must provide services for a minimum length of time.

Consider this statement from the CRA guideline, which attempts to clarify the type of relationship that a self-employed worker should have with his/her payer:

"The working relationship between the payer and the worker does not present a degree of continuity, loyalty, security, subordination, or integration, all of which are generally associated with an employer-employee relationship."

— Mike

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Regarding the effectiveness of ABA for higher functioning children.

Our own personal experience is that ABA has been an extremely effective treatment for high-functioning children. While one person's experience is not a strong basis for making a decision, I would encourage you (as Jenn suggested) to research both the efficacy of ABA and whatever other treatment is being proposed.

It is interesting to me that this is a common misunderstanding of ABA. In England, where we are living at the moment, this is certainly the case – ABA is rarely used to begin with, but it seems almost unheard of to use ABA with older or high-functioning kids.

I wonder if this partly due to the misconception that "ABA turns kids into robots"; where people believe that discrete trial teaching is akin to encouraging rote responses in any given situation.

This is why it is important to have a good consultant who is well-versed all aspects of ABA, from early-stage to late-stage programming. When applied correctly, ABA shows the above misconception to be just that. What we have found is that the principles of ABA can be successfully applied not only to high-functioning kids with autism, but also to others who are not even on the spectrum.

Mike

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Regarding therapist 'poaching'…

I think it's important for families to bear in mind that the relationship you have with your therapist is not employer-employee; rather, you are the client and your therapist is a service provider.

It is within your therapist's rights to add clients and create the schedule that best suits them. They must also act carefully not to upset their clients, lest they develop a bad reputation which can hurt them in the long run.

It is also reasonable for another family to try and secure the best possible team for their child's therapy. But families should communicate with one another if there is a problem with scheduling conflicts or concerns over 'poaching'. A family will also not want to develop a bad reputation.

It is troublesome if you lose a therapist after having given them ample training and acclimatization time. I would recommend that you add a clause in your contract that the therapist must repay a mutually-agreed training cost if they terminate the contact before a set period of time. So, for example, you might agree to pay for 32 hours of training, but the therapist agrees to repay this amount if they terminate the contract within 6 months.

Speaking of which – I would always recommend signing a contract with your service provider, with terms clearly stated and agreed-to up-front. You can't make it too onerous, but you can try to account for situations like this. A good contract protects both the family and the service provider and limits unforeseen future problems.

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

We're having a clean-out and have lots of binders and clip-boards to give away (at least 10 of each). The clip-boards are the nice ones with a front cover.

We've also got a nice Chariot Cheetah 2 bike trailer/jogging stroller that we'd like to sell for around $300. It's in great condition (no rips or tears) and has been kept inside. Can carry 2 children, max weight 100lbs.

Located in North PoCo.
contact rachel.goetz@gmail.com

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Hi everyone,

Diane posted yesterday regarding invoice payment as it relates to service providers (BI's specifically) who are employees. This is an interesting point of discussion.

I have some experience in work issues concerning employment vs. contracting, but I am not an expert. In essence, I don't think any BI, consultant, or other professional who works with your child in an ABA program should be considered an employee. It is more appropriate and simpler for the service providers to be contractors – with service providers as contractors, you don't have to manage payroll, withhold tax, or pay CPP & EI. The contractors pay tax, CPP, and EI directly to the CRA at tax time.

In any field, the distinction between contracting and employed is a grey area as viewed by the CRA. There are certain factors they look at when considering an individual case. They will look at the level of control the payer has over the worker, who pays for the equipment being used to carry out the work, the degree of financial risk taken on by the worker, etc.

The CRA has a leaflet you can read about this stipulation here: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4110/README.html

In general, I would suggest that you take care to remember when you're dealing with your service providers that they are the person who is providing a service to you, and you are paying them for that service. You are not their employer, although you of course can specify aspects of the work that they must adhere to. For example, I would not make a guarantee for the length of a contract, but I could set up a contract which contains a notice period that both sides must adhere to.

One final note; service providers who work for other families as well are much more likely to be considered contractors and not employees because they carry out their business by providing services for several clients, and are not beholden to any one client. If you have a service provider where you are their only client, it might be a good idea to take some care in how you establish you relationship with that service provider so that they are not considered employees by the CRA.

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Position available in Port Coquitlam.

We are looking to hire a part-time aide to work three days per week with our daughter in grade 4 at Hope Lutheran School. ABA experience required. Pay dependent on experience.

Our daughter has finished her home ABA program and is exceeding academic expectations in most areas. She still needs some help socially and may require assistance with more abstract language arts concepts. Your main role will be to facilitate peer interaction during outside portions of recess and lunch, and assist the teacher during class time. Behaviour plans will be provided by our consultant, Dr Sara White.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who would like to be involved in end-stage social programming. If you are interested, we would love to hear from you! Please contact us at abapoco@gmail.com

Mike and Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Regarding funding in private schools:

We send our children to a private school in Port Coquitlam (Hope Lutheran). The arrangement we have with them right now is that our aides are self-employed and therefore charge the school on an hourly basis – the school pays our aides until the money runs out and then we pay the rest. Note that private schools now get the same amount of funding per child as the school district.

Some private schools employ the aides and give benefits etc, but our school decided that they didn't want to do this as it eats up such a lot of the funding and they prefer the money to be used for support hours. This can mean that there is less incentive for aides compared to the school district, but there are other benefits in the private system — our school is such a pleasant working environment that we've consistently been able to find highly qualified aides.

For speech paths, I would contact SHARE to see whether they know of any who will consult on a private basis.

Hope that helps!

Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Position available in Port Coquitlam.

We are looking to hire a part-time aide to work with our daughter in grade 3 at Hope Lutheran School. Hours are from 10am-12:30pm, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. ABA experience required. Pay dependent on experience.

Our daughter has just finished her home ABA program and we are fading out her school support. She is exceeding academic expectations in most areas but still needs some help socially. Your main role will be to facilitate peer interaction during outside portions of recess and lunch, and assist the teacher during class time. Behaviour plans will be provided by our consultant, Dr Sara White.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who would like to be involved in end-stage social programming. If you are interested, we would love to hear from you! Please contact us at abapoco@gmail.com

Mike and Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

All my family live in England so we fly there every year to visit – our first trip was when our daughter was just six weeks old! I don't know what your boys are like or how long a flight you are going on, but here is what has worked well for us over the past eight years.

If you are travelling overnight, pack pyjamas in your child's hand luggage, and get changed as soon as you get on the plane. This helps with the whole sleep routine. Put their day clothes back on again before you land.

Buy or borrow a portable dvd player and/or an ipod – you never know what movies they are going to show on the plane and so it's really helpful to have something familiar that they like, movies and music.

Take candy to suck or chew for take-off and landing – it helps with the ear pressure.

Take favourite snacks and games – let them choose what they would like to have on the plane with them. You can even put favourite toys/games away for a few months and then have them reappear on the plane. Or go to the store and buy something new that is saved for the journey. If your child is a picky eater, take what they will eat with you – you never know what they are going to serve onboard.

Pack an eye mask (not all airlines provide them).

Talk about and practice being on the airplane at home before you go.

When you get through customs on the other side and are picking up luggage, have one person wait for the bags while another one takes the kids to the bathroom or something.

Consider taking some form of mild sedative like gravol or allergy medication with you (but try it out before you go as your child may hate the taste of it and spit it out all over you!!).

And finally, make a few cards you can give out to surrounding passengers if it gets really bad (hopefully you won't need to) explaining your child's condition and thanking them for their patience and support.

Actually, there is one more thing – pack a change of clothes in your carry-on for everyone in your family. We had one terrible flight where our youngest child threw up 12 times (including over us!) and we ended up walking through arrivals in Heathrow wearing BA pyjamas that they gave to us in sympathy!!! That experience was an exception though – every other one has gone really well.

Safe travels!

Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Put aside, for a moment, any pre-conceived notions you may have about Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy, or your feelings about various treatment methods and the like.

I found the message in this article is something very meaningful and appreciated:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20080616/cm_huffpost/107100

Here's to all of you fathers, on this Fathers Day (well, what's left of it anyway).

Mike

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