You need to save your pic as a jpeg and then upload it to photobucket.com or something similar. You then copy and paste the IMG url into the signature box in your profile. Yes....data is critical to discrete trials........however that can be interpreted in different ways. Some agencies have it tracked by trial and then graphed for every single time the trial is run, some run trials all the time but only track data formally every week or two and one agency I dealt with this year does not record numberical data at all.....the write anecdotal notes in a spiral notebook and track progress based on trends in the notes (highly inaccurate....but some do it that way). In order to really document the need for the service it needs to be accurate. As for graphing you can do that on excel with microsoft. You don't need any fancy software......or I have simply made my own on graph paper!!! And IMO.....someone who is doing discrete trial should be in "love" with the data! LOL I have yet to meet someone who programs for discrete trial that doesn't just LOVE their graphs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And love to make them and LOVE to share them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Having a record showing your sons progress is the basic fundamental first rule of any ABA program..it is the cardinal rule to take data on every single trial they do on him with either a (+) or a (-) or a percentage of how he did and graph that data! Data can be hand written on paper by percentages weekly but all data she takes on him should be based on her taking reliable (+ or - or %) on each DT. I have never heard of a therapist not doing this and I would be extremely cautious of her credientials personally. As I learned as a nurse...if it isn't documented it wasn't done! Sarah had a blank program sheet for every single time a therapists worked with her and these got charted on a graph showing progress or regression~ it is the only therapy I know of that does this? How are you to know if he's mastered a skill or needs more help in a certain areas or even regression if you are not allowed any feedback.. writing a few notes is unacceptable in my opinion as they are subjective and not based on any ABA I know of. ABA has it's whole reputation because of it's proven scientific method of recording data to show results. I let a therapist go because she was lazy and only wanted to jot what she remembered at the end of session..not acceptable! Our therapists had a clipboard at all times and wrote every single response Sarah made..the next therapist coming in could see what was done or not done and work on things the last one wasn't able to get to..this data got graphed and presented to our BCBA consultant every 2 weeks to tweak, remove or add new programs. This person knows better! I have 4 huge notebooks of Sarah's programs and tons of written graphs and computer graphs and I have total access to them and they remain with me at all times..I never let her notebooks leave my house without me:) Let us know what happens~ You have every right to know what his notes are! Good luck!
Shelley
Thanks for all the great info Shelly. I am going to send a letter to our case worker.
I feel weird asking her to see her notebook. It isnt Gabriel's private notebook it is one she caries around and has info about all her students.
Should I feel weird? She is coming in about an hour. I am planning to ask her but i think it will be awkward. I dont want her to feel uncomfertable around me or vice versa.
(((sigh))) i'll let you know what happens
ps how do you post a pic in your signature?
We have a teacher who comes to our home for 4.5 hours per week after school to work one on one with Gabriel. She comes twice a week and works on things like:
identifying capital and lower case letters
identifying sounds of letters
identifying animals and their sounds
counting using counting bears
counting numbers from flashcards
drawing lines using dot to dot technique
labeling pictures of family members
responding correctly to questions like what is your name, how old are you, how are you, etc
playing boardgames on the floor
She brings a binder with her but never makes notes after each trial run. She does make some notes in a notebook but she doesnt let me see it
We have an IEP next week to discuss other issues so I asked her if she could graph for me all of the goals and the progress he is making so that i can see how quickly he is mastering his skills and how many we are working on. She said that it would be hand written and informal since she does not have graphing software. I thought she needed to keep these exact records so that she could see when he has mastered something and move onto something new.
In EI Gabriel's discreet trial therapist kept track of every trial. I thought that is how they measured success???
Shouldn't she be keeping a record of every trial that they do? And from that be able to make exact graphs? She does not have her BCABA but does have her own preschool disabled kindergarten class.
Is it me or should her tracking be more concrete? Isnt that what makes discrete trial such an effective tool?
thanks in advance