Well, I've finally decided on what type of therapy I want to do for Daniel. I'm wanting to do a ABA/RDI mix. I am lucky enough to have 2 people in my area (15 min) that are trained in both and regularly mix the two.
I've emailed both of them for quotes on how much it will cost as I'm in a state that doesn't help with ABA and doesn't require insurance to pay for it. One has emailed me back saying she charges per hour. So that would be 0 a week assuming we only do 10 hrs a week (since he is in school and gets therapies through it, I don't think he'd need more, especially if we can get them to implement an ABA/RDI model for him in the classroom). Quite honestly, we can't afford that yet. (We are still working on paper work for SSI. How much does a child usually get with SSI?)
So I was curious what others pay for their ABA or RDI services. I'm kinda curious if I'm to expect a higher quote from the other therapist.
Not to mention the woman that I contacted says she only works with ASD children in the morning. That she does do have another job, so this is more supplemental. Daniel has school in the morning. So I don't know if there would be any way we could make accommodations to have him start later and go into the afternoon. Or have afternoon classes rather than morning (which I know had been brought up this past school year). So much to think about. I really want to be trained in RDI, but I know the ABA will help him as well with at least gaining his speech.
We are doing VB/ABA therapy. We actually have a team of people who work with our son. According to the paperwork I have, the prices are as follows:
Lead Therapist: 5.00/hour
Program Supervisor: .00/hour
Senior Therapist: .00/hour
Line Therapist: .50/hour
The prices are identical to the Lovaas ABA provider in our area. Wisconsin has a waiver program.
Anthony gets 10 hrs of ABA per week in our home. We pay for everything as insurance does not cover it.
Psychologist who oversees program - 5/hr
Case Manager - /hr
Therapists - -/hr
We see the case manager twice a month - sometimes less if we can't get all our schedules coordinated for a team meeting. The psychologist crosses over on those meetings about 3-4 times per year but consults with the case manager more often.
Bottom line - about 00/month (out of pocket). I always say I could be paying a mortgage on a summer home for that money. But, we've seen loads of progress and he enjoys it. And, I really like the people doing the therapy.
Jessica - You have every right to grumble. The situation in Wisconsin seriously ticks me off in oh so many ways! I figured therapists weren't actually paid the amounts listed, but I didn't realize how much less it actually was.
Edited to add: One thing I am happy about is I have 2 BCBA working with my son.
The director sounds like a good guy. We almost went with WEAP (I'll mention names), but it wouldn't have been the right fit for us. I'm very happy with our choice to go with a new VB provider in our area. The director is very impressive and we are already seeing results.
BTW - I periodically write to my state reps requesting changes in the system. Have you heard anything about what's happening with Doyle's proposal to require insurance companies to cover autism related expenses?
I saw a little blurb the other day in the paper (Madison) that it was not expected to pass. eta the waiting list for the waiver program here, is up to close to 2 years now.When we had a program in place, it was also paid for completely out of pocket. I hired my consultant and therapists privately, so didn't have to pay additional "overhead" to a firm. My consultant charged and hour (this included her drive time to and from the house....1 hour), and she met with my son once per week for 2 hours. I had two therapists; one charged per hour, and my senior therapist was per hour. On average, he received 12 hours of therapy per week. Total cost was around 00 per month.
It was hard financially to make it work, but we never went into debt over it. However, I have zero regrets about the amount we spent. We definitely got our money's worth.
Based off of what WIMomof2 said, here's the breakdown of what therapists that work through the waver in WI actually get paid per hour:I paid for BCBA Consultant that wrote all her programs and evaluated and added/subtracted programs 2x a month /hr
My therapists were in our home 30 hours a week..one was /hr with a masters degress and months away from getting her BCBA and the other was /hr in the middle of her thesis for her masters...we also did 2 hours of speech at /hr a week so it was extremely pricey!! I got most supplies on ebay, thrift stores, superduperpublications and dollar store:)
So, this is interesting. I was looking at Craigslist and I looked up ABA under services in the search on the left and a few came up. The most intriguing is a woman who is a spec ed teacher, masters in special ed, working on BCBA willing to work ABA during the summer and then during the year afternoons and evenings for -30 an hour. I am in a major metro area that charges A LOT more than that everywhere else, but I see the benefit to her. Gets all the money vs. a company, make own hours...
Anyway, just a thoought...
ABA can be sooooooooooooooooo expensive- but I feel it is worth it. My son (we live in Houston area) did an in home program in which the service coordinator charged 0 an hour, and she worked with him 4-6 hours a month, and the therapist he saw two days a week for 1-2 hour sessions charged an hour. All together we spent about 400-0 a month with the in home program.
We have since moved and have our son in a Mother's day out 2 days a week with NT children his age, speech therapy 1 hour a week, OT 1 hour a week and ABA at an ABA center for 4 hours a week. He stays so busy I can't imagine doing any more- but we spend an hour at the ABA center. So I guess we spend 0 or so a month now on ABA.
It has helped so much in his ability to respond to his name, concetrate on a task, follow directions, and improved his eye contact immensely. Give it a try if you can afford it!
Melody,
You're asking the right questions. We have a consultant who is Master's level with a BCBA and basically oversees the program. (Updates the porgram book, trains the therapists, leads team meetings, etc.) She is very expensive (500 a month for 4 hours of direct service, unlimited email contact, 2 hours phone consulation, etc.) There was a one time 1500 fee to set up the program, assess him, train us and the therapists, etc. Our therapists get between 15-20/hour and our all bachelor level, some working on Master's degrees.
We have 4 therapist because we have more hours than you are planning and they are all in school or work with other kids as well.
One more thing I'd try to find out...When will she be writing/designing programs? It wouldn't be difficult for any therapist to spend 3-4 hours/week writing programs for a child, so you might want to check out how much of his therapy time will be spent doing that.