ABA | Autism PDD

Hi Jan...I'm in Bloomingdale!

This lady just posted on the Autism Education board..
Good luck!
Lesley

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1725& ;PN=1

I live in Palatine, IL.

I am interested to hear from people that can provide in home ABA therapy.

You both are very lucky. We are desperate to get Luke involved with ABA ... but can you believe there are NO ABA clinics in Akron, OH?! The closest ones are in Cleveland and in Columbus, which means that they're willing to have us pay for a consultant (at 2/hr), but we have to search for and hire our own therapists to work with Luke daily. The consultant suggested that we look into local universities to get people who are willing to be trained in ABA .. but how on earth does one find a college student reliable enough to not only be trained in ABA, but be willing to come all the days he/she agreed to, not lose interest in it, and be responsible enough to be supportive and kind with my child? In this day and age, frankly, it scares me to hire someone I don't know out of the blue to work one on one with my very cute, nonverbal 2 yr old. Too many loonies out there. Not to mention that the therapists would all be inexperienced! *sigh* I keep looking online to see if anyone trained in ABA posts that they're available ... to no avail.

Kellie..don't give up hope..We were in your shoes 2 years ago!. We had to hire the consultant out of pocket and then scrounge up some therapists. It is nerve racking. We found a good resource to be the Autism Society. The Autism Society where we used to live had a bulletin board and we found the most talented therapist/skills trainer that I have ever met through the bulletin board. We also found another good college age skills trainer through word of mouth (the girlfriend of my daughter's speech therapist's son). There also might be other families in your town who already have someone who wants more hours and you might be able to share therapists.

I make it sound easy, but it isn't. We need to find a new person for after school because our last therapist is now teaching sp=ed preschool (she is my husband's cousin) and I am a little apprehensive about trying to find someone new.

Good luck! I know that you can make it happen and you won't regret it!

Renee

ps. My neighbor was doing a lovaas program and she hired college students and never had any problems with them! Try to find someone interested in Child development, education or psych!

nene38568.7647106481

In my area, Austin, Tx, there are people advertising all the time for ABA therapists that they'll pay 10/hr, must be in yr 2 or more in college with a major in ed,psych, soc work, etc. The ads say that the parents will provide the training either by sending them to be trained or the parents get trained and then train the helpers.

I have had fabulous luck in Chicago, Houston and Austin getting childcare by going to all the above departments plus ot and st grad depts which are thrilled for the experience. Also the junior colleges in the early childhood ed. Good luck.

pat

Kellie-

Don't lose hope- those college students are out there. I felt overwhelmed when we started the search for our ABA therapist. We made tons of fliers and put them up in all the college campuses in the area. We got tons of phone calls and we screened them by phone and interviewed them in person. We also asked for references and called all of them. We found 3 great therapist who have been working with DS for 8 months. 1 therapist was not so good and quit after 2 weeks. Our therapist are ST/OT students and an education major. Although they didn't have experience in ABA they had experience working with special needs kids. They are dedicated. After working with DS these past few months they just adore him.

So if the state is paying for the ABA consultant go ahead and start looking for those students. Classes are starting up -so it's a great time to recruit. We also had scheduled each therapist with several playdates with DS- that way they can get to know him before they start the ABA.

Let me know if you need any more info on this. Good Luck!

I am a consultant for ABA therapy in the home as is my husband. i began ABA in college 51/2 yrs ago. I love it and i love see the children grow in each session that is done. I have seen some awesome growth cognitively, and i have been a part of 3 successful families in the 51/2 yrs i have done this. i was recruted by a flier on my college campus and i got to meet serveral families and make my choice on who i would work with.

I know the world is scary these days especially for families with children with special needs, but please don't be afraid to get out there and get the help you need for your children. you won't regret it. besides you can do backround checks on your hirred help and if they work for through DDD, they have fingercard clearance to work with kids. seriously look into it, you owe it to your kids.

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pat

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We are currently looking for an ABA therapist here in Houston. I just have no idea how to go about getting a college student for the help. How do people go about and do it? Do you contact the Psych teachers or what?

Yes, contact the phych professors at the nearest university and the special ed department at the closest university. Or contact the sp ed coordinator in your shcool district and have her give out the info to the sp ed teachers that might be interested in the training and part time work. If you contact the university, make sure you ask for grad students.

Jan,

Are you looking for tutors to do the program or the actual ABA therapists to head up your program?

I live in Winfield and started my son on a program 2 months ago. We are with Autism and Behavior Consultants, Edie Brennan, 630-774-0262

I don't know of anyone free to do more in home therapy right now. I have 3 tutors working with my son and I can barely get enough hours.

Camille

Hey, small world! I'm originally from Aurora (IL)

I'm not sure which 'burb its in, but I hear theres a brand new Autism clinic that just opened....maybe Geneva???