Jobs working with special needs kids.. Thanks everyone for the input .. It is all kind of overwhelming at first.  mytrine, thanks for the info about being a COTA. What type of associates degree would I need for this? What about behavioral or health science? klly, thanks for the college info.. I will check it out! What are some other good online colleges that I can look at? That is probably whats going to work out best for me right now ... OT and Speech therapy both require at least a bachelor's degree. I know that the University of North Texas has an online certificate in both Autism Intervention and ABA, but I'm not sure if you already need a bachelor's degree to get the certificates or not. Here are the links to the programs: http://courses.unt.edu/behv/ and http://www.coe.unt.edu/educational-psychology/certifications Here in Texas, ABA therapists are not required to have any training. They are usually working under a BCBA and can make around $8 - $25 per hour depending on experience. Best of luck to you! Nicole Teaching assistants in special ed schools (or any school) in NY State need certificates.  There are requires to take a few classes  and a test (some districts require a minimum of college credits or to show you are working towards those credits.)  To be an OTR you now need a masters in NYS, however to be a COTA you only require an associate’s degree.  To become a BCBA it takes a long time in college.  Most ABA therapists are not BCBA's.  They have a bachelors degree and then take training classes in ABA.  I actually had one VERY good ABA therapist who did not have a bachelors in anything she was a teaching assistant, then went into ABA.  I think her case was rare, as she had been doing it for so long.  I think most people today have at least a bachelors in a related field (teaching, psy) etc. Starting as a teaching asst and working our way up tp teacher or ABA therapist is a good way to start and still get paid while you are working.  If you check out Sage University, they have an online ABA course.  They offer the Master's program and a certificate program.  Personally I think one of the best ways to impact their lives is through direct support.  We pay our workers $14 an hour (NYS foots the bill) to work on everything that he needs to work on.  Right now his 3 valued outcomes are independent living skills, increase communication skills and community integration (increasing comfort level in community).  While we can and will change these outcomes, we specifically wrote them so that almost anything is included in the plan.  DS is 11 and between 2 & 3 developmentally. I am getting a MA in special education (I had an undergraduate) but you can also get it as an undergraduate. There is a shortage and you can get some grant money if you commit to work in special ed in an area with some poverty.I think any area where you end up with a license (like teacher, OT or speech) will give you better income and more possibilities. You can also look into work as a PCA or group home or para or assistant but it will pay less and you will get to make less decisions. As far as an online degree -be careful where you sign up and that it is not a diploma mill that offers a degree for little work and a lot of money. There are a lot of scams on the net right now and I have a friend who did to years of work, paid good money and found out that the 'degree' was completly worthless in the real world.Thanks nicole... So do the ABA therapist assistants just have some type of certificate? HI There Wow it has been a long time since I have posted on these boards!! (I'm no longer an ECEoftheFuture, and instead an ECE of now!) I think any of the jobs you listed would be great and fulfilling. I am currently in a Occupational Therapy program and I love it. The program itself is not focused on working with children, it's only one element, but with my degree in early childhood education, i'm sure working with children is where I will end up. A little information on the OT thing. You now need to have a masters level degree in order to be an OT (this is true in Canada, where I live, and i'm pretty sure it's true for the states as well, but you'd have to double check) so it would take some time if you need to finish college first. That being said it is a fantastic career path, with about a million possible practice areas. There is also a shortage of OT's right now, and with the growing trend of hiring OT"s to working with children who have Autism, the field is just exploding. Basically there is a lot of job opportunities and security in the field so I would highly recommend it. If you have any more questions, let me know. Natalie Hi all. Well this is a little OT but I have no idea where else to ask about this! I have been thinking about getting into doing something involving working with children with autism , either doing ABA therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, or something involving child development. I am pretty familiar with all of these things since my son is receiving all of these therapies. I have some college, but not alot.  My husband just started with an online college , which he does for free with being in the military. I would be able to get a good discount if I took courses there also. They offer behavioral and health science degrees and I wonder if either of those would apply to the job fields I am looking for. Also, I know it would probably take quite a few years of college to become an ABA therapist, speech therapist, etc, so I am kind of looking at becoming a therapist's assistant or possibly an early intervention assistant... I just dont know where to start with all of this. What type of degree would I need if I wanted to be an assistant? Or would I just need some type of certificate? Anyway if anyone can help steer me in the right direction, it would be much appreciated!! Thanks! Jennifer Funny you should post, I've been thinking about the same thing a lot lately.  I'd like to go to school now that my kids are getting older.  I'd really like to be an therapist of some kind, but i'm not sure I can handle that much schooling with my already busy schedule.  I don't have any college so I'd be starting from scratch.  There are physical and speech language assistant degrees as well as COTA for jsut about two years of schooling.  I'm leaning towards speech or physical therapy.  I've heard some negatives about COTA jobs and the local college near me stopped offering that degree last year.  Also I've thought of becoming an RN (you can get an associates in nursing).  Maybe the physical or speech assistant would work for you?
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