Parent Letter
For years now, I've sent this letter to parents interested in receiving services.
Dear Parent,
Thank you for your interest in receiving consultative services for your child. I wanted to let you know more about the services that I provide so that you might be better able to decide if these services are appropriate for you and your child.
Introductory Information
I specialize in the home-based, intensive, behavior analytic treatment of children with autism. Typically, this means intensive (20-40 hours per week) of in-home teaching by a team of paraeducators whom the parents hire. Treatment is highly individualized and includes many teaching strategies. Behavioral techniques are used to teach compliance, attending, language, social, self-care, play, and academic skills. Goals are determined for the child; strategies are then implemented to reach those goals. Data are collected throughout to ensure that progress is occurring. Depending on scheduling constraints, child need, and the interest of preschool staff, I may also be able to collaborate with the teacher at your child’s school if he or she is interested in implementing such an intervention in the classroom.
The training provides “hands-on” instruction to parents and paraeducators on providing behavior analytic teaching to your child. Typically, I will demonstrate how to work on a particular skill with the child and then provide feedback as these techniques are implemented by the paraeducators. This procedure is repeated for several skills. At the end of the meeting, the entire team sits down together and takes notes for the upcoming week. This part of the meeting allows time to for me to instruct and answer questions regarding new programs, how to monitor progress and make necessary changes such that the child may continue to acquire new skills as quickly as possible.
Teaching Staff
Parents typically choose at least one member of their teaching staff before the initial consultative visit occurs. It is not advisable to have any paraeducator work more than 6-12 hours per week. Less than six hours is typically not worthwhile because it makes the training time necessary for each para expensive and inefficient. Greater than 12 hours per week is not advisable because burn-out typically occurs for the para. If you are having difficulty finding paras, please contact me and we can discuss some possible solutions. It is important that no more than 4 paras are trained so that each person will be able to receive sufficient training. Finally, it is absolutely essential that all paras and at least one family member are able to attend team meetings.
Necessary Time and Effort Commitment
The type of teaching that occurs within behavioral interventions is quite systematic and precise and therefore requires extensive training for the paraeducators. Parents typically do not do teaching hours, but do have other responsibilities (unless they can be delegated to another individual). Parents are in charge of hiring paras and ensuring that they follow the protocol outlined at team meeting. My role is as a consultant, not supervisor; thus, I cannot be liable for events or actions that are not under my daily supervision. Additionally, someone on the team will need to update the data sheet weekly and sometimes buy materials necessary to teaching (most materials can be found around the house). Occasionally, parents implementing these interventions have reported that it can be at times stressful to be in charge of the team, schedules, having people in their home, and accessing the necessary resources. Many parents also describe how fortunate they have been to know compassionate and dedicated people who care so much about their child and have helped their child to make such progress.
I have found that for children to receive the most effective interventions, it is necessary for consultation (program changes, para training, etc.) to be frequent and ongoing. At least a 2 hour visit per week is necessary for measurable progress to occur.
To achieve the best possible outcome for your child, I do have three requirements for every team. First, many of the child’s favorite things must be restricted for use only during teaching sessions. This is implemented to ensure the child remains motivated enough to make the best progress. Second, because research indicates that the best outcomes occur when children receive 25-40 hours per week of direct teaching, each team must schedule at least 20 hours per week of teaching time. If that number of hours is not typically achieved, we will need to formulate a strategy to reach at least 20 hours most weeks. Please keep in mind that a behavior analysis program is in effect 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Twenty hours per week refers only to the direct, structured teaching that your child receives from paraeducators. You will also be responsible for helping your child to learn and generalize skills outside of the structured teaching time. Finally, parents must commit to follow a plan for the reduction of inappropriate behaviors. This plan will be formulated with input from the parents and requires a great deal of consistency in its implementation. Reducing inappropriate behaviors is absolutely necessary as it leads to accelerated learning of skills such as language. Following a behavior plan is not easy, but is necessary to achieve the best possible outcome for your child.
Fees
Bills will be sent in monthly increments. Payment in full is due the month following. Please contact me for information regarding my hourly fees.
Regretfully, experience has taught me that it is best that I do not participate in meetings/interactions aimed at obtaining funds to pay for my consultations. It is considered to be a conflict of interest. Therefore, I cannot be present at meetings in which parents intend to request school districts/agencies to pay for my services. If you would like to discuss possible methods to obtain funding, I would be more than happy to discuss them with you. One option that parents have recently been accessing is deducting home programs from their taxes. For more information on this, talk to your accountant and see the following IRS publication: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf
Starting Up
I hope that this information is helpful in determining if the services that I provide might be appropriate for you and your child. Please feel free to call me if you would like to discuss anything, or if you would like to receive services. I wish the best to you and your family.