Aba therapy, Austin

[Guest guest]

Hi Kaci,

You sound greatly qualified. I am in the Austin area and with my experience

with trying to find ABA for my little one, I have come to the conclusion that

you have to take a second mortgage on the house to be able to afford it. I

too was excited about what Thoughtful House is doing with Card and was in touch

with both them and Card. Promised all kinds of help which all turned out to

sound like a scam to me. Bottom line, after being told my child (grandchild

actually) was the perfect criteria to qualify for reduced rates after filling

out all the paper work it just didn't pan out..........after it was all said

and done it still cost a small fortune! That's sad......I would have loved to

had that opportunity. Maybe you could shed some light on why ABA is SO

expensive. I am guessing because to do any good you have to have those 40 hrs

in.

What is your take on that or advice?

Thanks

Ali

<<Hello everyone! My name is Kaci , and I am an autism consultant/

behavior therapist in the Austin area. I am very excited that CARD is

coordinating with Thoughtful House to provide the best educational

and

medical/biological therapies for children with ASD. If anyone is

interested in home therapy services, I am happy to give my

information. In short, I have a B.S. in Child Development and Family

Services and a M. Ed. in Early Childhood Special Education. I sat

for my behavior analyst certification this June and am confident I

passed with flying colors. I have been providing ABA to children and

families for 4 years. I am looking forward to speaking with you. My

phone number is and e-mail is kaci@....

Take care!

[Guest guest]

Dear Ali,

I know that the sticker shock of finding out what a program for

autism treatment can cost is overwhelming. It has been almost four

years since I first went through that with my son and I can tell you

I clearly remember talking on the phone as the person told me to

plan to spend a fortune and I literally fell out of my chair onto

the floor.

First, to answer your question of why ABA programs are so

expensive….they are intensive programs (you are looking at 20 – 40

hours per week) and are overseen by highly trained, educated

professionals. It is actually cheaper per hour than other therapies

and professionals (things like occupational, speech, physicians,

etc) only done several hours per week. The reason for the intensity

is difficult to explain in an email, but to oversimplify it; it

takes that many hours initially to make up for the delay and to

generalize the skills learned.

Yes, the cost is prohibitive, but it is not a scam. Personally, yes,

I did sell my house and car and begged from others to do it (I have

always worked in non-profits and did not have the means to do it

myself). Was it worth it for my family – yes. We had an excellent

program at the DFW Center for Autism and my son made progress so far

beyond what we were told he could do that now I would have given

anything to do it. Would I tell others to do that – that is not a

decision I would presume to make for another family.

Second, I have to tell you that CARD is offering services at reduced

rates to everyone and they cost less or are the same than all of the

other equally qualified service providers in TX. They are clear that

they advocate intensive programs because that is how you get the

results you want. Also, they are offering thousands of dollars in

assessments and diagnostics tests for free to families willing to

allow the data collected to be used in research to further the cause

of autism treatment.

Third, we have told everyone we can that we will do whatever we can

to assure that a service provision is provided. I am more than happy

to sit down with anyone and try to assist them in finding ways to

afford treatment. Also, we are offering free monthly community

meetings and trainings, many that will be geared toward ABA training.

My hope, like everyone else's on this list, is that we can use our

collective power and information to persuade the state to provide

funds for services so that this is not such a stress on our already

stressed out families. While we work toward that day, we will do all

we can to bring this desperately needed service to families.

If there is anything I can do please call our office. I would be

happy to set up a time to sit down and talk with you. This is one of

the most frustrating things we deal with as parents and as service

providers. Several of the doctors and staff at Thoughtful House are

parents of affected children as well as working in this field and we

talk everyday about how to bring services to everyone. We are trying

to raise money for scholarships (in addition to research and

operations) and will work with families to either provide the help

they need or refer them to others that may be able to help.

Thanks,

Anissa

> Hi Kaci,

> You sound greatly qualified. I am in the Austin area and with my

experience

> with trying to find ABA for my little one, I have come to the

conclusion that

> you have to take a second mortgage on the house to be able to

afford it. I

> too was excited about what Thoughtful House is doing with Card and

was in touch

> with both them and Card. Promised all kinds of help which all

turned out to

> sound like a scam to me. Bottom line, after being told my child

(grandchild

> actually) was the perfect criteria to qualify for reduced rates

after filling

> out all the paper work it just didn't pan out..........after it

was all said

> and done it still cost a small fortune! That's sad......I would

have loved to

> had that opportunity. Maybe you could shed some light on why ABA

is SO

> expensive. I am guessing because to do any good you have to have

those 40 hrs in.

> What is your take on that or advice?

> Thanks

> Ali

>

> <<Hello everyone! My name is Kaci , and I am an autism

consultant/

> behavior therapist in the Austin area. I am very excited that

CARD is

> coordinating with Thoughtful House to provide the best educational

> and

> medical/biological therapies for children with ASD. If anyone is

> interested in home therapy services, I am happy to give my

> information. In short, I have a B.S. in Child Development and

Family

> Services and a M. Ed. in Early Childhood Special Education. I sat

> for my behavior analyst certification this June and am confident I

> passed with flying colors. I have been providing ABA to children

and

> families for 4 years. I am looking forward to speaking with you.

My

> phone number is and e-mail is kaci@

> Take care!

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Begin forwarded message:

>

>

>

> Hi Ali. I believe ABA is so expensive for many reasons. Like you

> said, in the beginning to get the child going, a lot of time is

> invested, about 40 hours a week. Also, good ABA therapists are hard

> to find and the good ones charge at least $25 an hour, more if they

> are board certified and have a Master's degree and consultants

> usually charge $50-$100 an hour. . What a lot of families do is

> hire a consultant to get the program started and then hire college

> students or new graduates to work everyday. The consultant will do

> the initial assessment and treatment plans as well as therapist and

> parent training. The consultant will then keep in touch with the

> therapists and parents and will usually see the child every 3

> months. Please let me know if you have any more questions. I am

> more than happy to help.

>

> Sincerely,

> Kaci

[Guest guest]

Begin forwarded message:

>

>

>

> Hi PJ. I am not sure what type of information you are wanting, so I

> am attaching a parent letter and resume for your review. I look

> forward to hearing from you.

>

> Sincerely,

> Kaci

Dear Parents,

I am forming my own autism consulting practice that offers high-

quality, individualized, and in-home or in-clinic instruction for

children with autism, PDD-NOS, or PDD. As you may know, I have a

Masters degree in Early Childhood Special Education, over four years

experience in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and will receive my

Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) certification this June.

From my experience in working with children with autism spectrum

disorders and my continued research in the field, I offer intensive 1-

on-1 behavior therapy which includes treatment plans, progress

summaries, assessments at regular intervals, skill acquisition and

behavior tracking, as well as parent and family training. In

addition, I offer natural environment teaching in your home and

community. All therapy and behavior plans are customized for each child.

Because I operate without high fixed overhead costs or administrative

staff, I can pass these savings on to you so that you receive the

best possible services available at preferred rates. I offer services

on an hourly or monthly basis – my pricing schedule is available on

request.

I would enjoy the opportunity to speak with you about providing

individualized in-home or in-clinic instruction for your child.

Sincerely,

Kaci N. , M.Ed.

(I can't post the resume. If anyone wants a copy, e-mail me offlist

and I'll send it to you privately.--Jane)

>>

>> Kaci I would like information from you too, can you email me

>> back? pj

>>

>>