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October, 2006
Tips for Parents
by Becky Lowe
One of the questions
I am asked the most is “How do you pay for your home
ABA program?” Well, the answer to that is not
easy. There is a lot that goes into organizing and
funding your own home program. Before I started
looking for funding and assistance, I believed this
was going to be impossible. Well, let me tell you,
as they say in Field of Dreams, “If you build it
they will come” if you search hard enough and ask
lots of questions, you can get help. I thought I
would list some ideas here to hopefully help get
parents started.
· First,
and most important, ask your school district.
Request an IEP meeting with you district and make
your formal request that this meeting. Bring with
you as much data as you can carry. Bring all
medical and psychological evaluations with you.
Also be sure to have your Brent Woodall Foundation
evaluation with you! The foundation’s evaluation
will detail what is needed for her child based on
his/her specific needs. Use that as your
guideline. Ask your pediatrician, neurologist,
speech therapist, etc. to write a recommendation
with those guidelines. The more recommendations,
the better! Also bring any and all data that
supports ABA with you (I have listed several
resources below). Ask your district for the hours
of recommended. If they refuse, ask them for their
official letter of refusal for that request. Then,
try to negotiate. If the recommended hours of ABA
are 30, ask for 25, then for 20 and so on. Try to
get them to agree to fund some hours. If they
refuse, ask for their refusal in writing.
· The
next step is contacting your county. Most counties
offer assistance to families with children who have
disabilities. Your county may assign a social
worker to you that will help you complete all
initial paperwork. From that point, your social
worker can act as an advocate on behalf of your
child. Many counties offer Resource Dollars for
families to use for respite care, medical supplies,
etc. Your social worker should be able to help you
fill out the right paperwork to get the ball
rolling. Your social worker will also know about
availability of state funds for your child. There
may be Waivers and Grants that you can apply for
that you can use for your child’s ABA program. In
my opinion, ASK again and again and again! Every
time you speak to your social worker, ask about
funding.
· Investigate
private or non-profit organizations that offer
assistance to children with disabilities. You will
need to network with other families. Your child’s
special education teacher might be aware of funding
another child receives and the teacher may be able
to put you in contact with that child’s parent. If
you have a support group in your area for families
with children who have autism or children with
disabilities, go to the meetings and meet the other
parents. We, as parents, are the best resource for
ideas and funding. Most parents are very open to
sharing ideas since they found out about service and
funding from other families.
· If
you have families, parents or grandparents or
extended family, that always say, “I wish I could
help” or “I wish there was something I could do for
you”. Well, you now know there is something they
can do for you. If someone in your family has a
background in education or has an interest in
working with your child, ask them if they would like
to be trained and if they would donate some hours
working with your child. If the person is unable to
help physically, they may offer to financially
help. Many moms that I have spoke to say their
parents are not physically up to the challenge of
working with their grandchild, but are willing to
assist in the funding of the home ABA program.
Especially once they see the effectiveness of ABA.
· Get
free help wherever you can! Girl Scout and Boy
Scout Troops always have special projects they are
working on. These young people are generally very
responsible and reliable. They are motivated to win
their award and area always excited to get started
on a new project. If you kind the right young
person, you may be able to have them work on simple
tasks like responding to requests, making eye
contact, working on handwriting, etc. You can also
contact your high school to see if there is a
volunteer organization available there.
Resources
SUMMARY: Cost-benefit
Estimates for
Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention
for Young Children with Autism
http://www.behavior.org/autism/index.cfm?page=http%3A//www.behavior.org/autism/autism_costbenefit.cfm
ABA vs. 'Eclectic': A comparison of intensive
behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young
children with autism
http://www.ctfeat.org/articles/ABAvEclectic.pdf
Behavioral Treatment and Normal Educational and
Intellectual Functioning in Young Autistic Children
http://www.ctfeat.org/articles/Lovaas87.htm
Becky Lowe
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