Search for an ABA consultant

Be aware that there is no formal licensure for ABA consultants, so anyone can claim him/herself as a consultant. There are however, some steps you can take to bring you closer to hiring a competent and experienced provider to help.

¥ Contact a local agency and support groups in your area to compile a list of possible consultants.  

¥ Visit the following link.  The registry list  contains the names of individuals who have passed the board exams. 

Registry of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) & Board Certified Associate Behavior Analysts (BCABA)

Although it may be difficult for you to find a consultant who is board certified, you may use the requirements to sit for the board exam as a guide to finding a qualified individual.

¥ Visit www.abaconnections.com.  Although the site does not endorse anyone or any organization listed, it may lead you to finding a competent consultant.

¥ Contact consultants and place yourself on his/her wait list if they have one. In the meantime, continue to research their expertise.

¥ Have the potential consultant provide you with a resume and references.

¥Ask questions!!!

• Who they trained with and for how long?

• Who supervised them and for how long?

• Where did they study?  

• Have they received formal education in Applied Behavior Analysis?

• What degrees do they hold?

• Who have they worked with?

• How long have they been consulting on a full-time basis?

¥Compare the consultant’s formal education and experience with necessary requirements to sit for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst exam. This information is available at www.bacb.com , click on Becoming Certified and then click on BACB Eligibility Standards.

¥Contact references that the consultant provides you. Visit local families that have programs established and observe a few sessions. Observing more than one session will also help you identify some characteristics that you will want to find in therapist that you hire (see Hiring Therapists).  

¥ BACB Guidelines for Responsible Conduct for Behavior Analysts will define ethical standards in behavior analysis

Order the following books

(available at www.difflearn.com)

¥Teaching Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities, by  Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D. and James W. Partington, Ph.D., 1988.  This book will help you understand how to apply ABA principles using the analysis of Verbal Behavior to teach your child language skills.

¥ Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS), by James W. Partington, Ph.D. and Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D. This is a criterion-referenced assessment that will help you identify specific objectives for your child and measure progress throughout the program.

Additional Readings

¥ Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism: A Manual for Parents and Professionals, by Catherine Maurice (ed.); Gina Green, and Stephen C. Luce (co-ed), 1996, ISBN 0-89079-683-1.  This book includes many resources for parents who are just starting.

¥ Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family’s Triumph Over Autism, Catherine Maurice, 1993, ISBN 0-449-90664-7b.  Note: This book may be available at your local library. The book is a parent’s account of her child’s progress in an ABA program and her experiences in running an ABA program. It’s a wonderful book to give to family members to read.

Complete the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS)

It is a comprehensive assessment that can take 10-20 hours to complete, but well worth every minute.

Break up the time that you spend completing the ABLLS so that it is accurate when completed. Your consultant will be developing an educational plan from this so accuracy in its completion is critical.

If you are uncertain about how to rate a skill, discuss the criterion cited with relative professionals. For example, ask your child’s teacher to score the Group Instruction, section of the ABLLS.  Emphasize that the skills should be rated based on consistent responding.

¥Download a copy of the ABLLS chart (see Downloads section of this site). This will allow you to make copies of the completed chart as a back-up incase the original is lost. It will also help in sharing the information with your child’s team members. Your consultant will guide you on when the ABLLS should be updated. Typically, every 5-8 months for the average learner.

Hiring Therapists

¥ Visit www.abaconnections.com. This site has a list of therapists (as well as consultants) who are looking for families to work for. It’s not an exhaustive list, but you may find someone in your area looking for hours.

¥ Subscribe to group e-mail lists (see Lists to Subscribe To). Post the position on these lists.

¥Contact local university and college education, special education, psychology, social work, speech pathology, occupational therapy, and other departments related to providing education/therapy to others.

¥Speak directly to professors and department heads and ask them to make an announcement regarding the position available.

¥ Request professors to let you make the announcement yourself. Many professors will gladly support this. Some will even arrange for credit to be given for the course.

¥ Place ads in the university and college career centers.

¥ Include a picture of your child in the ad.  Seeing the child that the potential therapist would be helping, adds a personal touch and will more likely be taken seriously.

¥ Stress that training will be provided and previous experience is not necessary.

¥ State the number of hours available, that the hours are flexible and more hours can be arranged by working with other additional children from other families.

¥ Place an ad in a local paper and in places of worship, libraries, and other common areas of the community. You will find many parents or family members bringing the ad to the attention of their own children or neighbors that are possibly interested in the position.

¥ If you find a therapist that you may want to hire, check their references. Especially if they claim that they’ve worked with other children already.

¥ Therapist are in high demand. When you find a good one, realize that they are rare. Creating a positive, team-oriented working environment can really make a difference in your child’s life.  You will be amazed at how some therapists will soon become more like extended family members, than employees. Let them know that they are appreciated. Most therapists are more than willing to fill-in sessions cancelled by others or just go the extra mile for your child when they realize they are appreciated.

¥ At times, some therapists just don’t work out, so keep the ads running and continuously keep your eye out for potential therapists.

    SAMPLE AD available in the Downloads section of this site.

Therapist FAQ

Some questions that therapists may ask during the hiring process.

Q: What is the rate of pay?

A: Rates of pay range greatly across the country. A guideline that you may want to use for therapists with no prior experience or degree, is to find what the starting pay for aides at your local school district is and add a dollar or two to start.  For those with experience, factor in years of experience, formal education in the area of behavior analysis, psychology, or education, the therapist’s availability, and any degrees that he/she holds.

Q: Who is the employer?

A: Typically, therapists are hired as self-employed Independent Contractors and are therefore responsible for their own taxes and a self-employment tax. Families typically provide a Form 1099 to file taxes.

Q: Is mileage/gas paid, or assumed into hourly fee paid by families, or written off?

A: Typically, mileage and all related expenses are assumed by the therapist and are taken as tax deductions by the therapist.

Q: Are there professional growth opportunities? Conferences? Advancement opportunities?

A: Yes, there are many conferences, workshops, and courses available to help expand your therapist’s knowledge of ABA (See Links section of this site).

Q: Are materials supplied or would the therapist by responsible for supplying materials?

A: Materials are supplied by the family, but some therapists will bring their own small bag of toys or potentially reinforcing items.

Q: Is training paid?

A: Yes, training is typically paid. However, some parents chose to pay for the initial workshop training time at a later date (2-3 months). This way, parents don’t waste money on therapists that don’t end up working out.

Q: How are session cancellations handled?

A: Cancellations by the therapist- Let the family know about the cancellation as soon as possible and then call all team members to find a therapist that may be able to switch a session with you.

Lists to subscribe to

¥ Subsribe to the Me-List, the main ABA discussion group.

Me-List subscriptions-listserv@indycms.iupui.edu
 send an e-mail to: rallen@iupui.edu stating clearly that you wish to join the Me-List, who you are, and your reason for wishing to join.

¥ Subscribe to the DTT-NET group    groups.yahoo.com

¥ Subscribe to the Verbal Behavior group.  Groups.yahoo.com

¥ In the archives of the Verbal Behavior group list, the Files section has notes named VB intro notes.doc written by Bridgit Platts for a workshop given by Dr. V. Carbone.

¥Attend an Introduction to Verbal Behavior workshop

Mark Sundberg, Ph.D. or Vince Carbone, Ed.D. present a number of different workshops (see Links section of this site for workshop schedules).

¥Scheduling Sessions

You will find that this is one of the most difficult aspects of running a home ABA program, but with some guidance and tailoring to your individual child and family needs, the process should be smoother.

¥ Since most therapists are college students, most schedule are made based on a semester schedule.

¥ Sessions are typically 2.5-3.0 hours in length, although teaching in the natural environment is necessary throughout the entire day.

¥ Number of sessions per day is usually 2.

¥ Typically, a child’s therapy schedule is 9:00-12:00 and 1:00-4:00, but are adjusted given naps, family obligations, and therapist availability.

¥ It is recommended that therapists works at least 5 hours per week and because of the intensiveness of the program, no more than 10 hours per week.

¥ Keep in mind that many experts agree that more important than quantity of hours, is the quality of the hours.

Therapy Room

¥ Although most teaching is done in the natural environment when a program is in its initial stages, it is wise to begin setting up a location in the house that will be used for more intensive teaching situation. There is possibility that instructional control will first need to be attained prior to natural environment teaching, so it helps to be prepared.

¥ The room does not need to be free or distractions. Give the child the benefit of the doubt and as therapy continues, if there are distracting items in the room, DO NOT immediately remove them, FIRST, since it is obvious the child is interested in it, try using it as a possible reinforcer first and teaching the child to request the item throughout therapy.

¥ Although you do not want a room free of objects/toys commonly found in the natural environment, you DO want to make sure to sterilize the environment from competing reinforcers- make sure the teacher always maintains control of delivery of reinforcers and that they are not available to the child throughout the day for free this will impact the effectiveness of the reinforcer when you are attempting to teach your child.

¥ Make sure to have materials ( see Materials section) organized and reinforcers in containers that make them accessible when the child is in learning situations (contingent on responding).

¥ Purchase at least one plastic drawer unit. These are found at local Wal-mart, Target, or office supply stores. You can keep flashcards and many other materials organized in these drawers.

¥ Purchase a large (at least 4’x3’ ft.) dry-erase board to mount on a wall and keep targets listed on. If the manufactured dry-erase boards are out of your budget, large hardware stores (Home Depot, etc.) sell a building material called Tile Board that costs only about $7 for a piece as large as 4’x8’ ft which is made of the same material the dry-erase boards are made of, but are much cheaper and can be cut to just about any dimensions.

Data Book

¥ DATA SHEETS are available in the Downloads section.

¥ Purchase a 3-ring binder. Those with zipper wrap-around are well worth the extra cost. They are very durable.

¥ Purchase plastic protective sleeves available at local office supply stores to protect some of the pages that will be inserted into the data book.

¥ Purchase tab dividers available at local office supply stores.

¥ Have sections for the following:  -

  - Cumulative therapy hours

 - Therapist pay sheets

 - Meeting notes

 - NET lesson plans

 - Mands

 - Tacts

 - Intraverbal

 - A-B-C Chart

As you child progresses, additional sections may include: Academics, gross motor, school, etc.

Non-Credit Courses emphasizing Verbal Behavior

Learning to Learn with STARS

This intensive course for parents (and interested professionals or paraprofessionals) on teaching language to children with language delays (autism or other developmental disabilities), includes the following topics:

Establishing positive instructional control: how to establish yourself as a reinforcer and teach your child to respond to your instructions

Essential teaching techniques: prompting, fading, shaping, errorless learning, discrete trials, correction procedures and avoiding prompt dependence.

Assessing and teaching language skills: mands (requests), imitation, echoics (vocal imitation), receptive skills, matching-to-sample skills, tacts (labels), and intraverbals (conversation skills)

Understanding and Changing Problem Behavior

Enrollment is the first week of every month. This is a shorter course for parents (and interested professionals or paraprofessionals) on behavioral principles and positive behavior management techniques, emphasizing antecedent and ecological control.

Contact: winkler@behavioranalysts.com

Phone: (925) 210-9370 x 100