Re: Consistent Training of Therapists

[Guest guest]

> I don't believe they

> were taught AVB which is a critical portion of my son's program.

I once had a neighbouring school district call me to ask if I had

any openings in my program. They wanted to find out if their

therapist could get experience with us so that she could become

a lead therapist.

I went ahead an interviewed her. During the interview, she

let slip a few things " we have a woman who we are going to tell

her that it is public school or no ABA. " hmmm...It started

sounding familar.

Turns out

that it was a person I *knew* who had introduced me to ABA.

They were trying to get trained ABA personnel in order to force

this woman to stop sending her child to private school since they

were funding her shadow and at home ABA program. He had happily been

at this school for the last four years and showing progress

and she was paying for herself. My consultant told me to just tell

her that it is a violation of my contract with the consultant if I

hire someone from a " competing agency " . Turns out that there is

that clause in the contract I signed with the consultant. It is

a little used clause that was put in because it had been my

consultants experience that they trained a few people who the

district then used by saying " we don't need you, we have trained

people " (never mind that one workshop is hardly enough) I refused

to hire her because I was not about to train someone so that

a district could force her to leave an appropriate placement that

was not costing them any more than it would if he was in public.

ABA programs are not cookbooks. Each program is individualized.

Each workshop is tailored not just around learning DTT, VB, ABA

but what prompting procedures to use with the *specific* child,

what program to attend to next, etc. Do these newly trained district

people have experience running a Verbal Behavior program? Are they

board certified behavior analysts? Do they know what comes next

in the program so that they can shape behaviors?

One possible idea is to call around to the Lovaas replication sites

and a few verbal behavior consultants and ask them if they recommend

such a thing or if they have a written statement that says that all

therapists working with a child should attend the same training

workshops.

It is worth a shot.

A.C.