The fabulous chairman of the company I used to work in ( till yesterday ) used to say that there are only two secrets to having a successful company
First , Hire good people
Second, Treat them well
This is great advice for running a home therapy program - DH and I have had a home therapy programs for 5 years now and here are some things we learned.( of course, this is just our experience)
We had a special situation in that there were not many new therapies available in our area . Despite this we had great therapists and R did well !
HIRE GOOD PEOPLE
1. Heart
In our experience good therapists have a combination of heart and head - We had the good instincts to never ignore the former.
2. We looked for warmth and kindness.
Its always puzzled me that while autisim is a disorder of social relatedness, many parents will not treat the power of the therapists social interaction with the child Many of our kiddos start their programs when they are mere babies . R particularly did much better with therapists that loved him and showered him with affection ( who wouldn't?)
3. "Different not less" attitude
We hired people who did not treat R as disabled and who saw his strengths as well as his opportunities .
A child's spirit and self esteem are precious things and must be nurtured above all else
4. Positive attitude :
the other day I was talking to a mum of a 4 year old who said that her speechie wondered aloud that her child would probably never talk .
Our speechie and therapists never said that even though R barely had any words till 5 .
Its good to be realistic but we found it was better to err more on the side of being cautiously optimistic ( guess what? R talks a lot now )
TREAT THE GOOD PEOPLE WELL
5 Pay well if you can
We always paid a little above the average market rate. ( our area was a little affordable, so this was possible for us to do )
Since we were paying for a lot of therapy for a lot of years we had to find ways to afford it without putting our retirement in jeopardy
One such way was, when we were doing ABA was to have a senior BCBA who would create the programs and then have more younger implementors
But also dont think that the rate really reflects the quality - R has had magical therapists who charge $ 18 an hour and we have had ( briefly ) pretty useless people at $150 an hour
6. Have team meetings
The biggest benefit of team meetings is that therapists got together and were able to brainstorm together on something that they were each facing with R .
Plus - team thinkings the hallmark of a custom therapy program - one of the biggest mistakes we can do is I think to have a bunch of therapists doing a bunch of things
Its also a venue for you to share all that you are learning from other parents, training programs etc
Its much better when there is a concerted effort around one goal - (that changes as the needs of the child change - in our case our goal started out pretty basic - learn the point of communication and then became progressively more and more complex to reading comprehension and play )
While having team meetings can seem expensive - I think its something that really pays off
7. Always follow through with what the therapists suggest -
if the therapist recommends using PECS then we knew R would learn PECS much faster if we used them all day - rather than just the 3 - 4 hours in the day that he was with his therapists
8. Have realistic expectations :
Teaching children is not easy - teaching autistic children is definitely not easy
9.Encourage creativity :
Our therapist team frequently had ideas that are not traditional ( like doing communication therapy in the local bounce house or the swimming pool ). These sessions eventually became our normal !
10. Treat your therapist like you would like our therapist to treat your child !!
Our therapist team were all of them very altrustic people and they were in it to help kids like R.
Most therapists feel nourished by words of praise and thoughtful gestures and so we lavished this on ours
Have you told your child's therapist lately that you love her? We did ! A lot !
Floortime Lite Mama and Floortime Lite Papa would like to thank the amazing therapists that helped raise their amazing child
Thank you Miss Gypsi, Miss Tori , Miss Kristen, Miss Sadie, Miss Erin, Miss Alicia, Miss Joanna, Miss Melissa, Miss Scott, Miss Holly, Miss Joelle , Miss Chrsten, Miss Michelle
We are richer for knowing you
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Floortime lite mama blogs about love, life and autism at www.floortimelitemama.com
Thanks to Mrs Kristen Jones and Ms Sadie Anderson for contributing their ideas
I write on Hopeful Parents on the 2nd of each month ( Asked Christina Shaver to change date from 5th as my good friend Di also posts on the 5th and the attention her lovely posts should get -gets shared and she agreed - Thanks Christina)
First , Hire good people
Second, Treat them well
This is great advice for running a home therapy program - DH and I have had a home therapy programs for 5 years now and here are some things we learned.( of course, this is just our experience)
We had a special situation in that there were not many new therapies available in our area . Despite this we had great therapists and R did well !
HIRE GOOD PEOPLE
1. Heart
In our experience good therapists have a combination of heart and head - We had the good instincts to never ignore the former.
2. We looked for warmth and kindness.
Its always puzzled me that while autisim is a disorder of social relatedness, many parents will not treat the power of the therapists social interaction with the child Many of our kiddos start their programs when they are mere babies . R particularly did much better with therapists that loved him and showered him with affection ( who wouldn't?)
3. "Different not less" attitude
We hired people who did not treat R as disabled and who saw his strengths as well as his opportunities .
A child's spirit and self esteem are precious things and must be nurtured above all else
4. Positive attitude :
the other day I was talking to a mum of a 4 year old who said that her speechie wondered aloud that her child would probably never talk .
Our speechie and therapists never said that even though R barely had any words till 5 .
Its good to be realistic but we found it was better to err more on the side of being cautiously optimistic ( guess what? R talks a lot now )
TREAT THE GOOD PEOPLE WELL
5 Pay well if you can
We always paid a little above the average market rate. ( our area was a little affordable, so this was possible for us to do )
Since we were paying for a lot of therapy for a lot of years we had to find ways to afford it without putting our retirement in jeopardy
One such way was, when we were doing ABA was to have a senior BCBA who would create the programs and then have more younger implementors
But also dont think that the rate really reflects the quality - R has had magical therapists who charge $ 18 an hour and we have had ( briefly ) pretty useless people at $150 an hour
6. Have team meetings
The biggest benefit of team meetings is that therapists got together and were able to brainstorm together on something that they were each facing with R .
Plus - team thinkings the hallmark of a custom therapy program - one of the biggest mistakes we can do is I think to have a bunch of therapists doing a bunch of things
Its also a venue for you to share all that you are learning from other parents, training programs etc
Its much better when there is a concerted effort around one goal - (that changes as the needs of the child change - in our case our goal started out pretty basic - learn the point of communication and then became progressively more and more complex to reading comprehension and play )
While having team meetings can seem expensive - I think its something that really pays off
7. Always follow through with what the therapists suggest -
if the therapist recommends using PECS then we knew R would learn PECS much faster if we used them all day - rather than just the 3 - 4 hours in the day that he was with his therapists
8. Have realistic expectations :
Teaching children is not easy - teaching autistic children is definitely not easy
9.Encourage creativity :
Our therapist team frequently had ideas that are not traditional ( like doing communication therapy in the local bounce house or the swimming pool ). These sessions eventually became our normal !
10. Treat your therapist like you would like our therapist to treat your child !!
Our therapist team were all of them very altrustic people and they were in it to help kids like R.
Most therapists feel nourished by words of praise and thoughtful gestures and so we lavished this on ours
Have you told your child's therapist lately that you love her? We did ! A lot !
Floortime Lite Mama and Floortime Lite Papa would like to thank the amazing therapists that helped raise their amazing child
Thank you Miss Gypsi, Miss Tori , Miss Kristen, Miss Sadie, Miss Erin, Miss Alicia, Miss Joanna, Miss Melissa, Miss Scott, Miss Holly, Miss Joelle , Miss Chrsten, Miss Michelle
We are richer for knowing you
Floortime lite mama blogs about love, life and autism at www.floortimelitemama.com
Thanks to Mrs Kristen Jones and Ms Sadie Anderson for contributing their ideas
I write on Hopeful Parents on the 2nd of each month ( Asked Christina Shaver to change date from 5th as my good friend Di also posts on the 5th and the attention her lovely posts should get -gets shared and she agreed - Thanks Christina)
Nice read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. I think you have remarked some very interesting details , appreciate it for the post.
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Shannon chiropractic office, Wyckoff, NJ
From my experience in therapy clapham's home services, you will need to be very attentive and be hospitable to the people who you will welcome to your house. It is an increasing practice where therapy is less stressful in your home.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!So glad to know you.
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