In-home Autism Therapy Survey

Information provided by the Autism Society of Wisconsin is for information purposes only. You are responsible for the choice of any treatment or therapy option or service provider. Reference to any treatment or therapy option or to any program, service or treatment provider is not an endorsement by ASW of the treatment or therapy option, program, service or provider. You should investigate alternative that may be appropriate for a specific individual. ASW assumes no responsibility for the use made of any information published or provided by ASW.

QUESTIONS FOR IN-HOME AUTISM TREATMENT PROVIDERS

Responses are in italics. Spelling and typographical errors are the sole fault of the webmaster.

American Foundation of Counseling Services

Eileen Abrams, Psy.D.
130 E. Walnut Street
Green Bay, WI 54301

A. Therapy:

1. How would you characterize your therapeutic approach? I am primarily cognitive-behavioral in my approach.

2. How do you work with children who are nonverbal? Using shaping, physical prompts, successive approximations and differential reinforcement of other behaviors.

3. How do you accommodate the child's sensory defensiveness? I work with all types of sensory stimulation to help deal with the defensiveness.

4. How do you deal with a child's aggressive behavior? Distraction, redirection, differential reinforcement of other behavior, time out, behavior charts.

5. What services are offered in addition to the in-home therapy (i.e., social skills groups, speech therapy, etc.)? Are these services also covered by Medicaid? There are social skills groups at the agency. These services are covered by Medicaid.

B. Entering and Exiting the program:

1. Do you accept all children under the current Medicaid age limit who apply? If not, what are your entrance requirements, such as age or IQ? IQ . . . at this time I work from an agency and primarily am doing developmental assessments.

2. What testing do you require initially? IQ

3. Under what circumstances will you accept testing by other agencies, such as schools or private therapists? Testing should include an IQ score and information about behavior

4. What are the current out-of pocket expenses that a parent must pay for the entrance testing? My agency works on a sliding scale fee.

5. Can parents arrange to have these expenses spread out over a longer time period? Yes.

6. How is the number of therapy hours determined? Level of functioning.

7. Do you require that the child may not be in any other educational program when he begins therapy? If so, for how long? Child may e in other programs.

8. How is a child's progress evaluated, and how often is this done? Every 90 days, cases are reviewed.

9. What are your criteria for a child exiting the program? Parent and tx goals met.

10. Under what circumstances can a child be dismissed from your program? Need for hospitalization.

Therapists: Working on this at this time.

1. What are the minimum educational requirements for line therapists?

2. What kind of training are the line therapists given? Who provides the training and what are their qualifications?

3. What should parents do if they have a complaint about a line or senior therapist?

Parents: Working on this at this time.

1. What kind of training is given to parents and other family members? How much training is provided?

2. Must one parent be in the home during therapy sessions? What alternate arrangements are acceptable?

3. What, if any, support services, such as respite or counseling, are offered to families by your organization? How are these services paid for?

4. Do you provide prospective families a list of families who have used your services and have agreed to be contacted?

Other Agencies 1. How do you coordinate with area school districts that the children you are supporting attend? Attend IEP meetings, contact with school counselors.

2. How do you coordinate with private therapists that the family employs who are not a part of your organization? Meetings.

ASW homepage