I do regret not looking further into Lovaas since we are here in Los Angeles, but as a single parent with two kids under three with the dx it was hard to do a lot and then dealing with driving and traffic would have been too much.

There was Dr Rikki Robinson and BJ Freeman at UCLA. I did look into Auditory Training at some clinic in Pasadena but could not get funding, they said they would reimburse me and that was a lot to come up with at the time.

I have issues with assessments and the way they portray me at times and the lengths therapists go to get more hours at the expense of the family or kid. I dont want that data in a file for the rest of his life. I also do not like cross agencies contacting each other or some therapist going to school and then doing a report and the parent not really knowing what is going on, so to keep family intact and save my sanity we have never done ABA. We did floor time and hope to get a new therapist for that in the near future.

Now, I didn’t *want* intensive ABA; I bought Lovaas’ book and learned to do it myself, used what I wanted and trashed the rest. But early intervention through the IU (Intermediate Unit) has people who know ABA and they use it.

His medical is covered by the DPW (Welfare) so meds are covered 100%; the IU provides speech, social skills therapy, and his aide at school (they also are responsible for early intervention).

MH/MR (Mental Health/Mental Retardation) provides his counselor; they contract out through various agencies, and will not give your info to the school should you want to have psycho therapy. This is really important for teenagers.

All three agencies provide TSSs and BSCs. My son has a BSC, but not a TSS, even though he has an aide at school. She’s a school district employee, and the school bills the IU for her paycheck.

Weird, but it works for me. The things I have had to fight for all have had to do with services and educational supports, etc. because of NCLB.

It just seems too often that we hear about “training by an expert for staff” and it’s something less than that.

@Jill,

I think you note the core of the problem: Services are needed and it’s amazing, and exhausting, what has to get done just to get a few things funded. The one solution I’ve found—it’s not really a solution, but what you have to do—is to learn as much as I can about teaching my son (for a while, that meant teaching him to deal with anxiety and to communicate that anxiety before he was really upset).

@Marla,

We recently discontinued home ABA therapy for Charlie—it was like paying a second rent. And it was time to end—on the other hand, the rent that we pay to live in this town with the school program for Charlie often feels like a sort of “tuition” for him.

I’m looking forward already to your next post on Autism: The Musical!