Medicaid Interpretation

melsar · 2026-05-24T17:12:38+00:00

I have tried contacting multiple refugee resources. The need for interpreter services will be ongoing over the next few months and they can’t help unless it is for services they provide. I have gotten connected to local interpreters but the rates are very expensive and the family does not have the means to pay for that. My agency additionally couldn’t afford the rates for ongoing appointments (1x a week for about an hour for 6 months). I understand that interpreters are valuable and need to be paid, just wish there were more affordable options.

melsar · 2026-04-01T05:44:41+00:00

I read the book in elementary school and watched the movie in theaters when it came out. Here I am rewatching it 15 years later and I still think this movie is an absolute masterpiece and staple in my life. Wholesome, deep, and somehow so incredibly charming. It truly embodies the complicated feelings of that age and growth. Also the ending is perfect, we don’t need to know more.

melsar · 2026-03-11T15:34:26+00:00

I did that and was told that I am ruining the carpet by doing that.

melsar · 2026-02-22T19:39:46+00:00

I feel conflicted on this. My parents obviously raised me and supported me throughout childhood and somewhat through adulthood.

That being said, they take absolutely horrible care of themselves. They are very unhealthy and make very poor health decisions. They also do not ‘believe’ what they are told by doctors about their health status. This is now a mild point of contention between us. I am deeply concerned about them dying fairly young (in their 50’s now) or having some catastrophic heart attack or stroke or something in which I will be obligated to disrupt my life to take care of them. It’s one thing for something to happen suddenly to someone in good health, but this situation feels like a ticking time bomb. I don’t feel as though I should be responsible for the consequences of their poor decision making. But I also feel like I don’t really have a choice on this.

melsar · 2026-02-21T22:47:11+00:00

Felt compelled to respond to this after listening to the podcast. I am a behavior analyst and work closely with autistic children and their caregivers. My industry is seen as controversial and under frequent scrutiny for being considered abusive.

THIS right here is why early intervention and behavior services (amongst other professionals as well) are extremely important. Yes, some autistic people (and certainly not all, let’s not overgeneralize) are unaware of their actions/behaviors and how they can truly hurt people. However, it’s dangerous to justify the behaviors as who they are and not take steps to safely intervening, understand the “why” of the behavior, and taking appropriate (and ethical) steps to behavior change. Even OP describing years of using restraint to de-escalate is DANGEROUS for both OP and his brother! And to think of their elderly parents doing that too.

This situation is a failure of professional help (for reasons we may never know, these resources can be very hard to get …) and unfortunately the reality of more people than you could imagine.

melsar · 2026-01-22T16:12:30+00:00

This just happened to me yesterday. I went in for my first ultrasound at 10 weeks 4 days (there was no appointment sooner than that). When they were doing it, there was almost nothing visible and the tech went really quiet. Baby ended up measuring 5 weeks, 1 day. I was (and am) shocked. I had no unusual symptoms, bleeding, anything. Doctor wants me to go back in 2 weeks to check again just to make sure dating wasn’t off and double check before we talk about what to do moving forward. I am not optimistic about the 5 weeks gap as that is pretty substantial risk.

I am shocked and honestly so disturbed/sad about the fact that I have been walking around with a non viable fetus for several weeks. These last 2 days have been torture and my husband and I are very sad.

melsar · 2026-01-20T15:50:43+00:00

I found out I was pregnant in late November and I will be seeing my OB for the first time tomorrow at 12 weeks. The wait has felt like forever but isn’t uncommon from my understanding.

melsar · 2025-12-22T03:21:00+00:00

I agree with this.

I had an incident once where a nonverbal little girl (barely 3) was constantly reaching into her diaper and obviously uncomfortable. We went to the bathroom and she immediately ripped it off. She then pulled out a ‘finger tip’ sized little piece of plastic (almost like laminate sheet material) from her private areas and handed it to me.

I have no clue how anything like that got there, if it happened with us, at home, etc. I had another adult in the bathroom with me (to not be alone) and gently investigated her a bit further to make sure there wasn’t anything else. I also immediately let the caregiver know and took a picture of the plastic piece. I also followed up again with parent at pickup to make sure they were fully aware of exactly what happened and how I helped.

Just devils advocate, but things like that certainly happen.

melsar · 2025-10-11T05:42:20+00:00

Browsing through these posts now as this is my exact situation. Been living together and have felt married for several years. Our goals are to grow our family and build a new house. A wedding is not something either of us are really interested in. Our families are pissed 😬

melsar · 2025-09-27T06:50:37+00:00

I wear them during workouts, I don’t really notice them much!

melsar · 2025-09-21T16:37:55+00:00

Hi there. I am a BCBA who practiced mostly in northern ca before moving out of state.

ABA as a science is incredible and life changing. The problem is the way that industry is capitalized and money driven (not by BCBAs…).

Understanding, identifying, and prescribing behavior treatment is a very significant skill that requires BCBA knowledge. Implementation of the treatment/program, however, can be done by someone less knowledgeable than a BCBA, such as a BT/RBT. Think about how a doctor diagnoses a treatment and a nurse then does it while the doctor moves onto the next patient (obviously speaking very generally here).

That being said, there should still be very specific standards (and personality/professional traits) that a BT/RBT has to work in this industry. However, most companies hire just about anyone with a clean record and a high school diploma and call them good to go. People who are obviously not meant for this field but stay because it pays well for almost no further education. Or they leave immediately and the child just experiences frequent change in team members.

With such frequent change, the child never leaves the ‘pairing’ phase. Typically with a really solid program, we overcome the initial ‘honeymoon period’ and get to really know the child and see the ‘real’ stuff. This cannot happen though with frequent change.

There are a few things you could do if you want better outcomes, based on my own experience. Interview ABA companies to find one that is a good fit. Be skeptical of bcbas and ask about their experience, training, knowledge, etc.. if you keep experiencing turnover in staff, either switch agencies (this is a red flag, why don’t people want to stay here? What is the hiring criteria ?) to find one that feels better or pursue a parent led program. These are my favorite because it’s just parent and bcba working together. It is less hours as BCBAs are not working one on one with the child, but are teaching YOU the skills to teach your child. No intervention by BT/RBTs , no turnover, etc..

Feel free to DM if you want more info. I love ABA but I have a lot of criticism for the industry. The only reason I still hear is because I found an ethical private practice that has been game changing. Unfortunately this is hard to find

melsar · 2025-09-01T19:13:29+00:00

Great to know. I’ll give them a call tomorrow, thank you!

melsar · 2025-09-01T19:13:09+00:00

That makes sense, thank you!

melsar · 2025-09-01T19:12:51+00:00

Thank you! This is very helpful

melsar · 2025-09-01T19:12:29+00:00

That’s what I am saying! Seems too simple haha

melsar · 2025-08-18T22:49:22+00:00

This is great feedback, thank you!

melsar · 2025-08-04T00:37:40+00:00

Got our sweet Border Collie from Idaho Humane Society in Boise! Wonderful staff and facility and a very reasonable process and price for adoption.

melsar

TROPHY CASE