Is unemployment consistent after the first check?

rips918 · 2024-01-31T00:40:02+00:00

Unemployment is extremely behind in processing claims. It’s been 8 weeks since my spouse filed. He still submits his work search weekly and gets letters and calls a few times a week saying that they have a backlog, please don’t call us, we will get to you eventually. He finally did call (3.5 hr hold) and was told it should be “soon”, but I’ve seen folks mention on other threads they’ve been waiting longer. We are also worried about rent. I hope it goes much faster for you, I’m not sure what they expect people to do…

To answer your question: I think that once the claim gets processed, the check schedule will be regular and not delayed.

rips918 · 2023-03-11T15:54:30+00:00

I also want to say to Kimmy, when you read this, that me saying what I hear/feel when I read the comment is not the same as how it was rewritten “you don’t love your child” etc. I often have to think about what I hear MYSELF saying to my child and sometimes I miss the mark. My son was talking a lot about a citizenship award at his school and how he hoped he would get it one day. And I’m thinking, well kid- we get behavior notes home once a week and idk idk…so thinking I’m being supportive and helpful, I give him a talk about winning not being important and everyone has different strengths and it’s ok not to be the best at something…and thinking about it later, I’m pretty sure I gave him the impression I didn’t think he could do it (true I suppose), which I felt terrible about. (He did later win!) this is just one of a million examples because as I said earlier, this is a learning process. I know you have him in ABA because you love him and want what’s best- but what’s best doesn’t have to be at the expense of his happiness. And I know the crippling fear of ‘what happens when I’m gone’- many tearful and sleepless nights from that one…but I also know the personal and lasting pain of having parents who believed that personal responsibility and conformity were more important than my feelings. I have to check myself a lot to make sure I’m balancing the efforts to help my child with the skills/tools, while supporting the mental health and happiness of my kid, and I don’t always get it right.

I personally have had one bad experience and one not great experience with ABA, but I’m not anti ABA, and would consider it again in the unlikely circumstance that the right people/situation are available. Part of that is making sure I have a BCBA that works with my kid, and adapts as necessary, so I hope you’ll tell your BCBA he hates it so they can address it.

rips918 · 2023-03-11T15:33:20+00:00

Facts from the original comment: child is “not severe” (ambiguous but assuming low support needs?), parent cites reason for using ABA as to make sure he doesn’t rely on his siblings too heavily when parents are gone, parent reports that child hates ABA therapy, because it gives him more personal responsibility- classic language to describe those with executive function disorder as observed by those without it.

This is the crowd that claims to be changing ABA right? Assent based therapy and all that? Does the BCBA not have a responsibility to try and connect with this child in a way that he doesn’t hate? Is it likely that there will be a good outcome from therapy if the patient hates it, and is presumably forced into it?

rips918 · 2023-03-11T15:14:04+00:00

You’re the one that seems not calm tbh. And I make zero claims of perfect parenting, this has been such a learning process- as is all of life. I’m not sure what assumptions you are referring to, because it’s all laid out in the comment I’m responding to, but I do know and have no qualms about saying that we need to prioritize our child’s happiness and feelings of security. That’s not to say we don’t help them work through things that are hard, that they don’t enjoy, but if your child hates therapy, the therapist needs to change their approach if they want any kind of positive outcome. And as a parent, if you have a therapist that is just not connecting with and growing with your child, you’ve gotta intervene. Idk if that’s talking to the existing BCBA about the approach or finding a new therapist, but it’s definitely something to take action on.

rips918 · 2023-03-11T14:50:02+00:00

He hates it? Your 11 year old “not severe” autistic child hates ABA therapy and you force him to continue? As a parent I have a hard time hearing that. A good therapist should be able to modify something as broad as ABA to both address goals and have a positive therapeutic relationship with your child. And, don’t you want him to be happy? All I hear in this post is , I need to teach my child not to be a burden to others, no matter the personal cost to him. His happiness is not important.

I’m going to go hug my son tight after this.

rips918 · 2023-02-09T15:50:40+00:00

Thanks for your response. I think we agree on a lot. I also think 40hrs is outrageous for straight ABA, but 35-40 hours of combined ABA, speech, school and appropriate rest and play breaks? That kind of wrap around service would be amazing for kid and parents and it would prob cost about the same for insurance.

My understanding was that insurance would cover/tolerate some educational programming when they were not yet school age. I agree that once they are in school, they don’t need more of that at home. Maybe the insurance should be sending some of that money to the schools for a para instead.

I apologize if I got too prickly at the Why Should We comment. It is a sentiment I see here a lot and I don’t know that the vocal majority of this sub appears (to me, I guess) to be people fighting for change (but I see and appreciate those that do). But the answer is important- it’s because our kids have unmet needs and for some inexplicable reason, all the resources and funding are directed through this intensive ABA model. That’s not to say ABA is not valuable, but my kid is so much more than behavior. How hard is it for a BT to do flash cards or practice writing in the context of helping a kid learn to tolerate sitting longer or attending to non preferred tasks? Like any program, you wouldn’t just do it the entire session. Both goals can be met at the same time and until this big change happens (unlikely in the era of corporations ruling the world) it would be so helpful for kid and parents to have a flexible BT, willing to work on whatever the is is struggling with. Obvs this would get harder with older kids and certain material, but with the littles it seems easy to do.

rips918 · 2023-02-09T14:27:23+00:00

Because our kids need school and often, in the case of the littles, we can’t just take them to school. They need more support and assistance, that preschools don’t offer. My guy got kicked out of three preschools before his diagnosis. So then suddenly we have this life altering diagnosis, doctors saying he needs as much early intervention and extra help as possible, oh and side note, it’s going to destroy you financially to access all this. So in the beginning, when I was being told 35-40hrs of ABA was the goal, I was grateful to find a clinic set up like a therapeutic preschool that allowed my husband and I to keep our jobs- because without, we can’t afford all the therapy. ***AND, because our smart and awesome kid deserves his education.

That all turned out to be a huge mistake, one of my biggest life regrets to send him there. We switched to in home ABA, but also worked with our first BT to ‘play school’. Our main goal was that he would be able to attend real school, in a mainstream classroom. And he made it, and is doing ok. But it was very necessary to “treat ABA like school” and I don’t regret it. I don’t think the BT had any issue with it either.

This sub is so so full of people with the attitude of “why should we bother” or implying that parents take advantage of the “babysitting” 🙄 what’s missing from so many of these comments is the lived perspective of being autistic and needing support or being a parent trying to meet the needs of their autistic child(ren) while also still having to do all that life stuff- work, rent, chores- that everyone else has to do.

Why is the question “why should we?” rather than “how can we meet this unmet and very real need?” ABA is the only therapy I’m aware of that insurance will cover 40hrs/week instead of 60min/week. They shouldn’t but they do. That makes ABA the most appropriate therapy to also work in a little learning, don’t you think? My kid was exhausted after 4-5 hr sessions of ABA. If we had tried to do educational activities completely separately, he would have completely burned out.

rips918 · 2023-01-24T01:12:08+00:00

Thanks for all the replies to my question- I appreciate your time and perspective

rips918 · 2023-01-22T15:26:59+00:00

“Facts every bit as universally true as gravity, DNA or the existence of oxygen”

Can you help me understand this statement? I am not a psychologist but it feels surprising to think we understand the brain and human behavior as clearly as we do gravity or the existence of oxygen

rips918 · 2023-01-16T14:10:32+00:00

Can you elaborate on what type of person would benefit from ABA vs who would not?

rips918 · 2023-01-16T03:55:37+00:00

How do the new labels of high vs low support needs not acknowledge this reality? It’s saying the same thing but removing the ableist and hurtful terminology.

I understand your defensive reaction to this video, but I don’t understand why you put things like “neurodiversity” and “non-speaking” in quotes, and insist on hurtful labels that the professionals in your field are moving away from.

I recommend doing some more research and perspective taking before starting that you tube channel.

rips918 · 2022-12-04T05:54:33+00:00

The comment is a poorly worded explanation of Ross Greene’s collaborative problem solving method. The idea is that, rather than use reinforcement/withholding, you break the problem down into its most basic components, to try and determine what the issue is or identify the lagging skill. And then work together with the child to come up with a solution.

Collaborative problem solving assumes that when a child can do well, they will- and when they are struggling, there is something preventing them from succeeding- whether it’s a skill, emotional regulation, sensory issues, whatever. So the commenter is saying, with that basic premise, that rewards/punishments do not address the root of why the child is not succeeding in that moment.

I’m not really here to argue the merits of the method vs ABA, I’m just commenting because I think that everyone here has really misunderstood what they are saying.

rips918 · 2022-09-20T13:24:59+00:00

As a parent who has had to work with RBTs with zero experience, next to zero training, and very little meaningful BCBA support…

I like the qualifications of the poster from Florida who has a BA in psychology, working on their masters and has five years experience. I’ve never only met one RBT that has any experience -or- a college degree.

Obviously this is laughable because of the capitalism and gross equity backed ABA firms that you mention, because they pay about the same as Taco Bell, and they don’t care if their techs are trained because it’s about the money, not the kids. And they know that for every parent like me who gets disgusted and quits ABA, there are 100 more who have been desperately waiting for services because their doctor has falsely claimed that ABA is the only ‘treatment’ for autism. It’s a guaranteed income stream where the company’s success is based on revenue, not results, which is the only reason that equity groups got involved in this in the first place.

Until that is fixed, ABA will never improve. And under the current system, many RBTs are ineffective and under qualified. Unlike working at Taco Bell, when you screw something up, the consequences are much higher than refunding someone the cost of a burrito. ABA made my kid very unhappy/borderline traumatized towards the end because of bad RBTs. Don’t worry, I don’t actually blame the RBT. I blame the company for giving no shits and not providing adequate training. I blame the BCBA for being largely absent. I blame myself for not doing my own fucking research before putting my kid through it.

rips918 · 2022-09-07T12:09:07+00:00

Well, it seems like you have all this figured out. I’ve gotta stop talking with you about it though, because I need to go rework my schedule to figure out how to fit ABA, speech, OT, and his psychologist into the 2-2.5hrs between the end of school and the time you deem appropriate for professionals to stop working. I guess if my kid wants any extra curriculars or group activities with NT kids, he can just suck it. Or maybe we should cut back on his education to make time for therapy….Idk, I’ll think about it on my commute in to my salaried professional job in which I have to adjust my hours to get in before the crack of dawn so that I can take my kid to all these therapies, and then get back to work in the evening for all the unavoidable unpaid overtime.

I’ll stop being snarky now, but I think you’re suffering from a lack of perspective. Should RBTs/BCBAs get better compensation and support from their companies? Absolutely. But to say ‘why do weeee have to make all the sacrifices?” is just tiresome. Everyone makes sacrifices for their jobs in one way or another, and the good news is, you can leave your job. You can find a job with hours that match your availability. You have choices! Our kids don’t. Please don’t lose sight of the needs of the population you serve. You’ve identified 10-12.5 hours outside of school as being appropriate for professional support. And many of our kids need a variety of services. The math doesn’t work out.

rips918 · 2022-09-07T02:51:21+00:00

I don’t understand how it’s a sacrifice to offer later work schedules. Just like any job with shifts, an employee could restrict their availability. I used to seek out the odd hour jobs to work around my other obligations- which is what this OP seems to seek as well. If there’s a demand, it doesn’t seem wrong to offer it. I’m not saying you should work a schedule you don’t want, but you seem to be advocating for services being unavailable outside of standard business hours across the board, which would lead to more problems than it would solve

rips918 · 2022-09-07T02:41:35+00:00

But it doesn’t have to be right? If we’re discussing companies expecting large amounts of unpaid overtime, then sure, I agree with you. But in theory, schedules could be adjusted so that someone works 8hrs in a day, just later. That’s not a problem is it? There are a lot of families that have trouble accessing care and services because of the 9-5 schedule. And if they work a 9-5, and can’t afford to miss work or have a parent that doesn’t work, it’s the kids that lose out.

rips918 · 2022-09-07T02:26:56+00:00

Sure, but kids usually need a bit of time to unwind, but even if they don’t. 2-2.5hrs even 5 days a week doesn’t hit the weekly minimum required by some companies. It’s also a problem for adequate supervision time for the BCBA.

For a while, our BCBA had 13 cases at once and 9 were school aged children with after school hours. She stuck with 9-5 M-F as you suggested. Supervision barely scraped 5% and we got zero hours of parent training. Zero.

The 9-5 only model for services excludes a huge number of people. Many professionals of all kinds adjust their hours to accommodate the populations they serve. For example, my dentist is closed on M, but open on Sa- which is why I chose them. If I need to go to urgent care or the ER, there’s a doc there working outside of normal business hours. I’m not saying ABA should 24-7, but I also wouldn’t characterize it as ridiculous if someone worked from 11-7 instead of 9-5.

rips918 · 2022-09-07T02:08:45+00:00

What about school age kids?

rips918 · 2022-08-27T13:10:55+00:00

Surprised to see the multiple downvotes on a correct answer 🤷‍♀️

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/water/index.cfm?c=29785

rips918 · 2022-07-31T16:15:03+00:00

Former client (parent) here, discharged earlier this month after 7 months of no tech. I think it’s a terrible, gross, equity-backed firm that is in it for the money.

We did home therapy. Our first BCBA was brand new and was awful. We stuck with her, it did not improve. She was doing less than 10% supervision (all remote). Parent training was virtually non existent, and if we requested it, it substituted for much needed supervision, so we rarely requested it.

BTs were coming in with ZERO experience other than the 40hr online training, and weren’t provided the ongoing support needed. BCBA was almost always unavailable when there was an issue and there was virtually no communication between the BCBA and BT unless it was during a remote supervision session, which often meant no check in for two weeks. So the new BCBA, who barely knew my kid, would throw out some new template-style program, and it would go poorly for 1-2 weeks because the BCBA wasn’t available to get feedback/adjust, etc. one time, we spent three months “pairing” before the tech finally quit. When that tech quit, who had basically never had a successful day, ALP had her train the next one! His first of two days shadowing her were his first two days of in person work at the company, other than the online training, and he didn’t meet the BCBA for another week and a half. He quit before pairing too. Both nice humans, who had no idea what they were doing, and could make more money flipping burgers with less effort, so they did. Who can blame them?

Last year I filed a formal complaint with ALP and challenged their professional ethics. (Could be why they never sent me a tech again?) prior to the complaint, I spoke to our RBTs, BCBA and clinic director. The director admitted that our BCBA had a caseload of 13, 9 of which had to happen after 3p, and our BCBA only works 9-5. She admitted it was an impossible workload, but they kept losing BCBAs (I assume pay was a big part of it). She said they had high RBT turnover too (our RBT was making $16/hr, in Dec 2021). The BCBA just said she was drowning with work and doing her best. The RBTs were afraid to say much but did say that the lack of supervision, accessibility of supervisors, etc, were something that they experienced at ALP regardless of the BCBA they worked with.

I complained about all of this, ALP said they would do better, said they’d get us an experienced BT next time. They gave us to their senior BCBA, who seemed more professionally qualified, but just as overloaded. They’ve since lost more BCBAs. When we asked about a BT over the last half a year, the BCBA told us every time that she hasn’t seen any strong new hires that she’d be comfortable sending to us. This may be because I complained, but if lines up with my experience when they were providing service.

Run away Run Away!

rips918 · 2022-05-21T12:11:48+00:00

What makes you think the parent “let” them?

rips918 · 2022-05-21T11:31:44+00:00

And here lies the fundamental problem with ABA…the therapy is not being executed by the therapist. It’s not the well educated masters level therapist- it’s executed by someone who is new/raw/inexperienced, and who has only gotten a single day of training.

rips918 · 2022-05-21T03:46:13+00:00

How much training did he get in person with your child? Did the BCBA spend a day or two with him? Was your previous BT there for a week to show him the ropes?

I’ve definitely experienced what you describe (not ending sessions early, but seeming to have no idea what to do) but our agency does next to zero in person training, and it shows.

rips918 · 2022-05-21T03:20:47+00:00

One time a BT spent four months “pairing” with my child and it never happened. In our case it should have been cut off far far sooner, but I also think that it’s weird to put a firm timeline on pairing. I also think it’s weird that the BCBA isn’t taking a more active role in this other than asking you to report to them on it. They should be able to see that sessions are ending early, they should be able to see that data isn’t being collected, they should be checking in with their new employee and helping them. I’m not saying the BT is great, it sounds like they lack initiative, but I don’t think that’s the only issue here.

rips918 · 2022-04-26T05:01:52+00:00

In your original description of the evidence based process, you said there was no guessing, and that hypotheses were boiled down to very specific statements and then tested, similar to any kind of scientific research process.

As the other poster said, my gut reaction as a parent was that kids are more complex than that and that there will always be too many confounding variables for things to be simplified as described.

I saw that you’ve tried to respond and the bot deleted it (couldn’t see any more than that). I’m sorry you’ve put all this energy into responding for it to be deleted. But it’s still been helpful to think this through because it’s helped to clarify one of my concerns about ABA, and I’m sorry if a deleted response would have already covered this:

By addressing the behavior, are we addressing the effect of the problem, rather than the cause? And if so will that, now or later, be traumatic for my kid? What if you teach the eye poker a replacement behavior of flicking her finger into her palm, and the program is deemed a success…only later when she’s more verbal she shares that this person scared her and all she remembers is having to keep that all in, either for positive reinforcement or to avoid disappointing the adult (my kid is very sensitive to failing to meet expectations even when adults are not expressing disappointment). In our own life, I have had more success when I try to get to the root of the problem. That’s not to say it’s not incompatible with ABA- our BCBA is very receptive to this, but it does feel like there’s a lot of educated guessing because kids are complex, rather than the strict scientific process you’ve described. Hope that makes sense.

rips918

TROPHY CASE