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A Message from Laura
Hello,
Happy March everyone, the first day of spring will be here before we know it! It's been a long winter and even a 40 degree day warrants some time spent outside. It looks as though the groundhog may have gotten it right this year, thankfully.
I recently attended a training that spoke about transparency regarding the cost of therapy and it really resonated with me. Why is it people can find out how much an oil change costs by going on a website, but the majority of service oriented sites do not provide this information? This month's article addresses this issue and also provides some information regarding cost of services that you may not be aware of.
Be sure to also take note of the upcoming events. We have some exciting opportunities for those of you that want to learn about how our services can help your family. I will be hosting an online webinar introducing RDI on March 3rd. For those of you who would like a more intensive, in person introduction, we will be having a parent workshop at our office in April.
Hope to see you there!
Laura Hynes
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Upcoming Events
March 3rd: Online Webinar; Introduction to RDI 7-9 pm Click here for more information April 16th: RDI Parent Workshop Parent Workshop Flyer May 2-5: YAI International Conference Laura will be presenting on RDI Click here for more information Accepting Registration for: (click the links below for information) Mommy and Me Classes Social Groups Introduction to RDI; group sessions |
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Check This Out
Cutting Edge Therapies for Autism
In the spirit of being informed about what is out there and available, check out the 2011-2012 edition of Cutting Edge Therapies for Autism. The RDI chapter is written by Laura Hynes.
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Transparency and Therapy
As I mentioned earlier, I attended a training session that addressed the issue of transparency in the medical field. Meaning, why is it that very few medical or therapeutic agencies advertise their prices? My own agency, until very recently, fell into this category. I spoke with various professionals to find out the motivation to leave this information out. What I was able to find was that there are two types of service providers out there, those whose services are funded and those whose services are not.
This issue became multi-layered for me, the more I thought about it. - Parents want to know what services are going to cost them as they consider their options
- Many parents are not aware of what funded services actually cost.
- There is a lack of awareness of "non-funded" services
Only recently, as I am writing this article did I include prices on my website. Many professionals would disagree with this choice. I, however, feel that it is the respectful thing to do. Making a phone call or sitting down for a consultation about your child is stressful enough, parents don't need the added stress of talking about money.
I truly believe there is value in the work we do here at Extraordinary Minds. I see families' lives change for the better every day and no one can put a monetary value on that.
That being said, it's important for you to have a frame of reference as to what other things actually cost. Although services are provided free of charge to families in New York, they are far from free. I did some research into cost of therapies and it was not easy information to find.
The following information is from the NYS Department of Health's website. Your early intervention evaluations in New York City include a core evaluation which consists of a social history, psychological and educational evaluation. This costs $514. Any additional evaluation (speech, OT or PT) costs $214 each. Your home and community based therapy sessions including education, speech, OT, PT, costs $81 per half hour session. An extended session which is 60 minutes, costs $114. One can derive from that information that a 40 hour per week ABA program provided by a special educator costs $18,240 a month. Your service coordinator costs $19 per quarter hour. That means that 15 minute phone call costs $19.
The following information is from the New York State Education Department's Website. Your Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) evaluations include a psychological which costs $321; a social history which costs $192; a medical from you doctor which costs $241 and any related service evaluation (speech, OT or PT) costs $214 each. Your speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy cost $45 per half hour session. Counseling, if provided by a school psychologist costs $45 per half hour session; if provided by a social worker, $40 per half hour session. The following is based on a school located in Staten Island, New York. Rates vary slightly from school to school. A Special Education Itinerant Teacher costs up to $102 an hour. A 12 month, full day, center based classroom seat costs $43,604. A 12 month, half day, center based seat costs $45,890. Yes, a half day seat is more expensive than a full day seat. A 12 month, integrated half day seat costs $28,950 and a 12 month, integrated full day seat costs $29,961
Here in New York, we are lucky to have a system that absorbs all of the cost of the aformentioned school and therapies for children with disabilities. In states as close as New Jersey, early intervention including all the above listed services are provided on a sliding scale and there are no state funded preschool programs.
As a provider of a service that is not yet funded, parents most often come to me when their children are a bit older. They are not satisfied with the progress their child has made in the funded systems here in New York and did their own research to see what other services are out there. Many of these parents express frustration that at the time of their child's evaluations and diagnosis, they were not made aware of any other options outside of the programs that are funded.
Often times, professionals are not aware of therapies that are out there as options for children, particularly children with and autism diagnosis. It is often believed that ABA is the only treatment methodology for autism spectrum disorders. Others would argue that ABA is the only evidence based treatment for autism, an issue I will address in an upcoming article.
Staten Island's borough president recently organized a rally for autism and distributed what was referred to as a comprehensive guide to autism spectrum disorders. This guide included only those services that are provided free of charge to families. There were agencies that provide wonderful services to families that have children with autism that were not included merely because they are not funded. This is not only a disservice to families, it is disrespectful. Shouldn't parents have the option of making an informed decision based on what would work best for their family? Click here to read the letter that was sent to the borough president from which there was no response.
Transparency should not only be about money, it is also about providing the information necessary for parents to make an informed decision for their child. However, the more I thought about this, one piece of information kept jumping out at me. Since children are evaluated by the same system that provide the services and those evaluation sites only recommend the services they provide, maybe money has more to do with this than any of us would like to admit.
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Extraordinary Minds is dedicated to providing quality, individualized, family based interventions to address the deficits in autism and other developmental disabilities.
Extraordinary Minds
308 Forest Avenue
Staten Island, New York 10301
(347) 564-8451
L.Hynes@yahoo.com
www.extraordinaryminds.org |
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