 |
 What
is autism?
What is the EAP program?
Why
is research important?
What is the goal of your program?
Why
is it important to start early?
How many hours will my child need
to do therapy?
What do parents or caregivers
have to do?
Who are the people that will work
with my child?
How do I find and hire my own
team?
What makes EAP/WEAP different
from other providers?
What if a child attends school?
What
is the process of getting into the EAP program?
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(Taken
from www.wiautism.com)
Autism is classified by the American Psychiatric Association
as a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (APA, 1994). It is defined
by symptoms appearing before the age of three, which reflect
delayed or abnormal development in three areas: Language
Development - doesn’t understand or say many words,
repeats things (“echoes”) or uses the third person.
Social Skills - not interested in peers, no
imitative play, poor eye contact, doesn’t respond when
spoken to, doesn’t show/point to things.
Behavioral Repertoire - repetitively plays with
objects in a specific way or insists that things be done the
same way or engages in self stimulatory actions such as hand
flapping, staring at hands or fingers or smelling things.
Many children with autism are also mentally
retarded, but the presence and severity of specific symptoms
and degree of mental retardation is quite variable. Aside
from sharing problems in the above areas, children with autism
are quite different from each other. Some are affectionate,
some do have pretend play, some speak fairly well, and some
do very little self-stimulating.
About early social delays
• Parents may be concerned that there is "something
different" by the age of two
• Language development is usually, but not always, behind
that of peers
• The child likes to do his own thing. He/She may watch
others but usually does not interact
• Plays with toys in unusual or repetitive ways; pretend
play is limited
• Some children seem aloof and are difficult to engage;
others are affectionate, even clingy
• Some children engage in odd mannerisms but many children
under three do not
Help is available
Children with social and language difficulties share some
similarities with those with attention problems, learning
problems, developmental language problems, and autism spectrum
disorders.
Before the 1990's, these children did not receive
much help and many of them did not get much better. Now, research
shows that about half of even the more severely affected children
can improve enough to be like their friends and succeed in
school.
During the toddler and preschool years, children
are able to learn rapidly. For this reason, children with
social and language difficulties show much greater improvement
if they begin treatment before age five and receive intensive
treatment (35 to 40 hours per week). |
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| Our program is an intensive
therapy program for children with autism, Asperger’s
syndrome, and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders. It
is based on scientific research and backed by over ten years
of clinical expertise in working with children with autism.
Our supervisors train therapists in homes directly with children
to teach the specific skills the children need to learn. It
is a highly individualized program based on a curriculum proven
to be effective in helping children overcome their challenges.
Parents are an important part of the program and are always
encouraged to participate in a variety of ways.
Research published by Dr. Ivar Lovaas (1987)
and by Dr. Glen Sallows and Tamlynn Graupner (November 2005)
shows that Applied Behavior Analysis is the most effective
intervention for changing outcomes currently available for
children with autism and related disorders. This research
is important because it shows what is truly effective in helping
remediate the deficits in autism. In other words, it shows
us what works! Because of the research, we know that our program
is designed to meet the needs of this special group of children,
and we know that the activities that they will participate
in will help make a difference in their learning.
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Our treatment philosophy is that every
child is able to learn. Our goal is to take each child from
where they start to the very best outcome that he or she is
capable of attaining. We work to address the needs of each
child and family individually, and using our curriculum, design
each program especially for the child and family. Another
important goal is to equip each family with the skills and
information they need in order to successfully educate, manage
and advocate for their child.
Research has shown that early intervention is best. Our brains
are most malleable at the earliest ages, and are able to make
the most growth while we are very young. It is important that
children learn how to learn before they enter school, so that
learning time in school is not wasted. Typically developing
children learn naturally from their environment and exposure
to new experiences. Children with autism generally do not
learn from the environment as readily, and need to be taught
specific skills such as attention, compliance, and imitation
before they are ready to learn in a group setting.
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The number of therapy hours is prescribed
after an initial evaluation of the child. This recommendation
is individualized to each child based on his or her strengths
and challenges. Research has shown that children who receive
more therapy (between 25-40 hours weekly) make more significant
gains and maintain them more successfully over time than children
who receive lower hours (under 20 hours weekly). Younger children
(under the age of three) may be recommended to receive between
15-24 hours of one-one therapy weekly. Children three years
and older may be recommended to receive 30-40 hours weekly.
Some families may choose to do more hours, and some children,
especially those who are a bit older, have language and attend
some school, may require less. It is recommended for each
therapist to work with the child between 6 and 12 hours each
week; three to five therapists typically work on one child’s
team.
Schedules are different for each child, depending on family
needs, therapist availability, and the child’s best
learning hours. Each session includes a minimum of 15 minutes
break (outside of the learning room) for every 45 minutes.
The 45-minute session typically comprises of at least 50%
play in between short learning tasks. This is an example of
a 34-hour schedule for a child in our program:
Another example of a child’s schedule (18 hours) that
is just starting the program or is under three years old may
look like this:
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We encourage parents and caregivers to be very involved for
the entirety of their children’s programs. Some families
are not able to be as involved as they would like due to special
circumstances. We have experience working with a wide variety
of families and can individualize our interactions to make it
successful for everyone. Some ways in which parents are involved
include: Communicating with the Supervisor
their goals, priorities and concerns on a regular basis
Attending the team meetings held fortnightly
at their homes
Assisting with preparing materials for the
program (making simple learning cards, gathering toys and
other items)
Ensuring that children are well rested and
ready to learn for each therapy session
Ensuring that children receive the full amount
of therapy hours recommended on a regular basis
Consistently generalizing skills outside the
therapy environment |
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Each child in our program has a team of therapists hired by
the parents that provide therapy on a weekly basis. The bulk
of the weekly therapy is completed by Therapists,
who are typically college students or other paraprofessionals
who work part time and may be interested in the fields of
psychology, education, speech or other therapies or other
human services careers involving work with special needs children.
Therapists are trained and supervised by a Supervisor,
a college graduate with significant experience in facilitating
ABA programs for children with autism. This person is the
manager of the team and decides which items will be included
in therapy and how new skills will be taught. Supervisors
must have over 2000 hours of ABA experience and have completed
an intensive, training internship with EAP for 16 weeks prior
to taking their own cases. The entire team works under the
direction of a WEAP Senior Consultant,
such as Glen Sallows, Ph. D. or Michelle Sherman, M.S.W. with
expertise in the application of behavioral treatment for children
with autism. The WEAP Senior Consultant oversees all clinical
matters related to the program and meets with the family twice
yearly.
For a description of the treatment team, please
see “EAP Supervision
Models.” |
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EAP families find and hire the therapists to work with their
child. This allows families to choose candidates that best
suit the family and child. Paying therapists directly also
assists families in reducing the overall cost of running the
ABA program. EAP can assist families with this; included in
this packet is overall information on finding therapists,
an example advertisement, suggestions where to place the ad,
an application, and interview questions.
Finding and hiring therapists
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Research
Research is how we know that what we do
at WEAP actually works! We see it every day in the children
we serve, but we also have seen these positive results in
our own intensive clinical research following the guidelines
of the American Psychological Association. WEAP is part of
the international research team funded by the National Institute
of Mental Health and led by Dr. Ivar Lovaas of UCLA, who pioneered
ABA programming for young children with autism. In
fact, WEAP is the first research site to achieve a full replication
of Dr. Lovaas’ original 1987 study showing the effectiveness
of intensive ABA programming during the early childhood years.
All WEAP/EAP programs are organized and
facilitated according to the same principles and guidelines
found in our research. We pride ourselves on the publication
of the results of our longitudinal study in the November 2005
issue of the American Journal
on Mental Retardation.
Expertise
WEAP/EAP focuses on the quality of every
program we provide, and we have the expertise, training, and
experience to successfully facilitate programming for children
with a wide variety of strengths and challenges. Any ABA program
is only as good as the people running it. If a program is
run by one person without the support of more experienced
clinicians, the program is limited to the experiences and
strengths of just that one particular person. This
is why WEAP/EAP requires significant amounts of quality training
experiences and why we value consistent supervision of all
of our staff.
All Supervisors have over 2000 face-to-face
hours of ABA experience with children who have a wide range
of abilities and have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
In addition, WEAP/EAP requires applicants to complete an intensive
sixteen-week training internship prior to permanent hire as
an EAP Supervisor. During these sixteen weeks, each candidate
must successfully complete study in three strands: a classroom
or academic strand, a professionalism strand, and a clinical
strand. The classroom strand includes building relationships
with schools, setting up school readiness goals within the
home program and training school shadows. The professionalism
strand consists of developing communication and leadership
skills. The clinical strand features extensive training by
clinical supervisors and other experienced trainers to expand
and perfect therapeutic technique and broaden programming
skills. The clinical strand also features direct training
with approximately four children and teams. Once the Supervisor
Intern completes the sixteen week training, he / she receives
consistent supervision by highly experienced supervisors and
directors. The importance of
consistent clinical supervision cannot be overemphasized.
Consistent supervision ensures that each
child receives the highest quality intervention and a highly
individualized program that meets the needs of that unique
child. Without regular supervision by more experienced staff,
families and children are at risk for delays in programming
and missed opportunities for growth.
Experience
WEAP has been providing intensive services
for Wisconsin children with autism spectrum disorders for
over ten years. We have worked
with over 1000 Wisconsin children and families in a wide variety
of areas and situations. We have
worked with children from a variety of geographic locations,
cultures, ethnic groups, socio-economic statuses, and family
situations. We have worked collaboratively with hundreds of
other professionals across many disciplines to ensure that
children receive the services they need to make significant
progress. We have contributed to the quality and availability
of autism treatment professionals by training hundreds of
interested people, including therapists, clinical psychologists,
teachers, school psychologists, district administrators, and
many other professionals. Some of these people continue to
provide services as WEAP employees, and some have moved on
to other autism related positions. Our
goal in all of our endeavors remains to provide the highest
quality therapy services for children with autism and related
disorders. |
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School can be an important component
of a child’s educational plan. If a child is already
in school, our Supervisors often work with parents and school
staff to determine the appropriateness of the educational
setting for the child based on his or her current level of
functioning and individual needs. Should adjustment be warranted,
our Supervisors can assist parents and schools in making meaningful
changes to increase the success of the school and home programs.
In addition, Supervisors have experience in working collaboratively
with school teams to ensure that goals and behavior plans
are consistent between home and school.
If a child does not yet attend school,
our Supervisors will make a recommendation regarding school
attendance and appropriate placements based on the child’s
current level of functioning and educational needs. It is
sometimes recommended that participation in group learning
environments like early childhood or preschool be delayed
until the child has mastered the important first learning
skills such as attending, compliance, imitation, a form of
communication and behavioral control. Once these skills have
been established, successful inclusion in group learning settings
is much more easily achieved. |
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Application for our program can usually be completed
within a few weeks. Wait time before starting the program
is usually associated with finding and hiring a team of therapists.
The intake process is as follows:
- The family makes the initial phone call to
EAP.
- The EAP Director or Supervisor has an initial
meeting with the child and family.
- The EAP Supervisor meets and works with the
child and family; an initial workshop is scheduled.
- Once a therapy team is hired, an initial
workshop will be scheduled to train the therapists and then
the child can begin the program as soon as possible.
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