Interviewing potential ABA tutor on Sat. What to ask?

[ovenchips]

I have a DD(6) with severe autism and who is non-verbal.

We live in the middle of absolute nowhere in terms of access to ABA. But have actually found a fab ABA supervisor/consultant and through them are interviewing an ABA tutor tomorrow.

We want to do a part-time after-school programme. The supervisor/consultant already knows the tutor a little and is confident they have the experience and knowledge for the role. So really it's a question of seeing if their availability matches our needs and crucially if they are the right person to work with our DD.

Our DD will be there for the meeting so we'll get a feeling from how they get on. But we also need to have an informal interview.

Can anyone help with questions we need to ask? I don't really know a lot about the implementation of ABA, only a little about the theory, so it rather feels like I'm interviewing for a job I don't actually know about myself.

[bialystockandbloom]

Don't worry, when everyone starts a programme it's the same thing - you don't know what to look for really as the candidates know a lot more about aba than you do!

The things that have mattered most to us, and which have proved to be most important in a tutor are:

• enthusiasm - both for the job and for the child
  
• how they get on with your dd (eg we had one candidate once who didn't even look at ds throughout the whole interview!)
  
• calmness - avoid the manic, shrieky ones who scream"well done" in a loud high voice
  
• clear, slow speech - if your dd is non-verbal the last thing you need is someone speaking nineteen to the dozen
  
• ones that ask a lot of questions about your child are promising, shows they're interested in your dd and the programme
  

A lot of it is personality and how well you like them - they will become a huge part of your life, and are in your house a lot, so you have to get on with them! If your consultant can vouch for their experience & skill that's great - most of the rest is down to how they get on with you and dd really. Listen to your instinct.

Also we do a test when interviewing - get them to spend 15 minutes or so playing with your dd. Get them to play a game which she loves (so it's more easy to engage with her), then one she finds more challenging, and see how they approach this. We have seen candidates just give up instantly on the harder game if ds didn't engage with them - which told us a lot!

Good luck - I am sure you won't regret starting ABA.

[bialystockandbloom]

Sorry didn't actually give you any questions to ask. Here are some off the top of my head:

Why/how did you get into aba?
what do you most enjoy about working with asd children?
What do you enjoy the least?
Examples of how they have used their creativity to teach skills (they need to show they can think creatively to use every opportunity to teach the targets set).
What do they think their biggest skills & strengths are, and how would they use these in an ABA programme?

We also asked the usual stuff about where they see themselves in x years.

Also ask about data keeping / managing the files - if they are your only tutor it will fall on them to do this so they need to be sufficiently experienced in this (sounds like they are but worth checking).

HTH.

[ovenchips]

It certainly does. Reassuring and really, really useful. Thanks so much.

[GloriaTheHighlyFlavouredLady]

Like Bialy, we get the tutors to play with the child on a game that they love so are easily engaged, and then a game that the child finds tough and resists.

It is SO telling how they approach the latter. It is surprising how many raise their voices and get frustrated. The best ones focus on the relationship and concentrate on completing as much of the task as possible but not at the expense of the child's motivation and their relationship. Leaving some uncompleted is okay, and they'll work on getting further next time (if there is one).

I would ask them:

1. What do they do if the child continues to refuse to comply.
   
2. What their terms are i.e. if your child is sick, if they are sick, holidays at either end etc etc. and whether they are paid. (personally I prefer a tutor to take holidays whenever they want but not charge and for us to do the same than have a rigid 'set' days etc. but then I know I can 'do' the programme in their absence.
   
3. What CPD they have done and who with.
   
4. The ages of the other children they have worked with and their level of difficulties.
   
5. How much input from you they will want/require/desire.

[ovenchips]

Thanks to you too Gloria. We had the interview yesterday and it went really well. And we used stuff from both your posts so a great help.

Tutor is booked and we start in Jan! Very, very excited.

[bialystockandbloom]

Yay! Let us know how it goes.

[fahmidacqa1]

Hi
can anyone help me to find a ABA tutor for my 5 years lovely son who is verbal for evening and weekend in ilford area ( East London)

[Faaizahhayirli97]

I am an Aba tutor who is fairly new to the job. I have an autistic sister however and therefore have a lot of experience in how to support children with autism. Please let me know if you need support. I live in east London and am willing to travel. I am free most days and am very enthusiastic and thorough about my job. I'm a fast learner and can adapt to my environent. I am also willing to negotiate on price. Thanks so much. If anything please do message me on here or call 07529394228. My name is Fiza 😊 Many thanks