Autism and ABA - would you canvass door to door to ask for money?

[mamadadawahwah]

HI, i am starting an aba program for my son and tallied up how much its going to cost. Between therapists and consultants it comes to over £200.00 per week. This is a conservative estimate. Like most of you, i cant afford it, my trust/education board is not going to pay for it so i was thinking i would just go canvassing. I would put a cute picture of my son on a tin can and ask people to spare a few pence to help him have a future.

Any of you done this? What would your reaction be if i came to your door?? I worry people will ask why i am not collecting for other kids on the program, but no one i know is doing aba. Its strictly unheard of where i live anyway.
reactions please

What about arranging jumble sales, sponsered events instead ???

At the end of the day it is cold calling and putting people on the spot tbh. If someone came to my door asking for money i would feel i had to give it even though i don't have it to give.

I am sorry you have it so rough misdee. Didnt realise the pressure you were under from your posts. It must be tough. At the end of the day, i am only interested in getting what I need for MY son. I am the only person in the world he has and if mommy has to rattle a can in doorways, she will do it. In fact, after i do it, i will contact the papers again and tell them what i did and the reactions i got and the reasons i did it. that should be a good story, one which the papers will love to hear and one to which they can ask for a government response to!

Nut, bingo. You hit the nail on the head. who is going to say NO to a cute picture of a two year old. who is going to say no to the future of a child. I know many people will be interested. They will have relatives or will know someone with autism and they will ask me why i have to come to their door. Jumble sales, etc, all very well and good, but it takes time, time i dont have. I can start this now. All i need is a can.

Anyway, gotta run. sonny boy is at the washing machine waiting for the rinse cycle again.

Hmm yeah but then aren't you kind of taking advantage ?? Like i said i couldn't afford to give, am really struggling at the mo to even buy food and stuff but would feel bad about saying no.

i'm sure you;ve doe it, but have u spllied through any charities? do u have the family fund over there (your in ireland arent you?) they may be able to help with other costs so u can free up some cash for ABA.

Im wondering why youv'e asked for peoples reactions and then you appear to be argueing about them? Surely you can expect the same when you do go collecting. I do admire your determination to get the best for your ds, maybe you should take another look at some of the other things suggested.

could u get done for begging tho?

'At the end of the day, i am only interested in getting what I need for MY son'

totally understand that comment. i am concentrated fully on my dh and harefield atm, my childhood friend (spursmum) on here has a ds also with autism, he is non-verbal, and even tho i dont see her as much as i would like to at, i like to feel i can offer her support in other ways rather than money.

i wish you and your son the best for the future, whatever it may hold.

x

I would do jumble sales, or a car boot, or a sponsored swim, run, walk or whatever. Or apply to some chartities.

Sorry but there is no way I would give money to someone who knocked at my door. To expect to get 15 mins of their time is beyond optimistic. I would concentrate on fundraising and perhaps sponsership from local companies. Get as much local press coverage as possible. It will be difficult to get people to donate regulary.

Perhaps you could run some kind of regular events. Localy in 2 different towns there are people who orgainise monthly indoor boot sales. Charging £15/20 a table. If you fill a hall with tables and run your own drinks/ snack stall this would give a regular income. This would probably have to be a team effort with family or friends.

I think you need to take heed of these posts and be a little more creative in how to earn your money. Door-to-door with doors slamming in your face is hard.

My daughter has a condition so unusual they don't even do research into why it occurs and haven't bothered to improve on the surgery invented about 150 years ago except to make it keyhole/use updated techniques so patients can get out of hospital sooner. The only 'studies' there are, are retrospective 'What I did with my patients' studies. It's extremely unlikely they will ever look for a gene that causes it or whether stem cells would benefit.

I could try to raise all the money in the world and it would be unlikely to help her one iota.

I ahve two disabled kids and I want to raised money for 2 SN need trikes, so I contacted a few chartities and also asked the school about raising money for 2 of their pupils. In the end I didn't get the trikes because I had a lot on my plate, but I will re-apply next year when we are settled. I am not sure if they will help you, but the 'Caudwell chartity' will pay out large sums of money for equiment, adaptions etc, so they might help you.

Look here, the caudwell trust they will help with treatments and therapies. HTH

I wouldn't do it for several reasons but the main one is that I don't believe it would be effective and that is the bottom line isn't it? I also NEVER give to anyone knocking on the door and find it extremely annoying and intrusive and I don't hold back on telling them so. Plus, I agree with whoever said it, why should you assume that the so-called posh/rich people don't have disabled kids or other issues? A bit judgemental if you ask me. You look at their house and you know their situation? I've also come across a LOT of people over the years who care ONLY about their child and, believe me, that is not an effective attitude either. It might seem it in the short run but it really isn't. As well as doing what you can for your son you will find it pays dividends to become part of the local ASD/ABA community. I'm not just talking about support, people to talk to etc but I mean CONTACTS, NETWORKING. These things are the most valuable thing I had when running my ABA program and, along the way, I hope I helped some other people as well as myself.

i went round collecting envelopes for asthma research a while ago and had people swear at me, slam the door in my face and one person saw me through the window and shook his fist at me whilst shouting f off. i had a 2yo in the pram, all of them could see him. i did about 70 houses and raised less than £5.

good luck however you do it, but if you decide to go door to door, dont expect anything other than abuse. i did it for a registered charity, there was info on the envelopes saying how many people die of asthma a year and i still got nowhere. one of your arguments was that everyone knows someone with sn - who doesnt know someone with asthma?

Think it will be soul-destroying. Sorry for my ignorance if you have posted this before, but are you absolutely sure your LEA won't fund it? Even if you go to tribunal?

I'm with jakbat- put the energy into tribunal. If they have no alternative to offer then the law is on your side.....

Hi, i am going to do a tribunal if funding app is rejected. But again, the question is what do i do now. What do we all do, with toddlers NOW? I cant teach my son ABA cause i am not qualified and dont want to mess him up with teaching the wrong things.

I take your points about cold calling. I wouldnt care if people slammed the door in my face. Also, i personally give money albeit very little to most people who ask, providing its not a con. I figure if someone has to sit on the street and beg, God Help them. Or if someone comes to my door collecting for this or that, the church, charities, etc. I give it to them. Maybe plenty of people dont, but i do. thanks for the replies though, i will wear my "suit of armour" when i go out. Will let you all know how it turns out if i do it. Other plans seem to happening already. Local shops have agreed to put a "tin" on their countertops for me. I have asked everyone i know who can help, shop owners, hairdressers etc. I have even put up posters for volunteer "therapists". when it comes to our kids, very little will stop us from getting what they need. No one except those of us with kids or loved ones who are disabled, can possibly understand what we go through. In particular, respecting autism, it's like a prison sometimes cause many people dont know, dont want to know. In terms of the education boards and health trusts, i would say they are actively making sure that you never get the chance to get ABA so its a fight and its a dirty fight. NOt on our side, but on theirs. Its like the money is coming out of their own personal pockets.

I like most moms will do whatever i have to do to make sure my child gets everything which is his right and what he deserves insofar as getting every chance in life, the same as his peers.

I placed this post to see what reactions would be to cold calling and now i am ready for the many responses i will get based on some of your own responses.

The reason I don't give to people knocking on the door is NOT because I object to their causes or charities but because I think its a real cheek to knock on someone's door when they don't expect you. I don't know how many times I've been upstairs getting DD ready for bed and the bell rings so I rush down only to find its someone I don't know and don't want to talk to at that time. Any time I'm at home is likely to be inconvenient. They often move off before I even get to the door and it makes me VERY annoyed. I just think that MY door/doorbell is not public property, I feel the same about people putting leaflets under my windscreen wipers, god help them if I catch them!

a. We all know the siuation but how would people know that you were for real?
b. Some people don't like being 'cold called'
C. you would make next to nothing for the amount of time it will take

I went collecting for Marie Curie Cancer care....a reasonably well recognised regestered charity. I called on 78 houses with envolopes. To drop them off and pick them up took just over an hour. I raised £12.72

At roughly that rate you will have to work for about 20 hours each week....and not wishing to put a dampner on things, I would think it unlikley that people would support you every week.

I hope you find the funding you need and wish you luck, but I don't think this will raise much.

mmddww,as you know I'm a salt (going to do an MSc in ABA next year which I am looking forward to very much.)

Admire your steel and tenacity but I wonder what the emotional and psychological cost of something like this will be to you and your family (not sure if you have other children??)

I know a couple of families who make enormous financial,emotional and time sacrifices to undergo an intensive programme of some sort for one of their children.
Unfortunately,I have seen that there is often a price-the emotional neglect of a (usually) dh and other children.
It's really hard to know how far to go isn't it??

I speak a someone with a language disordered child for whom I have already radically altered some longterm plans with dh.
I have told him about some of the things I have observed and told him to remind me if/when I go over the top in my search for what is best for dd.

Cold calling is offensive whatever the cause (ok,I exclude Christian Aid!)

Even if you did it,how are you going to begin explaining ABA? You would beknackered in 30 minutes!
Far better imho to get your family,friends and community involved. One little boy I work with went to Florida for dolphin therapy and the money (a substantial amount) was raised this way.

Hope I haven't offended.

I am glad that you have managed to get local businesses to put tins out, I would perhaps concentrate on this side of things, take it a step further and get corporate sponsership. The business gets good publicity and you get the money.

How many hours a week do you intend to knock doors? Would your time be better spent trying to raise money other ways or with your kids, sorry thats sounds cheeky I don't mean to be it is a genuine query.