question about the practicalities of ABA

[9reenflower]

hello, I am a serial lurker though hardly post...

anyways, we have DS (3.7) with severe s and l delay/disorder and loads of autistic traits though no dx yet. paed loves the do nothing wait and see approach and DS is making hardly any progress in any area.

we haved talked to a couple of Aba providers and thinking very much about. going ahead with Aba. problem (or maybe no problem) is: we could not do more that 15h per week and would have to do these ourselves (no way t afford any tutors). also, DP works very long hours so much of the work would have to be done by me. our families can't help for various reasons. I very much think I can do it by putting in the hours on my own (sahm) but wonder if I am just flying a bit. did anybody run ABA under similar circumstances?

would highly appreciate any experiences.
thanks

yes, we did.

we did 15 hours a week when we started. at that point we did have a tutor, but the following year I did it myself for a long spell.

dh works long hours, so sessions were just me, dd1 and dd2.

it is possible to work it out under most circumstances. do not listen to providers who tell you you must:

do at least 40 hours a week
have a whole fleet of highly trained tutors
sell you soul and sign up for a year in advance (or whatever)

none of this is necessary.

what have the providers you have spoken to said?

Yes. Aim for a number of hours a week that is manageable. Get yourself some good quality training or hire in an experienced tutor for a short time to train you/model for you.

YOu can increase the number of hours/pay tutors as your circumstances change etc.

they recommended east at 15h (they told me to stay away from providers who insist on 40h as well). I would not be tied in into a contract either but could leave a a pretty short notice...

just wondered if 15h would really make sense at all (as it is so much less than 40h) and if doing it myself with supervision only would be doable...

My ds did roughly 15 hours with one tutor and me and went from the 2nd percentile in verbal comprehension to the 34th in 3 months, and then to the 92nd in 9 months.

We started off with 15 and I did 6 hours myself and employed two other mums to do the rest. None of us had any experience but we all did the training together. Later on I employed a more experienced tutor who took over my hours. I think it is doable and I actually think that my dd would have struggled with the whole 40 hours thing. The consultant i had was very relaxed about number of hours and was willing to be very flexible.