Does anyone get intensive ABA therapy paid for- either at home or at nursery? I am the American interloper here, poss moving to UK w/2.5yo ds who is speech-delayed and poss on the spectrum.

[Mamax4]

If I may compare, in the US, a young dc would be referred to "Early Intervention" and if determined "delayed", even without a formal dx, he might get free, several hrs a day therapy, which may be ST, OT, ABA, as appropriate. I see a lot of talk here about SALTs, but not much about ABA. Is it not practiced in the UK? For a nursery-aged child, where is ABA offered (if it is offered)? Thanks, as usual, ladies!

I am bumping this for you.
My son has Cerbral Palsy and sees his salt and OT. He had Early Intervention too, but it wasn't several hours a day. But, I do live in the middle of no where.

It is very unusual to get ABA paid for in the UK. I found it very hard to even get my boy on the waiting list for a speech therapy appointment until he was 3. Provision in the UK varies a lot from area to area, some are much better than others at offering early intervention.

Our ABA program was paid for by our LEA for 4 years. That was 6 years ago now but my DS did transfer to an ABA school. I knew many, many families who had funded ABA but I think times have changed. You need to JOIN Peach www.peach.org.uk to get some info on this and Yahoo EGroup ABA-UK. It used to happen far more than any LEAs admitted and I'm sure still does but the response to home ABA was more state funded provision. So that is not a bad thing in theory, depending on the quality of the provision, access to it and whether you want it at all.

Also..... you could also check the MN archives for ABA, it has been discussed a lot on here. HTH

Thanks, all- I am now reading the archives... Total Chaos, what you write about speech therapy is heartbreaking because it is needed well before 3y of age to be of best use... And Davros, you seem to be very knowledgeable about ABA.. I'll read your posts and your links and maybe will come back with more questions. Thank you all! ABA should be funded, period.

There was a long discussion on Yahoo EGroup ABA-UK a while ago started by a lady who was planning to move from NY to London.

Finally she dropped the plans and stayed there.

I don't know what your situation is - but in general - here in the UK it's an exception and you need to fight hard for it. Also, it's much more adhoc so you'll need to run the programme and hire tutors yourself(a nightmare! - unless you get tons of money)

I have been running the prog for my daughter for 3 years now and maybe another year or so. Big fight to get it, money is not sufficient, tutor turnover another headache, LEA threatening to take it back at each pretext etc...

Btw, she gets to see a SALT once a year. She's on ABA, so the tutors can provide SALT!!!!

Mamax4, did I understand correctly?: a child with a delay can get several hours a day of free therapy.
That really sounds like outstanding help. I may be wrong but don't think you can reach that level of support in the UK system.

We get ABA for our son (aged 40 at state nursery. However it is ABA lite rather than Lovaas style - which is fine for us. He goes 2 1/2 hours a day but not all time is for ABA, he spends some time with other children too. But you're probably not planning to move to Glasgow !

I am sure it really depends where you are in the USA. I have a friend from Calif who had ABA here, moved back to LA for one year, had their automatically provided ABA (in-school only, little input or involvement from parents) and has moved back to London now and picked up her p/t ABA m/s package. Although ABA was available in LA it was very much according to the "rules" of the state with little flexibility and I think there was a cut off age, no questions! She prefers to have the headaches of running the program herself so she has more involvement and more say in it. She is funded and it is hard work to maintain the funding but she thinks it works better.........

Cyber: aged 40 at nursery??? my, that is delayed development!

i agree though its definately a case of postcode lottery

Davros, what is "m/s package"? In the US, ABA is usually given up to the age of 3, ie during "Early Intervention", and in some states up to the age of 5, ie the beginning of mandatory education, the logic being that by that age the child's problems should have been "fixed". I am very much in the midst of figuring out our destination next school year (ie, if I can get my kids into school in the London area in the next week or so, we'll give London a try). Davros, I may ask you to pass my name to your friend from CA. I am actually flying out an ABA/educational psychologist from CA next month, to Italy, for my 10yo HFA ds who is totally out of control, alas. I have to get my 2yo tested asap but I think that ABA may be his route even without a dx, bc he is clearly delayed. I presume that to get ABA funded, ds must be statemented?? And statements are hard to get now...

The 40 year old toddler ! Ha Ha ! It's tough getting PECs cards to explain the male menopause and mid life crisis !

Oh, Leonie, I am so sorry... I am in Italy and you get nothing here, nothing, it's far worse than the UK. (Oh, profoundly autistic kids do get support, but the level is very low, and much of it is useless.) What I am struggling to figure out is whether there are top-notch, top level ABA therapists in London? Usually, unless the state is involved (with its $$), you get nothing top-notch (neither ballet nor physics nor ABA), and I fear that even if you pay yourself, you may not get quality ABA in the UK, because the state has not thrown its weight behind it. Does this make sense to you? I don't mean to bash ABA providers in the UK, God forbid, I am just trying to orient myself and figure out what's what...

I get ABA 2/3 paid for by the LEA (local education authority). I get mine under a consultant called Duncan Fennemore, who is very good. I combine ABA with 2 afternoons a week in a state school, to give my DS the socialisation. Quality of ABA tutors is indeed variable, and it's all done in a very freelance way (as you correctly point out, because the state is not behind it). I had to fight to get funding for ABA, but I managed to get it by proving that the progress my son made in 6 months ABA far far outweighed what (non-) progress he'd made during 1 and a half years of conventional UK approaches (eg TEACCH and SALT, both of which I found close to useless for my DS). It is a long and expensive haul to get the right education for your autistic or delayed child over here in the UK, and I am always envious of how good it sounds in the US. Do CAT me if you want more details, or a chat and I can tell you in lurid detail about my journey through the UK SEN system!!!

I have to run but I have to say this: you are all wonderful and I am getting so much from all of you- THANK YOU. And, ancientmiddleagedmum, my nickname is different, but I am, too ancient and middle aged and exhausted. I have to say that we have wasted so much time in Italy that I don't have the TIME to fight the LEA and will for sure go the private route at first, and apply for funding in parallel. Ancient Mum (i am laughing as I type this), did you have to organize and hire your team yourself, and your consultant only provides the supervision? I think this is how it is done in the UK, no? Will e-mail your for sure, too! Thanks.

Yes, I have mostly hired and managed myself, though my supervisor originally brought with him the first two tutors. I have hired from nanny groups, graduates etc and trained them up on the job. I actually prefer to manage it myself and be in control. I have a consultant very rarely but a supervisor all the time. We are in London so can maybe help out.

Oh, you are too good, thanks. Really have to run now. Will be in touch. Thank youuuuuu!

mamax4, m/s means mainstream (as opposed to special). I ran my program exactly like Ancient... and also preferred it that way as, although its hard work, you do have more control. We recruited just as she does too. If you want to CAT me please feel free, I can put you in touch with my friend from LA.

I used to do ABA and was paid a pittance by the LEA for it. The families had to run the programme and pay for it themselves for at least 6m in order to 'prove that it was effective'. Then take the proof to the LEA and a whole lot of other stuff as well; and this is on-going. The situation was reviewed regularly (heavens above - can't have the LEA squandering £6 per hour!). There were two organisations which provided advice/therapists etc in London called PEACH and WEAP. Don't know if they're still around as this was quite a few years ago. WEAP were part of an organisation based in Wisconsin. There were quite a few families who brought consultants from the US because ABA/Lovaas was much more prevalent there. The consultant would help the family to set up an individual programme for their child and come over to check it out every so often - really as and when enough of the families they were overseeing could afford it. It was really really hard and I know most families ended up with second or third mortgages and huge loans etc.

Sigh. In my experience, all of this - SALTs, shrinks, etc- is a bunch of baloney if a child needs a more structured approach, and ABA is the golden standard now. Let's be clear, though- ABA is much more available in the US because the US is a litigious society, and people SUE there, all the time, and still do. Getting an attorney to fund your vision- be it a private SN school or services- is completely STANDARD in the US. If you go onto the best SN board out of NYC, people routinely exchange advice not only on schools and services and dev peds, but on attorneys- "who is the best attorney in CT?" etc. So that's how you get ABA to start being a standard in the UK, too, folks. Sue. Take them to the tribunal. It's your tax money, it's your kids. Sue. Go for it. It's not shameful, it's your right.