The following guidelines are suggested for caregivers during applied behavior therapy. Caregiver participation in therapy is a must and required by funding sources.
1. A parent or responsible adult (over 18 years of age) must be in the home when therapy is being provided.
2. Caregivers are expected to participate in therapy sessions. Specifically, caregivers will be trained to implement their child's behavior program, and data on the accuracy of their implementation will be
3. The area being used for therapy must be clean, of comfortable temperature, and well lit. In some cases, the therapist may ask for distracting stimuli to be removed from the training environment. Caregivers should not smoke in the home when a therapist is present.
4. Therapy may be conducted at home, school, or other environment (i.e., community), and will be allocated to those locations in which the child has the most difficulty
5. The materials and reinforcers used for therapy should be reserved for therapy sessions unless otherwise stated by the therapist
6. The child should be dressed and fed prior to therapist arrival unless these skills are being addressed in the program.
7. Caregivers should contact the therapist 24 hours prior to the appointment if they know they are going to cancel a session. If more than 20% of sessions are cancelled in a 3-month period, your child may lose his/her therapy slot.
8. Sickness. Please give the therapist as much notice as possible prior to the scheduled session if you know that your child is sick. Sickness includes, but not limited to the following:.
• Temperature above 100 F
• Mumps
• Strep Throat
• Communicable Disease
• Chicken Pox
• Lice
• Foot/Mouth Disease
• Measles
• Rash
• Vomit
• Diarrhea
• Pink Eyes
• Pin Worm
9. If the therapist arrives, and the child is not at home, the therapist will wait 15 minutes before leaving. This will be considered a no-show. More than two no-shows within a 2-month period may result in your child losing his therapy slot
10. A therapist cannot change appointment times without agreement with the family.
11. The therapist will give the family as much notice as possible before cancelling a session. The therapist will call the family if they are going to be arriving more than 5 min late.
12. Please do not call the therapist before 8 am or after 8 pm.
13. In case of an accident or unusual incident (e.g., Baker Act, runaway), the family should immediately notify the therapist, who will inform their Regional Director of the event.
14. Parents and contractors should be respectful and courteous to each other. Open communication between parents and contractors is essential to the establishment of a successful program for the child.
15. If there are any problems or concerns, please contact the Lead Analyst on the case immediately.
I understand and agree to the caregiver guidelines: