I’m surprised by the simple mistakes I see people make over and over again when hiring ABA tutors/therapists.
Increase your chances for a great relationship between your family and your child’s ABA tutor.
Avoid these common hiring blunders.
The wrong experience
You know that a 3 year old is completely different from a 10 year old.
So, why would you hire someone who’s only worked with 3 year olds to work with your 10 year old?
Ask if your ABA tutor has experience working with the same age group as your child.
Working with different age groups is a steep learning curve.
Which brings me to my next point…
Assuming your ABA tutors know what they’re doing
It can be tempting to hire an ABA tutor and think that they’ll be able to take care of the whole ABA program.
Sure, it’ll cost a lot less, especially if you’re low on funding.
This is a common mistake.
I see parents assume that an ABA tutor has extensive knowledge in creating a behavior plan.
But most of the time an ABA tutor doesn’t have the experience to put together a program even if they have worked with many other children.
To get the best from your ABA tutor, they need training specific to your child and ongoing support.
It’s best to have an Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) managing your child’s program and have them train the ABA tutors.
Location, Location, Location
I once took a job as an ABA tutor where I would spend 1 hour in traffic to get to the child’s home for a 1.5 hour session.
In the beginning, this was fine. I loved working with the child.
After a few weeks I realized it just didn’t make sense.
Don’t make this same mistake.
Behavior consultants/analysts are usually paid for the time they spend travelling to your home but ABA tutors are not.
It’s important to think about how this will affect your home therapy sessions.
When you hire an ABA tutor, make sure they are able to get to your house.
Do they live near your home?
Do you live on a route accessible by public transit?
Save yourself a headache.
Hire an ABA tutor with a reliable mode of transportation.
This will cut the chances that your ABA tutor will arrive late, or worse, stop showing up for sessions.
If it’s easy for the ABA tutor to get to your house, the more likely they will stay to work with your child.
Future Career Plans
The first ABA tutor my cousin hired for her son was amazing.
She was experienced and enthusiastic about the job.
But, she only stayed on the team for 4 months.
So, what happened?
Well, she decided to move on to a new career.
See, a lot of ABA tutors work with children as a temporary job.
Sure, you can tell them that you’re looking for a minimum 6 month or even a 1 year commitment. But that’s not going to keep a great ABA tutor working with your child.
There are a few golden nuggets that will be more likely to stay because they are interested in pursuing a career in ABA or education.
How can you find these keen individuals?
Check out these tips to find out where you can find the ideal ABA Tutor.
Ask about their future goals, short term goals, or career goals during the interview.
Have they attempted to increase their autism education? Maybe they’ve attended conferences or seminars.
If they seem interested in pursuing further education with special needs, it’s a good sign.
Now I’ve got a question for you
Do you know someone who might fall prey to these same mistakes?
I showed you how to avoid these common mistakes. You show them how to fix it by sending them a link to this article.
About Catherine Pascuas
Catherine is the founder of Edx Autism.
I just read what you had to say about making sure you hire a tutor who knows what they are doing and I couldn’t agree more. I have a close friend who is looking for a tutor and it is so important that a professional is doing the job. When it comes to helping people who require ABA, it’s imperative that they match the child’s needs.