Get Rich Quick! How State-funded ABA Companies are Exploiting Children with Autism

I smell a scam.

State government and healthcare agencies have decided that the cost of providing behavioral intervention for children with autism will cost 70,000 annually per child. This number was reached under the assumption that therapy will take place 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, and that qualified therapists will be paid according to their value. Sounds good?

The catch: In the field of ABA, there is no gage to measure the "quality" of a program or the qualifications of a therapist. There is no mandatory overseeing board that certifies someone as an ABA therapist or approves a company for ABA services. Almost literally, anyone can start an ABA company.

It's almost too easy! Cut the child's hours from 40 hours a week to 25 (as many companies do), naturally dodge service for children all 52 weeks of the year (what parent wants their kids in therapy on Thanksgiving day, etc), and hire anyone off the street and label them as ABA therapists, consultants, case managers, etc, and pay them significantly less then a qualified, educated therapist is worth, and bam, you have a business with a high profit margin all in the name of helping children.

To plug in some numbers, we can see approximately what that profit margin is: If the ninteen-year-old unqualified "therapists" make 13 dollars an hour, servicing families about 25 hours a week and 49 weeks a year, the cost of the therapy program is less than 16,000 for the company.

I called an agency to ask if they were a registered 501-c-3, and after repeating myself five times to clarify what I meant by that, I simplified the question, "A you a non-profit or a for-profit agency?"

Turns out, they are a for-profit company. This means that the profit margin does not go back into the company's services but rather into the hands of the executives and shareholders. Don't forget that the bulk of their profit comes from state-funding (aka taxpayers).

I have seen the type of services these companies offer to desperate families, and it is a joke. Of course, it's a joke that isn't very funny. Having unqualified individuals run 1:1 therapy is often more detrimental for the family than helpful.

Clearly, a change must be made. There needs to be certification of these companies. They need to be scrutinized by a board before the government hands them taxpayer monies. Therapists should be liscenced or approved. Parents deserve to be made aware of their options. Autistic children have the right to the best possible therapy they can get.

My research for this topic has just begun, and I have found that there is very little information on this topic online. (I have a feeling these companies have some pretty good lawyers).

Scams occur all the time. But for some reason, when families of autistic children are exploited at the expense of taxpayers...That curls my blood.