Phone and Internet Consultations

On-going consultation and support is a major component of successful home-based intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The Growing Minds program helped to pioneer distance education for parents of children with ASD. Consultations are done from your home by means of video, telephone, video conferencing (Skype) and email. All services will be provided by Steven Wertz, BCBA.

We also schedule in-person consultations in your home or in Colorado, for those within driving distance. 

There are 3 Ways to Arrange Consultations:

  • Individual consultation sessions, scheduled as needed.
  • A series of four consultations scheduled over a two month period.
  • A series 12 consultations over a six month period.

Those selecting a series get substantially reduced package rates (see below) as well as priority scheduling. 

Typically consultations can effectively address specific, limited areas of concern and are recommended for parents who:

  • Want solutions for one or more immediate, specific issues, such as a specific behavioral issue, difficulties making headway with a particular learning problem, assistance with a specific issue involving staff or other services providers, etc. 
  • Notice that your observations about your child are discounted by professionals and are seeking specific advocacy or support. 
  • Have concerns about your child’s treatment and would like “another pair of eyes” to observe and make recommendations.  
  • Want improved tools for the special challenges of parenting a child with ASD who is making satisfactory progress in full time school or a program outside the home.
  • Want new inspiration and energy to continue your efforts on your child’s behalf after a period of discouragement or lost motivation. 
  • Want to experience of the benefits of Growing Minds training to determine whether a Comprehensive Program will meet their child’s needs. 
  • Plan to attend our Comprehensive Program in the future and want immediate ways to start helping their child now.
  • Have trained with Growing Minds in the past and want a refresher.

How Consultations Work

Phone consultation about your child with autism photoOur consultations are custom-designed and aimed at meeting your most pressing concerns about your child. Each consultation has three parts: 

Preparation:

If possible, we ask you to submit a 20 minute video of your child or several brief clips totaling around twenty minutes. This can be video footage of your child during a formal program session, informally at home or play or in school. If you have a specific concern or question, it is helpful to send video footage that represents that. 

Your video submitted to a private ‘dropbox’ account. We will provide instructions on downloading videos. This can be done up to 48 hours prior to your consultation session, so that your most immediate concerns can be addressed.

We then review up to 20 minutes of video footage, taking extensive notes, to prepare for your session. 

If you do not submit video, we ask that you email us your goals or topics for the session along with any documents you may wish us to review (data, reports, etc). We then spend the preparation time researching your questions, preparing materials for your use and planning the session to meet your goals. 

Session:

This is a 50 minute session conducted by Skype or phone, according to your preference. We ensure a safe, supportive, professional environment to work confidentially on your questions and concerns about your child. One or both parents can participate and you can also include behavior therapists or others working closely with your child if you wish. 

During the session you can discuss whatever is on your mind. You might focus on solving a problem or clarifying some area of concern. If you’ve sent a video, we will provide specific feedback and coaching as a way of increasing your understanding and skill. 

Post Session:

Following your session, we will send supporting materials to help you solidify the area that was discussed. This might include supporting documents, specific notes based on the session, curriculum recommendations or a summary of our suggestions. In some cases, we will make short video demonstration clips to model new skills. Having these materials in hand will facilitate your follow up on the session and help you to communicate to others involved what you have learned. Our goal is to give you something in hand after each session so that you will know exactly what to do. 

Each Consultation includes:

  • 30 minutes of pre-session preparation, including video review or other research or preparation needed to meet your goals for the consultation.
  • 50 Minute Session on the phone or Skype. 
  • 30 minutes of post-session development of supporting materials. 
  • Each consultation involves 2 hours of our time focused on meeting your needs. 

Consultation Fees

  • Individual Consultation: (2 hours) $270. 
  • Series of 4 Consultations: scheduled over a two month period (8 hours) $900.
    This is a discount of 17% from our single consultation fee. 
  • Series of 12 Consultations: scheduled over a six month period (24 hours) $2400. This is a discount of 27% from our single consultation fee and 11% from our series of 4 consultations. 

To Register For A Consultation, please email us at steven@autism-programs.com

Please Note that our consultations do not include a full assessment of your child’s current functioning or customized program design and curriculum for home programs. If you are running a full or part-time home program for your child, we recommend that you consider our six-month Distance Program which includes these features and more. 

If your primary focus is treatment for severely self-injurious or aggressive behavior, long-distance consultations would not be appropriate as a primary means of therapeutic support. We invite you to contact us to discuss your specific circumstances and whether we can help.