Son's unprofessional therapist

[camster39]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

Not sure if this is the right forum - please let me know.....
_______________________________________________________________________
I'm recently divorced (April 07) and my son is receiving ABA therapy from several therapists employed by my school district. He has 4 therapists working with him and I have a very big problem with one of them.

In summary, one of the therapists was out at a restaurant one evening and harrassed my girlfriend for several hours. She shouted obscene words at her, followed her into the bathroom, had the waiter/waitress buy her drinks on behalf of my ex-wife and other ridiculous behavoirs.

Now, if this was just one of my ex's friends, I would think nothing of it other than what an immature moron would act like this. The ABA therapist, on the other hand, works with special needs children and in my opinion should be held to some standards and levels of professionalism.

If a psychologist or psychiatrist, working with a divorced husband for example, went out to a bar and harassed his ex-wife in the above mentioned way, wouldn't he/she get into some kind of trouble. Would his license be revoked --- are they held to some standards? Level of professionalism - some accountability for their actions?

I am not asking that her ABA license be revoked, I am simply claiming that she should UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES be working with my son (that I have joint legal custody over). I had a meeting with the schoold district and they are going to bring this up with their legal team. I still can't, for the life of me, comprehend why this type of action would go unpunished. What are my legal grounds - all I want is for her to be removed from teaching my son. My ex, of course, disagrees and is setting up the roadblock to remove her.

Thank you.

 

[moburkes]

Huh?????????????

 

[Ozark_Sophist]

What type of therapist is the woman? LPC, LCSW, EdD or Phd?

 

[Ohiogal]

I second that -- huh?
ABA? American Bar Association? Sorry -- legal forum. Please be a bit more specific on your acronyms. Her personal behavior may cause her to be removed from teaching your son. However, what exactly else do you want? And it would not be different if she were your friend and chasing your ex wife down.

 

[Ozark_Sophist]

Are the therapists Behavior Analyst Certification Board certified?

You mention your son has four. Odds are the 'therapists' are working under the supervision of a certified therapist or clinician.

 

[wileybunch]

ABA = Applied Behavioral Analysis

The ppl I know whose children receive this through EI are for autism spectrum disorders.

 

[wileybunch]

In summary, one of the therapists was out at a restaurant one evening and harrassed my girlfriend for several hours. She shouted obscene words at her, followed her into the bathroom, had the waiter/waitress buy her drinks on behalf of my ex-wife and other ridiculous behavoirs.

Why? What was she saying? I would have left, though not faulting you for her behavior.

am not asking that her ABA license be revoked, I am simply claiming that she should UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES be working with my son (that I have joint legal custody over). I had a meeting with the schoold district and they are going to bring this up with their legal team. I still can't, for the life of me, comprehend why this type of action would go unpunished. What are my legal grounds - all I want is for her to be removed from teaching my son. My ex, of course, disagrees and is setting up the roadblock to remove her.

From your description, her behavior was bizarre and you were right to report this. That's too bad you are in this situation since ABA is so important in the first place.

 

[majomom1]

...had the waiter/waitress buy her drinks on behalf of my ex-wife and other ridiculous behavoirs

Have you talked to this waiter/waitress? Would they be willing to be a witness for you?

I just did research on a school, what you might be able to do is, go find their website, and look for school policies. I found a "Parent Handbook" on my school's site and it outlines a code of conduct for all staff members, inside AND outside of school. It also outlined the steps for filing a complaint.

If the waiter/waitress, or any other employees at the restaurant would be willing to witness for you, that would increase your chances of getting disciplinary action through the school board. That handbook should also outline the certification or license that they require for staff members. From there you can keep filing complaints until you get approprate action from the school.

With any witnesses... your ex will have a hard time blocking anything.

 

[camster39]

Sorry folks --- yes ABA stands for Applied Behavoiral Analysis. It is the best treatment available for those children with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). My son is on the autistic spectrum which makes this even more disturbing to me. Not only is she a child therapist but she is a therapist charged with working with special needs children. This type of behavoir is unexcusable in my opinion.

I am going to check the handbook from the school (if I can find one). I just wanted to find out if there was some type of legal precedent that I can give to the board of directors if needed.

The only witnesses that I have that evening are several of my girlfriends close friends. There were 5 of them there and they would all be willing to make a statement stating that this particular therapist harrassed them throughout the night. There is no way that any waiter/waitress would make a statement -- this happened several months ago (I was just made aware of it recently). As far as I know the therapist is not denying that she was there but both she and my ex claim that I am 'blowing this way out of proportion and taking it to an extreme level'.

As far as certification is concerned, I don't believe that ABA therapists are board certified - they simply have to have a college degree in special ed. The 4 therapists that are working with my son are simply experienced ABA therapists that are now employed by the school district (i.e. they pick up the cost of their services). Before my son turned 3 they were employed by New Jersey Early Intervention. Once a child turns 3 all special services, in NJ, are turned over to the local school district.

In response to moburkes - that is all I'm asking. All I want is for her NOT to teach my son. End of story. I don't care what else happens to her but I want her removed from my son's education. Since all therapy is done in my ex's home, I have no way of monitoring what goes on there. If she's off of the school district's payroll, I am assured that her services are no longer being provided (trust me, my ex will never pay out of pocket for her services - they are not cheap).

Any other posts would be greatly appreciated. I'm just looking to understand my legal rights - I have a gut feeling that the school district, and their board of directors & attorneys are not taking this too seriously.

 

[moburkes]

So, then ask that she not teach your son. If every person who held a job was judged for what they did outside of the job, then none of us would have a job.

 

[majomom1]

The only witnesses that I have that evening are several of my girlfriends close friends. There were 5 of them there and they would all be willing to make a statement stating that this particular therapist harrassed them throughout the night. There is no way that any waiter/waitress would make a statement -- this happened several months ago (I was just made aware of it recently). As far as I know the therapist is not denying that she was there but both she and my ex claim that I am 'blowing this way out of proportion and taking it to an extreme level'.

If this is true, then the only thing you can realistically do is ask for a different therapist for your son. If this were worthy of discipline from the school, your girlfriend should have spoke up sooner. I agree that as a professional she shouldn't have exhibited this behavior, but it will be hard for the school to make a fair determination on this now.

 

[Ann Marie]

Professional Ethics and Licensing Review Boards

This seems like a blatant violation of confidentiality and as a clinician I am appalled. If this happened to me I would first talk with the person's immediate supervisor and request not only a replacement but a written apology and documentation of some action taken to prevent such things from happening again. If you do not feel heard and respected at this level, consider going to the principle or even the school committee / superintendant. On a bad day I would even go so far as to find out what this person's credentials are and then seek out the state licensing review board and file a complaint. This one person's act compromises the sacred and hard earned trust essential to the therapeutic relationship for all consumers and practitioners alike and most professional associations have specific ethical guidelines that prohibit members from violating client confidentiality. Furthermore, it appears as though this person is partial to your ex-wife and may be either instigating or feeding existing hostility. Not good for the child.

 

[moadvice]

Similar problem with Applied Behavior Analyst therapist in MO

Don't even bother trying to go to the BACB (Behavior Analyst Certification Board), they won't help you. Check out their "disciplinary" guidelines as they don't include their ethical guidelines (which by the way is a violation of their national accrediation standard, of which I've filed a complaint). My ASD son's female ABA therapist is now involved in a sexual relationship with my soon-to-be ex-wife. Nice huh? After complaining to the BACB (with fully documented emails, cell phone records, etc.) the BACB (Gerald Shook) refused to do anything about it until someone else had started an investigation. The therapist's employer ( a well known Autism research center in St. Louis) refused to do anything about this when it was brought to their attention, so I'm now filing a restraining order pro-se on behalf of my child to keep the therapist away from him. I would be very interested to see how these people can practice "Psychology" without a license in the state of Missouri. Especially when you look at the definition of "psychology". Behavior Analysis is a scam, it creates "robotic behavior" in children with ASD, when the kids really need to learn how to deal with the unexpected.

 

[DaddyDevoted]

I would have called the police in the restaurant and had the waitress & friends give a written statement. I agree that this woman’s supervisor needs to be notified. She is a liability to her employer and a disgrace to her profession.