• Choosing, hiring, scheduling, and paying therapists and consultants. The therapists are NOT the employees of the consultants unless you have made arrangements to the contrary.
• DO be explicit with rules from the beginning. These should include:
  • House routines (parking, shoes, knock/don’t knock, siblings, etc…)
  • Call-out and rescheduling (both theirs and yours!)
  • Contact information
  • Rate of pay
  • Pay schedule (monthly, weekly)
• DO set up accounting from the beginning.
• Scheduling team meetings and organizing information
• Providing assessments such as IEP documents and other things you think are relevant to the home program
• Implementing protocols and providing feedback
• You will need some items for the therapists to use. I suggest:
  • Age-appropriate toys and videos
  • Miniature figurines
  • A large exercise ball
  • Magazines and picture books
  • Household items such as clothes, shampoo, etc…
  • Play-Doh
  • Food items that can be used as reinforcers
  • Puzzles
  • Cars
  • Several small clear plastic bins
  • Large bins to store the toys and reinforcers when not in use
  • Music CDs and a CD player
  • You can certainly add to this list as time goes on.
• Providing access to a digital camera and/or video camera for feedback and creating stimuli

It IS a lot of work and a lot of responsibility. Remember that the best programs occur when everyone is an equal member of the team and all of us work together towards the same goals!