Tier 3 Montessori

These last few weeks have been absolutely magical!

An exceptionally wonderful end to a long and difficult journey since last year 🫶

Life doesn’t always align like that so I’ve been reveling in all this with immense gratitude 🙏

I have only 1 month left of the ACT Sand Tray Therapy course, and 1 week left of Montessori practice teaching and then I drive back to start my new job 🎉

(Yes, I am still doing hourly Clinical Behavior Analysis sessions and consulting for Montessori Environments part-time through Tier 3 Montessori but not “ABA.”)

Here’s another interesting breakdown of ABA operating expenses.

I’m sharing because many families usually choose the larger companies over smaller ones so they deserve to know what’s really going on and what is guiding the priorities and decisions for their child’s care - the human-centered science of learning & behavior, or profit as dictated by business structures?

🔍 It’s worth looking into, and seeing clearly which companies use a manualized approach by treating every child exactly the same, and which practices truly see your child and family as the awesome unique people they are 🎉

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1HVHjyDXeQ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

It’s a tragic & terrifying situation to be in -

1) to watch the schools struggle needlessly with preventable behavior issues or simply send children & families away 😢💔
Or
2) Trust the big companies will be ethical and bill for services honestly 🤞🙏

3) because us small time, independent, BCBA-owned & operated companies who try to do better for our local children & families don’t have dedicated billing departments to sit on the phone with the insurance companies to compete with the ABA giants anymore 🤷‍♀️

🙏 Thankfully, the World of Behavior Science is much larger than just autism services or what the insurance companies cover so my private-pay clinical services have actually EXPANDED to include academics (something insurance does not cover), behavioral pediatrics, the Constructional Approach, Montessori Therapy Intervention, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy - ACT, Relational Frame Theory - RFT, and Generative Language Learning, and school consultations 🎉

Yes, sessions are all:
✨neurodivergent-affirming
✨assent-based
✨1-hour per week
✨Saturdays only
✨20 weeks
✨Any age!
✨No diagnosis required 🎉

I do hear it a LOT in schools 😅

There are better ways! Please try to see what is working and what is not instead of blaming the child 🫶

I’ve been reflecting in the classroom today about the divide we have between the two seemingly different worlds of Montessori & ABA so here’s my latest:

Environment vs. OPPORTUNITY
Why did it take me so long to articulate that?

When we talk about socially constructed political geography; how country, state and city lines are drawn (curated as the Prepared Environment) over the foundation of resources available to anyone and everyone willing (science; i.e., opportunity), it may seem like a reach but look closely to see who is determining what you have access to and whose filters you’re accepting it through 🤔

Yes, this goes for me too! All of us 😅 because science is truly objective and universal, spanning time and culture so you have access to it too 🎉

All this to say, you can do better than “No thank you” as your big discipline move and wonder why it’s not working 🫶

Please find a professional!

Anyone else out there “insane” 😅

✨Basically all Montessori and behavior people! 🖤

Thank you all for your interest! I am still out of town helping my mom and completing my last round of observation & practice teaching here in Arizona 😅 You are certainly not alone in this - Please connect with each other in the community 🙏 I wish you all a great transition to the start of a new school year in new environments 🎉

This happens with us in ABA too 😅

It’s the #1 reason I switched to 1-hour weekly private pay sessions because I can do so much more for children and their families in 1 hour than spending hours on the phone with some insurance companies.

I’m also no longer limited to working only with children with an autism diagnosis 🎉

Some children have no diagnosis when they are sent away from schools or not admitted due to behavioral concerns, and by the time they are in the elementary grades, they will have aged out of early intervention ABA even if they did have a autism diagnosis 🫶

🌎 The world of behavior science is SO much larger than what insurance companies require for autism services and that traditional ABA centers provide.

Keep searching and asking around!

Stay tuned! 🎉

Yes! 🎉
And there is also a way to play alongside children - WITH them without a constant barrage of questioning and instructing or even speaking 🫶

What I love most about my work is that I not only get to play as a professional, but I get to train adults who may have never learned how, or may have just forgotten how to play.

It takes more flexibility and perspective-taking than is comfortable or convenient for most of our adult life.