Since my last review got deleted
Pros
Great kids and awesome coworkers.
Cons
Wow management never ceases to amaze me as they somehow deleted my last review. As a previous employee, I loved working at AFL, FOR THE KIDS, but the company itself needs some major improvement. A supervisor mentioned one day that, “RBTs are replaceable and meant to have a high turnover rate.” RBTs are first and foremost teachers. We teach our kids daily living skills and school readiness skills, we teach them how to communicate in more appropriate ways, we teach them how to play appropriately, and so much more. Kids with autism thrive on schedules and struggle with change. To say that RBTs are supposed to have a high turnover rate is absurd. We adore our kids and we know when they’re happy, sad, angry, bored, and we especially know when they aren’t feeling well because we are with them for 8 hours a day just like a school teacher. We deserve more respect for this profession regardless of if we ourselves are creating behavior plans or programs to learn new things. Not to mention, there are plenty of other ABA clinics of the same size that pay their RBTs better, provide better benefits, more paid time off, and allow sick days. As frontline workers in this field, it is imperative that RBTs stay healthy (especially in the time of covid) and it is incredibly irresponsible to take illnesses lightly between clients and employees. In my time at AFL, my coworkers and I were able to make a few changes, such as increasing our pay by 50¢, getting time off for a covid outbreak throughout the clinic, and receiving 3 sick days. However, we also have to earn 6 days of time off throughout the year that do not roll over after the year is over and we do not have PTO built in to help us when things happen that are out of our control. Along with all of this, RBTs have been put in charge of teaching our skills to new hires, which is not a problem except for the fact that when they are shadowing they are expected to have some knowledge from videos and the trainer and when we begin showing them how to run trials, they don’t understand basic ABA concepts. Not to mention having to correct inappropriate behaviors from staff who are not following specific client protocol because our supervisors would not do it themselves, causing us to face repercussions for stepping in. To add to all of this, this clinic has engaged in some unethical practices. This includes keeping older clients who are a danger to staff and younger clients, not having a cleaning crew that comes regularly (adding to our frequent illnesses), having a client sit in his room all day including during pull-up changes and teeth brushing, allowing clients to cry all day without contacting parents, a staff member taking a client off the company’s property with no repercussions, a staff member locking a client in the bathroom stall when he did not need to go, thermometers that do not work, not telling staff members when they’ve come in contact with someone who has tested positive for covid or other illnesses, and several other offenses.
