How do I get started?
For an Individual Therapy program (see the Programs page for other options), you call or email your interest, and provide your postal
address.  

I send you an "Initiation Packet," which includes a detailed Intake Questionnaire, a contract, and a Letter of Introduction that will
provide a lot of specific information about what to expect.  It will also state options for you to select a date/time for your evaluation and
the Activity Check (see below).  You indicate which dates work for you.  Then you return the completed forms with a 50% deposit, to
be received not less than 1 week prior to the date agreed upon for your assessment.




How often do I come for therapy?
You don't come for therapy, you come for changes in your program so that it matches what you need as changes occur.  

By that I mean, you are responsible for your therapy, and I'm responsible to make sure that it will facilitate your achieving your goals.  
If you do the program, you'll experience neurodevelopmental changes.  At approximately 4-6 week intervals, you return to the GET
ABLE clinic and we adjust your program according to what changes have occurred.  So your schedule would look something like this:

- Day One for assessment, explanation of the Neurodevelopmental Profile, and instruction in the therapy plan;

- About 1 week later, Activity Check, when  you demonstrate that you understood why and how to follow through with the program that
was given to you;

- About 1 month later (repeated 5 times), a Program Review visit

- At approximately 6 months from Day One, the Program Review establishes a long-range follow-up plan.  Sometimes that plan
determines indications for continuing with the periodic supervision and changes by the Practitioner; often the plan recognizes that
you can follow through with a program independently.




How much does it cost?  [See Programs for details about each.]

Will you bill my health insurance company?
No.  You can submit a claim yourself, and I will support that claim with whatever documentation they require.  For a narrative report of
assessment findings (which you'll have on your Neurodevelopmental Profile, for Individual Therapy), there is an additional fee of
$185.    

For a detailed invoice, which usually means identifying what's called CPT codes applicable to services rendered, there is an
additional charge of $50.  (Each session report identifies the relevant CPT codes, but to compile those into a single report takes a lot
of time. Maybe you could persuade your Claims Adjuster to accept your Program Review reports.)  Be aware that the first
criterion-question insurance companies ask is "Is this treatment medically indicated?"  Usually what they want to see, to answer the
question "yes," is a doctor's order.  

If your doctor will write such an order, it will have to specify "HANDLE program," not just "occupational therapy" or anything as vague
as "therapy for " (fill in with a diagnosis or behavior)  because the insurance company often wants to establish that you couldn't get
the therapy anywhere else.  Best wording from your doctor:  "1. Neurobehavioral assessment.  2. Neurodevelopmental therapy by a
Certified HANDLE Practitioner."




My area's Regional Center has covered necessary therapy costs for my son.   Are you a Regional Center vendor?  
Yes.  That means that any of the 21 Regional Centers in California can refer clients to GET ABLE.  That does not mean that they
should.  Many occupational therapists offer services for developmental issues.  To support why you explicitly choose this program,
you'll want to give some careful consideration to your son's needs and your family's values relative to meeting those needs.  

Convey to your case worker why you think a HANDLE program suits your son's and your family's needs better than whatever program
you've used in the past.  Another way to think of that is: specify what about the previous services did not suit those needs, or what
about this program you expect to conform to your image of what you want.  Some examples of such reasons:

- the use of medications: you want a program that addresses the causes of behaviors the drugs intend to control, so as to wean off
of the drugs

- your son has been involved with that program for X number of months or years, which suggests to you that another approach would
be worth exploring

- you've observed your son's stress in anticipation of &/or immediately after a therapy session, and you want to see if he responds
better to HANDLE

- your direct involvement in his care: you want a home-implemented program, not a therapist- implemented one  

You may want to suggest that your caseworker check out this website, and that of the HANDLE Institute: www.handle.org




My child needs to eat about every 2 hours.  Can I bring food to the clinic?
Absolutely!   But there's neither a refrigerator nor a microwave available, so please provide accordingly.




What does "non-drug" therapy mean?  Can't I keep taking my medication?
Many of the kinds of medication often prescribed for clients who seek a HANDLE program become unnecessary, although it may
take a few weeks or so.  

That is, you probably should continue your medication until the problems it's supposed to treat no longer interfere with your function.  
Examples of what your doctor may have prescribed medication to treat, which meds HANDLE often causes to not be needed, are
"attention deficits" and/or "hyperactivity," and seizures.




What if I can't keep an appointment one month?  Can I make it up?
Of course there are circumstances that intercept even the best-laid plans, notably illness, or a family crisis.  I would expect you to
cancel an appointment with as much advance notice as possible, and to reschedule if we can arrive at a mutually convenient day
and time.  If not, you may need to extend the 6-month date to compensate.  




What if I don't do my program every day?
It can't achieve results if you don't do it.  The more consistent you are, the more likely you are to experience change in less time.  But
you're also supposed to mind the Gentle Enhancement principle, so cramming a program into a tight and/or stressed time frame
probably would counteract the potential positive gain.  Balance is what it's all about.




What if I change my mind after a month or two?  Do I get a refund?
No.  If a health crisis or such situations as a move to another geographical area prevent your complying with our contract, of course I
will compensate you from a balance of what you paid.  But the whole idea of an advance contract and payment is so that we both
commit to the full program.  A change of mind implies lack of commitment.