Supporting and guiding the person with autism

Main Office: 331 Gambrills Rd. Suite 4A Gambrills, MD 21054
PHONE: 410-923-1100 FAX: 410-923-1101
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Testimonial

    “What would I do without my tech? She has been a tremendous asset to my son and myself for four years now. She goes above and beyond the call of duty in her ability to be creative. Never has she hesitated to create, suggest, or apply her knowledge and ability to the best interest of my child and myself.”

    “My husband and I could not be more pleased with the support we receive from our Family Consultant. I have learned a lot from my Family Consultant and have even brought her ideas to my son’s school program. She is very constructive and creative and flexible. My son has grown tremendously under her instruction.”

    “I really appreciate the structure of your program. I have seen it evolve over the years and it holds everyone accountable for their jobs. The supports you’ve offered my family over the years has made raising my daughter much easier.”

Our Philosophy and Mission

    The Whole Self Center’s philosophy suggests that every human being is more than a body with a brain. When caring for a child – a whole person - we are experiencing the creative spirit present in that child & in ourselves.

    • As we remain interested in exploring creative possibilities for the individual in the moment, we are more open to experiencing something new, such as developing a valuable skill we never knew or thought was possible.
    • In this way, we are less likely to stay stuck in repeating our old, inhibiting habits & behaviors.
    • By living this understanding with individuals with autism, we continue to become better able to respect & support children for who they already are, deserving of love & attention simply for being.

Potential Employees

We currently have a staff of close to 200 employees in the role of IISS workers who provide services in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's, Saint Mary's, Queen Anne's, Howard, and Frederick Counties in Maryland.

 

Would you like to be an Intensive Individual Support Services Technician and Respite Care Worker?
It is our policy to ask Intensive Individual Support Services Technicians to provide Respite Care to the children they are assigned.  That way, both the child and the parents are familiar with and have confidence in the person's skills. 

Intensive Individual Support Services technicians must have at least a high school diploma. We prefer to employ individuals who have education and/or training along with experience providing care for children with autism; however, we will consider each person's strengths and abilities when offering him/her a position as IISS technician with our agency.

IISS technicians provide intensive one-on-one supportive interventions to a child with autism. We allow our technicians to work 1 to 25 hours per week either as the sole technician for a child or as a member of the team of technicians assigned to a child. IISS is based on a treatment plan specifically designed for the child. The treatment plan can involve the technician preventing or diffusing crises, promoting developmental and social skills growth, providing the child with behavior management skills, giving the child a sense of security and safety, assisting the child with maintaining self-sufficiency and impulse control, improving the child's positive self-expression and interpersonal communication, improving the child's ability to function and cooperate in the home and community, reversing negative behaviors and attitudes, and fostering stabilization and structure.

IISS technicians are offered ongoing individualized instruction and supervised by our professional staff.
Respite Care Workers

While acting in the role of caregiver, a Respite Care Worker keeps a child safe and well cared for.  The worker must also understand the challenges of handling the possible crises that children with autism can experience.  Respite Care is NOT guided by an individualized treatment plan in the way that IISS is guided.  The primary goal of Respite is essentially to keep the child well-cared for in natural settings, and may include overnight stays in the child's home while the parents are away. 
It is our policy to ask the existing Intensive Individual Support Services Technicians to provide Respite Care to the children they are assigned.  That way, both the child and the parents are familiar with and have confidence in the person's skills. 



Staff Training
Although we are willing to consider all applicants, we usually hire those who have direct experience working with children with autism. We are very interested in hiring individuals who already have a history with our client.  Regardless of the person’s skill at the time of employment, we pay the individual $9.50/hr to be mentored by a technician currently assigned to the child until the new employee feels ready to work alone.

We use a variety of methods to enhance the on-going skill development of our technicians. We observe them working with the child during IISS sessions, we pay them a stipend to attend supervisory meetings, we encourage them to contact their assigned supervisor via email or phone & we monitor their work by carefully examining their individual session notes which our employees record on our internet-based Whole Self Monitoring System.

Would you like to be a Family Consultant?
A Family Consultant is a professional with a certification or licensure in an Education, Mental Health, Speech, Occupational Therapy, or other Health-Related field who has the appropriate amount of experience providing training or consultation in Autism Spectrum Disorder. The "appropriate experience" is dependent upon the type of degree.

A Family Consultant provides individualized, hands-on training to the child's family. The Family Consultant assists the family to help the child acquire, retain, or improve skills in a wide variety of areas that directly affect the participant's development and ability to reside as independently as possible. These areas include but are not limited to social skills, functional life skills, academic skills, community skills, and communication skills.


Family Consultants visit a home for about four hours each month, for a maximum of 40 hours a year, depending on the client’s available hours of FT service; however, scheduling is flexible and dependent upon the child's needs as well as the family's desire for the service.

WAGES IISS and Respite

We pay our Intensive Individual Support Services technicians $13.50-$14.50/hr. All new employees will be placed on a 90 day probation period. Technician’s wages are based on the amount of their education and experience with autism. Upon successful completion of probation, technicians may be eligible for an increase based upon performance.


The same IISS workers are often asked to provide Respite Care at a rate of $10.50/hr for the children they serve.


Family Consultant Wages
We pay our Family Consultants $50.00 - $60.00/hr depending on the type of services they provide with our clients and technicians as well as the experience and education of the Family Consultant.

In addition to providing hands-on training to parents, our Family Consultants are involved in the on-going individualized instruction of our technicians. 

They also act in a supervisory role under the authority and guidance of our Executive Director and our Clinical Director. 


Hourly wages

Issues Involving Wages
We pay our employees faithfully every other Friday of the month with mandatory direct deposit which is paperless as well. You can view your paycheck information on our Payroll Company’s website, view your history and even reprint a W-2 if necessary. 
We give our employees an annual vacation pay based on the number of service hours they provide per a given year.
We give our employees a yearly bonus based on the average number of service hours they provide per week in a given year.