Pros
The clients are amazing and their treatment progress will astound you the longer you work with them. It's truly rewarding to know that you positively impact a child's life with each session you have with them. Get ready to learn a lot and master skills that will benefit you in and outside of work; de-escalation strategies, remaining calm in intense situations, understanding functions of behavior, etc... If you're passionate about this, you can gain access to resources for further education and all of the SLPs/OTs/BCBAs are so supportive and thoughtful with their clients and supervisees.
Cons
The biggest and most frustrating aspect of Soar has to be the scheduling. It's understandable for coverage needs to arise and gaps in hours to occur given the 1:1 client-to-RBT set-up. However, the inconsistency and confusion that occurs with scheduling on a day-to-day basis is concerning. If you're full-time, you will likely have an easier time with base client assignments and expected hours. But, given the high turnover rate (especially at this location) and the general disorganization of schedules, it can be difficult to know what your week might look like. Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself about when you will and will not accept coverage. Towards the end of my time, I was taken off of 3 base schedule clients and given 3 to 5 coverage sessions a week. A lot of this comes down to not having enough employees, which speaks to deeper issues within the company and industry as a whole. Most of the time, it's not the clients that are the cause of frustration. However, there are days when sessions are difficult and when that happens the necessary support should be provided to ensure employees aren't burning out. Sadly, some of the people who work here are incredibly incompetent and do not uphold the company values whatsoever. Soar is set on providing 1:1 care and will not fire people unless they have to, even when it is a detriment to the work environment and causes setbacks in client progress.
