Wisconsin Early Autism Project reviews

This company will be audited. Beware clinicians with licenses and state certificates: Do not sign off on work or hours you did not render or conduct despite the insistence or harassment by your leadership or clinic directors (some of whom don’t even have licenses to practice). This company (LEARN Behavioral & its subsidiaries, including WEAP) render services by minimally trained “therapists” or “techs” that maybe have the states’s requirements of 40 hours of training. Yet, they bill at the highest level possible (often for PhD’s who aren’t involved in rendering services or even providing any supervision whatsoever). This company exploits families with children who have disabilities. This company also exploits those minimally trained techs (high school usually with less than 40 hours of ABA training to work with some of the most developmentally challenged kids and vulnerable families. Over billing for services NOT rendered. During the pandemic, this company maximized on “Telehealth” services to vulnerable families, billing for kids with minimal attention watching UTube type videos (with no therapist present) -billing these hours to Medicaid & insurance as “individual therapy” when neither a therapist was present to work with the child nor any therapy was rendered. ANY PROFESSIONAL with a STATE LICENSE (who values their license and profession) would look and go elsewhere. Amateur management (at WEAP - puppets) to the larger, unethical organization, Learn Behavioral (another subsidiary of the parent company, Austin Spectrum Companies of Delaware - a company investigated by Dept of Labor and IRS). Beware & look elsewhere if you value working with a vulnerable population or your education& license.

I hope you like to work for free, have no financial obligations or have a low self worth! I need to mention that WEAP does have a few quality individuals that made my time there manageable but unfortunately they couldn’t help me with my tuition or car payment. Firstly, you are paid below a living wage, $13.25 an hour to be exact. (Just an FYI Target pays $15 an hour) You will be doing a very hard job. These children are not in these programs to work on writing their name. They are at WEAP to help stop aggression, potty train, or eat more than cookies. You are responsible for human beings who will hit, scratch, bite, punch, kick, throw objects ( including human waste at you) yell, scream, and cry. You will be working for a company that ironically teaches social skills but could benefit from the lessons themselves. This organization is an absolute dumpster fire. Staffers might have had souls years ago but are so burnt out they are unreachable. During a shift I had a BT therapist ask me to do push-ups with her so she could reach an exercise goal on her Fitbit while the client ran around the Friendship Tree’s playground. The entire staff (myself included) is so poorly trained that I am unsure of who is to blame. Every question is met with an “that’s the autism showing” response I feel like I’m talking to a magic 8 ball. If you want to learn more about ABA therapy there are many other companies available that pay a lot better than WEAP/LEARN Behavioral. *check out in bloom!* Bottom line this is a business and WEAP uses tactics of preying upon low income, English second language or non English speaking families as the bread and butter of their clientele. WEAP is the largest accepter of Medicaid in the state, a fact they do not hide but rather use as a way of explaining why you are so underpaid. They purposely misrepresent themselves in order to appear like caring individuals but make no mistake WEAP’s upper management will not show you the same kindness. Just last year as temperatures were in the arctic range employees were still expected to travel to work while the Clinical director remained at home. During a shift a shooting had occurred in a clients front yard. HR told me “that could have happened anywhere” and I would need to make up lost hours because I felt unsafe and left the clients house early. CEO is so out of touch she was overhead telling another employee she was unaware what the average pay was for a BT technician. Quick side note she drives a very ostentatious BMW and enjoys international travel monthly! Please please please do your research on this company. Especially if you are using this therapy program as a way to help your child with autism.