The local agency which I chose to do my report on was an agency called
Threshold. I chose this agency, since I am interested to see what type of
agencies are out there that take in people with autism. I have not found too,
too many of them in Orlando. Threshold's purpose is to teach basic living
skills to those with autism and those who have sever behavior problems.
Their missions statement is that they "believe in promoting from within."
Threshold has advertising for employment in the Orlando Sentinel and
the Employment Guide constantly. This is because they have a high turn over
rate with employees. The employees get frustrated and burned out working
with the autistic community. In order to become a Threshold employee the
person must hired by Kendra Brooks. If hired, the person must be eighteen or
older, and must have a high school diploma. ( None of the employees
currently hold a B.S.W. degree.) The agency also does a background check
on their new employees. To see if they have been convicted of any crimes or
abuse. After being hired, the agency trains their employees on Professional
Crisis Management. Since the clients at Threshold's have specific needs the
employees are trained properly on how to handle the needs of an autistic
person. After the employee training (which they pay the employee to attend)
Employees are also given a chart of "Staff Levels Of Interaction."
(Which is included in my report) This allows the staff to know where they sit
as far as their interaction level seen by the managers with the clients. A
meeting is also held among the employees with their manager to discuss their
interaction level with the clients.
The following is a tree diagram on who works at the agency:
CABA (Behavior Analysis, Masters Degree)
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