Complaint Review: Center For Autism And Related Disorders

I worked at Center for Autism and Related Disorders (C.A.R.D.) and quit because of what I (and many others) felt were exploitative practices towards their employees. CARD is a company that provides behavioral therapy to kids with autism, and sends out behavioral therapists to clients homes for one-on-one sessions. Therapists have to travel within a 50 mile radius; sometimes driving 100 miles round trip per 1.5 to 3.0 hour session. (Yes, those numbers are correct).

Even though I was told the terms and conditions of working at CARD, such as the possibility of driving long distances, part time hours, etc., what I encountered as I started working did not meet my expectations at all.

First of all, there was always a shortage of hours to go around among the therapists. Despite this, they seemed to be constantly hiring new therapists. I signed up for part time, but I got 10 hours at most and for a time only got 4 hours. What is worse, is that all the times you put available, you must be ON CALL for fill-ins. That means you can't schedule anything else during those times, like a second job or class. (What do they expect us to do, sit at home and twiddle our thumbs??) And if you limit your available hours at all, you get even less hours. Lose-lose situation.

One of my main complaints about working at CARD was the long, uncompensated distances I had to drive. Even though I was told at the interview that there was the possibility of driving long distances, I was also told we would be paid for drive time and mileage. However, only as I started working, I found out that we were only paid for miles driven between client to client.

Not only that, but the way the office scheduled my sessions, my hours were spread out throughout the week so that I almost always had only one session per day (1.5 to 3 hour sessions). Therefore, I WAS ALMOST NEVER paid any drive time or mileage at all. Many therapists actually LOSE money by working for this company.

If I realized all these things about CARD, you may wonder why I stayed so long at CARD. It's because of the $600 training fee that we have to pay CARD if we quit before our one year contract is up. By the time I realized the actual conditions at CARD, and that it did not really meet my expectations, it was too late. I had already gone through the training. Therefore, even though I knew that the job was not worth my time and energy, I could not quit because I would then be stuck with a $600 bill that I could not afford to pay. Many therapists feel equally as stuck as we COULD NOT AFFORD TO QUIT.

As a side note, the pay raises at CARD are absolutely ridiculous. The last pay raise I got was $0.08, which is actually considered high. The avg. is about $0.03, and the highest I was told is $0.12!

When I tried to voice my complaints, I got a hostile response from the site director. She was rude and disrespectful towards me throughout the meeting. She raised her voice at me several times, speaking to me harshly and with an attitude, saying things like, "You were TOLD that you might have to drive to Lafayette." Every time I would bring something up, I felt attacked.

I know that I am not the only one with these complaints as I have spoken to more than a few therapists and former therapists, who feel the same way about the working conditions at CARD. Because of these conditions, the turnover rate at CARD is extremely high. This could NOT be good for the kids we work with, as they get attached to the therapists. Often, we don't even get a chance to say goodbye to the kids.

If you are considering working for this company, or if you have an autistic child and are thinking of using this company, I advise you to think again.

Disgruntled
San Jose, California
U.S.A.