General Archives

Little Star Center staff plans fundraising events

Fundraising events are scheduled this spring to support Little Star Center, an Indiana ABA therapy facility. Staff at Little Star’s Indiana locations are teaming up to raise money for the non-profit organization’s scholarship program which provides financial support to learners unable to cover tuition when faced with temporary insurance challenges.

Families and friends of Little Star are invited to participate in the following events/activities to support the scholarship program:

Lafayette West

Blue or purple Advocates for Autism bracelets can be purchased for $2 (one bracelet) or $5 (three bracelets). Bracelets are available in youth and adult sizes and can be shipped to your home. For more information, please email Sara Franceschina at [email protected].

Also, join us for our Paparazzi Jewelry event. Click here to visit the event page to view items and make a purchase.

Bloomington

These and other items are for up for auction at Give to the Stars on June 11 at Butler Winery and Vineyards.

June 11 – 7-10 p.m. “Give to the Stars,” Butler Winery and Vineyards, 5200 E. Robinson Road. This event, now in its second year, will feature live music and a silent auction. Items up for bid include yoga classes, massages and tickets to an Indianapolis Indians game, Holiday World and Disney World.

Advance tickets are $8 and $10 on the day of the event. Five tickets can be purchased for $38. To purchase tickets, please contact Amanda Jones at 812-650-3032. Tickets are available until June 6.

Carmel

Purchase items from Thirty-One Gifts through May 25 and a portion of the proceeds will go to Little Star Center’s scholarship program. Start shopping here.

Staff Spotlight: Chris Kirk, insurance coordinator, Little Star Center Carmel

Chris Kirk, insurance coordinator at Little Star Center, is based at our Carmel location. He joined Little Star three years ago and processes all insurance claims, from reconciling each center’s daily charges to following up on outstanding claims. Chris also sends all of our learners’ authorization requests to their respective insurance companies and follows through to ensure approval. Here’s more information about Chris:

What do you most enjoy about your job at Little Star Center? I enjoy the people I work with and the difference I can make in this position. I have made some great connections, established friendships with my colleagues and discovered that we all have a lot of common interests. In my position as insurance coordinator, I take on a lot of the responsibility of making sure each learner has access to continuous service with our therapists.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? “Happy wife, happy life.”

One thing I want people to know and understand about working with children affected by autism is….Insurance plays a big part in being able to provide effective care for children affected by autism. Many parents think that (ABA therapy) might be too expensive or unobtainable, but there are many options available to make interactive, individualized therapy affordable. I’m here to be a resource for families at Little Star Center who have questions about insurance, billing, authorizations, or even logistics to help plan ABA therapy for children.

What are your favorite activities when not working at Little Star Center?

I enjoy spending time with my family, watching TV shows and movies, watching Washington Redskins football, and playing sports. Since I’m not originally from Indiana, I enjoy exploring Indy and the area with my wife. Lauren, who grew up here. We have three dogs: Annie, Cooley and Scotty.

Clinical director visits alma mater to recruit for Little Star Center

Breanne presenting her mentor, Dr. Maloff, with an ABA superhero shirt.

Breanne presents her mentor, Dr. Richard Malott, with an ABA superhero shirt.

By Breanne Hartley, Ph.D, BCBA-D

I recently had the opportunity to visit my alma mater, Western Michigan University, in order to attend the Midwestern Behavior Analysis job fair. It was a pleasure to be at my old stomping grounds, which holds so many fond memories of professional development and growth, to represent Little Star Center. I had the opportunity to briefly present to undergraduate and graduate students regarding how amazing it is to be an employee at Little Star Center. Afterwards, I received great feedback on the information that was presented. Students were extremely impressed that Little Star Center provides its employees with frequent learning opportunities to continuously learn about behavior analysis, ongoing opportunities for professional development, daily collaboration with other like-minded behavior analysts, and a competitive benefits package.

My visit to Western Michigan University also allowed me the chance to visit with my mentor, Dr. Richard Malott, whom I studied under to receive my Doctorate in behavior analysis. His passion for behavior analysis and his enthusiasm for continuing to provide exceptional graduate-level behavior analytic training is contagious. I gave him an “ABA superhero” t-shirt, the Little Star Center swag for the job fair, and he proudly wore it to the job fair social. He truly is an ABA superhero!

Breanne Hartley is a clincial director at Little Star Center.

Staff Spotlight: Danyl Epperheimer, assistant clinical director, Little Star Center-Bloomington

Danyl has worked at Little Star Center for two years. As assistant clinical director at Little Star Center-Bloomington, Danyl oversees the day-to-day operations at the location. Here’s more information about Danyl:

What do you most enjoy about your job at Little Star Center? Everything! The kids, my co-workers. I like how the staff continues to strive to be the best in the field.

What are your favorite activities when not working at Little Star Center? Sleep because I never get any! I also enjoy gardening and spending time with my husband, Tony and daughter, Halei, 11, and my friends. My most favorite activity in the world is to read and cook with Halei. My daughter is my world. Anybody who spends any time around me knows about her because I talk about her a lot.

Pets? We have one dog, who is 14 years old, and, yes, he thinks he is human. We also have two birds and a fish.

ABA therapy and insurance: What you need to know

Many families with children affected by autism are currently reviewing insurance options during the Affordable Care Act open enrollment process. Here are four things to keep in mind as you consider ABA therapy and insurance:

ABA therapy insurance coverage is different with each policy. Coverage is dependent on whether your employer is self-funded or fully funded. Your prospective ABA center should contact your insurance provider to determine if ABA therapy is a covered benefit and what co-insurance/co-pay is applicable to your policy. Little Star Center accepts most insurance plans and, with the assistance of our family services director, works closely with families to address policy issues.

If your insurance plan does not cover ABA therapy, we encourage you to speak to an insurance broker familiar with the treatment and specific insurance need. It is important to work closely with your prospective center and insurance broker during open enrollment to ensure adequate coverage. Please remember open enrollment closes Jan. 31, 2016. After this deadline, insurance policies and rates are locked in until the next enrollment cycle.

Once insurance coverage is verified, your child’s start date for enrollment will be set. At Little Star Center, we have a step-by-step process that takes two to three weeks to complete and will ensure insurance coverage is in place for services.

If you do not have insurance, please contact an insurance broker who can assist you with options for ABA therapy coverage.

Remember these important dates during open enrollment:

December 15, 2015: Last day to enroll in or change plans for new coverage to start January 1, 2016
January 1, 2016: 2016 coverage starts for those who enroll or change plans by December 15
January 15, 2016: Last day to enroll in or change plans for new coverage to start February 1, 2016
January 31, 2016: 2016 Open Enrollment ends. Enrollments or changes between January 16 and January 31 take effect March 1, 2016

To learn more about ABA therapy and insurance coverage, visit the following websites:

Written by Victoria Blessing-Wade, Family Services Director at Little Star Center. Email Victoria at [email protected] with any questions about enrolling at Little Star Center.

A learner’s journey to the barber shop – Little Star Center-Bloomington

One of our learners at Little Star Center-Bloomington has been working on hair cutting desensitization with his therapist. Getting to the stage where he is comfortable sitting for a haircut has been a gradual process which included allowing the therapist to touch his hair, sitting in the waiting area and touching the styling chair. The learner has been able to sit back in the styling chair at our center for two minutes without any unwanted behaviors!

Recently, he and his therapist visited a local barber shop to sit in a styling chair. He successfully sat in the chair and allowed his therapist to trim his hair!

Little Star Center supports local families in need for Thanksgiving

Little Star Center is collecting non-perishable items this month for our annual Thanksgiving food drive. All three locations are collecting items now through Friday, Nov. 13, for the following food pantries:

Officer David S. Moore Food Pantry – Indianapolis
Faith Church – Lafayette
Hoosier Hills Food Bank – Bloomington

For more information about the food drive and how to drop off items, please call the Little Star Center location in your area. Click here for contact information.

Fun, wacky & tasty spirit week at Little Star Center-Lafayette

Learners and staff at Little Star Center-Lafayette celebrated spirit week with five fun-filled days of activities. The event gave learners and staff an opportunity to express their individual style each day. Among the week’s themes were Throwback Thursday, Wacky Wednesday, When I Grow Up and Superhero/Villain Day – a staff favorite!

Middle Star learners get fit at Little Star Center in Carmel

Fitness group at Little Star Center in Carmel is a great opportunity for Middle Star learners to establish healthy habits.

Fitness group meets once a week for a variety of activities, including stretching, group movement games such as relay races or tag and ball activities. Learners also practice using fitness/cardio equipment.

Additionally, there are opportunities for learners to practice following instructions and focusing on imitation, as illustrated by the two learners pictured above who are mirroring one another’s movements during a stretching activity!

Outings reinforce skills for learners at Little Star Center

The goal of our programs at Little Star Center is to make the best use of each learner’s day and teach them the skills needed to be as successful as possible in a daily settings. One of the ways we achieve this goal is through various outings. Little Star Center learners have an opportunity to practice new skills in different settings, including restaurants, parks and the local library. Here are few examples:

Outing to the Indiana State Fair – Some of our Middle Star learners in Carmel practiced using community transportation by riding the train to the Indiana State Fair. They also followed directions on a scavenger hunt, tried new foods/experiences and had many valuable social opportunities.

Sensory Story Time at the Monroe County Public Library – This outing is always a treat for our learners at Little Star Center in Bloomington. Every month, learners have the opportunity to practice their group skills. They worked on attending and responding to a novel group leader, following directions, singing songs, imitating actions as well as listening to a story. After story time, the learners practiced sharing play sets with one another. One of our learners decided to have some fun. He knows his name quite well decided to be called “Little Guy” when the Story Time leader asked him his name.

Thank you to all community businesses and leaders who have hosted our outings. We hope you’ve enjoyed the experiences as much as our learners have.