EI question- payment?

Posted: Thu, Apr 12 2012, 4:13 pm Post subject: EI question- payment?

I've been teaching special ed (kids with MR and down syndrome mostly) for about 10 years and I'm considering lowering my hours by going into EI instead. I'd like to figure out budget-wise if this is an option for me but I'm having a hard time finding out around how much EI therapists are paid per session these days. Anyone know?? I have a bilingual yiddish license if that makes a difference. If you'd prefer that I PM you, please offer- anon so that no one from work finds this out Smile

Thank you!!!

Posted: Thu, Apr 12 2012, 4:32 pm Post subject: re: EI question- payment?

Call the Early Intervention agencies themselves.

Reason #1: Fewer kids are being approved for EI these days, so you many not be able to fill up your calendar.

Find out if they are hiring, and how many slots would you be able to fill.

I live in Brooklyn, NY, and due to State cuts there are many women who don't have work with EI.

In Monsey, a friend of mine had been doing this for years (working with EI) and now works in a school part-time to supplement her income.

Reason #2: Every agency is different, depending on how much of a cut they take.

You should also contact P3 placement agencies (NYC Dept. Education - older kids) to find out if they are hiring, how much they pay, and how many slots you can depend on to fill up your calendar.

Posted: Thu, Apr 12 2012, 4:37 pm Post subject: re: EI question- payment?

OP here- thank you!
The agencies don't want to answer me unless I'm hired Sad

As a public school teacher, I cannot do P3s or SEIT for a year after leaving as it's considered a conflict of interest (I know, it makes no sense..). I don't need to fill up a schedule, I just need a basic idea of the salary! I have a lot of experience and hopefully that, together with my bilingual license, will help me get some cases. Is it around 40 dollars a half hour? a full hour? 90 dollars?? I really have no clue! A ballpark figure anyone??

Posted: Thu, Apr 12 2012, 4:37 pm Post subject: Re: EI question- payment?

Posted: Thu, Apr 12 2012, 4:44 pm Post subject: re: EI question- payment?

op here- thank you! I had been planning on calculating that in. I know that it wouldn't be able to support my family like my kjob now, but hopefully by supplementing DH's income it would work out. I am also looking for a more flexible schedule for my growing family then I have now. Bakc to my original question- any ballpark figure?

Diamond Member Joined: Apr 27 2006 Age: 30 Posts: 2535

It depends on your area of specialty, and how many years experience you have. I looked into an EI job as an OT but in NJ, so what they offered in salary would be diff than NY. Some things to consider.

- you will probably build up a caseload slowly, so for the first month, count on less income.

- they told me to expect to travel, they offer local jobs first to more experienced therapists.

-hourly pay was more, but because of the tax rates mentioned above, I still came out with taking home almost the same amount of money as when working in a school.

-if you end up servicing nonfrum, it may not be so easy to take off erev yom Tov, chol hammed, etc.

-I think EI works straight thru the summer, unlike schools that are off.

Platinum Member Joined: Oct 14 2009 Posts: 5890

If you wanted to do SEIT or P3/SETSS, you could always just do EI for a year and then switch. That wouldn't put you too far behind if the salary isn't enough, though it would be a royal pain.

The only time I was offered an EI case, I felt that the pay wasn't enough, but that was when I had no experience and it was on that kind of scale. So with 10 years of relevant experience you might do better. However bear in mind that it can be hard to get cases, I remember hearing over the last few years that people who used to do EI full time were suddenly stuck without work. There seemed to be a shift that instead of the EI therapist working with the kid for several hours a week, the time was cut to one hour a week during which they were supposed to focus on training the parents or other caregivers in how to work with the kid themselves. Hence, fewer working hours, more kids to keep track of, and a LOT more traveling and hopping around between cases. Much if not most of EI is home-based.

The only area where I've ever heard of more demand in EI is for ABA specialists. Still, that's the field that offered me too little to be worth the travel (since I was new and they were only offering me the less-popular cases far from the center). But at least there, there are more early diagnoses going on and with a good advocate kids can get qualified for 20 hours a week...

Posted: Sat, Apr 14 2012, 11:57 pm Post subject: re: EI question- payment?

As a speech therapist, I get $65 a hour. Not sure about special ed, but I don't believe it to be higher. I could be wrong.

Posted: Sun, Apr 15 2012, 12:25 am Post subject: re: EI question- payment?

speech gets more than special ed. I thought it was somewhere bet. 40(newbie) and 60(top of pay scale.)