special education teacher

habilitation specialist

liaison

teacher's aide

registered nurse - home health

ACDS, Inc.

Having worked in residential in other agencies, I am grateful I found my role here. I feel a mutual high level of respect with my supervisor and others. There is a large emphasis on work/life balance here which is very appreciated as this field can be extremely stressful. Days off and vacations are encouraged and personal milestones are celebrated here (graduating from school, getting married, starting a family). 

At the same time, there is a also a support for your job development. moving up within is very much practiced here. Many that are managers and higher have started as DSPs or counselors. I see this as very encouraging for my own development here. 

The manager's truly care about the residents. You can tell that the residents like where they live and who support them. One of the best parts is seeing the residents progressing behaviorally, socially and professionally (securing a job). I have even seen this all within the relatively short time I have been a part of this residential team.  

There are problems in the whole system of human services. It's a hard reality of the field. However, ACDS always attempts to make improvements for their employees. It's amazing to see employees who have been here over 10 years! I hope to see this agency grow!

In a short they hire people to fill a position .They don't hire enough people who actually care about the residents.  They keep people on even if they are not living up to their job requirements. 

They under pay all who work in the resident homes from the managers to the dsp. . 

They don't keep all the homes in a clean up to date living environment. Some homes are so run down dark and gloomy. While others are modern and bright. I think they do this according to how much the parents donate to the agency. So those homes where the parent donate less the are more run down. SAD but TRUE. 

They have residents living in homes where the staff is not trained to handle their health requirements. The DSP are expected to do more of the nurses responsibilities that is required by their job description.

ACDS had a great deal of potential when it first opened.  Unfortunately, the school is poorly run due to poor management.  The head administration does not have a background in special education and this has had a negative impact on the overall school environment.  Due to lack of supervision from the school principal, the classrooms are not monitored and are highly unstructured.  Favoritism is observed among administration and staff members are not treated fairly.  Many students have experienced regression during their time at ACDS Westchester.  The management team would need to be replaced at this point in order to improve the school's reputation.

The supervisors, managers and assistant supervisors are never on the same page. Co-workers steal food from the residence. They are super lazy when the managers are away, but are awesome at keeping up with a working appearance when they are around. While I was there they had a lot of hires that seems like it was a hassle to do assigned tasks. Tasks that are clearly apart of the job description that they applied for turn into tasks that they would disregard purposely or take forever to do when it could have been done right away. This field should require teamwork, but when everyone is on their own work page, it makes it really hard. When dealing with adults with disabilities, its always best when co-workers are on the same page and working as a team.

In the mornings, we begin by picking up the students from their buses. After the kids arrive we have the kids work on improving their fine motor skills through different tasks. After we use the Smart Board to teach the students in a hands on experience. Then we accompany the children to their special for that day. We have been potty training the students to use the bathroom independently. This experience has given me an understanding that each child learns differently. The relationship between co-workers in the room is very cohesive and we all work together to get the day running smoothly. The most enjoyable part of my job is breaking through with a child and watching them achieve their goals.

ACDS is a very welcoming and positive environment to work in. When you do a good job, the higher ups ensure that you stay around. Supervisors are very accommodating and understanding. They are willing to help and educate their employees all the time. A typical day would be picking up clients from their homes, bringing them to program, completing a morning volunteer job and working on client specific goals. Clients and staff all eat lunch at the same time. After lunch, each group is to complete a second job for the day. There are weekly community outings that are both fun and educational. There are some jobs where staff are learning along with the clients which creates a great experience.

If you are able to handle fast pace work environment then this is the place for you. If you are able to handle keeping someone safe in an at times very volatile environment then this is the place for you. If your able to maintain your peace in the mist of at times a lot of confusion then this is the place for you. 
What I learned while working here is that money or there lack of can truly effect the running of a Group Home. The hardest part of the job was trying to give it your all while being very short staffed. The most enjoyable part of the job was actually seeing the progress of the individual no matter how small,

This place lacks professionalism! The pay is extremely low, only teachers and administration get paid very well.  They don’t care about their employees. People are always quitting. They hire anyone basically. The work environment is filled with drama. They want teacher assistants to go above and beyond with such little pay. They never hear out your concerns. It feels like they are running a business than running a actual school. It’s very stressful and you will be unhappy working there as a TA. It’s not worth the stress and uneasiness.

The only pro to working at ACDS in Scarsdale are the hours and days off. The benefits will leave you with about $10 left in your paycheck. Management doesn't even know half of the teachers who work there. If you show up for an interview, you're hired on the spot. Half of the people who work there have no business being around children. Rather than fire people, they get promoted. If you want experience working with children, you're better off going to a day care center.

If you want to come work and collect a paycheck without seeing progress in kids then work here. Management and admin is not only unhelpful director is rude and seriously unqualified to run a school. Kids needs are left without being addressed and teachers are shamed for asking for support instead of admin actually doing their jobs. Sad because the school actually has so much potential if it could be run by people who care about education.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Special education teacher 28 salaries reported	$68,304 per year
Habilitation specialist 5 salaries reported	$21.70 per hour
Liaison 3 salaries reported	$24.00 per hour
Teacher's aide 9 salaries reported	$18.83 per hour
Registered nurse - home health 1 salary reported	$55.00 per hour

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