Well, that got a little heated... (on ABA)

I did that meme on Facebook, the one where you list 25 random things about yourself. Here's one of my random things:

7. I was on Global TV news in February 2007 because I was lobbying against the bill that would make Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) a mandatory treatment for autistic children and had sent out press releases and written letters about it. (The bill wasn't actually about making ABA mandatory, but it would have funded the treatment and that would have wound up making it mandatory.)

I got a comment from my brother wondering what was wrong with ABA, since he doesn't know anything about it. I also got a couple of comments from a friend who currently works as an ABA therapist. I got a little long-winded and probably overdid things in my reply, which took four of the Facebook comment boxes. I probably got some of the science stuff wrong, but since I'm primarily speaking of my own experience, I'm happy to make changes where necessary. (And I did direct interested parties to Michelle's paper on ABA!) Here's what I wrote:

The bill would have said that ABA should be funded by Health Care, which is stupid because ABA isn't medically necessary (though FEAT would like people to believe it is) - it's an educational tool, and that is all it is. That's why the bill was a Bad Idea. (The one good thing is that it would have made funding for services mandatory across the lifespan of the individuals. The bad thing is that since there is so much pro-ABA propaganda out there, it would have wound up being the only option.)

As for what's wrong with ABA, I suggest those interested read Michelle Dawson's paper on the ethics thereof, which can be found here: http://www.sentex.net/~nexus23/naa_aba.html

Remember, I made my living doing ABA for several years. But I also have made sure to become educated about other things regarding autism, and while I think ABA is certainly a good teaching tool, the claims made about its effectiveness are dubious. There haven't been any proper studies done comparing specific "therapies," to my knowledge, and since ALL children learn and grow over the years, there is a fair amount of development being attributed to methods that may or may not have anything to do with said development.

Aside from that, I have a huge problem with the lack of respect for the children that is shown in these programs. Maybe I just got on bad teams, but there were a lot of them, and it was rampant in every single one. Good intentions there were, but they still didn't respect the children.

And what happens to the kids who don't "recover?" Or the ones who develop enough communication and social skills that they are able to express their understanding of what's gone on?

I'm a community aide for a teenager who had ABA for many, many years. Her parents decided to put an end to it at their last contract renewal, moving into community aide services instead of continuing behaviour therapy, because (this is my understanding, I may be incorrect) they have recognised that it's more important to help her learn to manage her life as she is instead of constantly reaching for "normalcy." She's not going to be "normal" - autism doesn't go away. You are born with an autistic brain, and that doesn't change. What changes is your ability to deal with the differences between how your brain functions and the way the world is set up.

One of my friends - autistic, adult, married, working - was in an ABA program for three months back in the 1970s. She has PTSD from it.

"But it's different now!?!" Sure, it's different. Kids in ABA programs still grow up knowing that something's "wrong" with them, that they just aren't good enough as they are.

There are much better ways to help kids learn. An integrated approach makes the most sense. Speech therapy for communication, including augmentative devices and/or sign language. Occupational Therapy for fine motor development and sensory processing differences. Did you know that forcing a child to use a pencil can cause PAIN if they have low muscle tone? An OT can diagnose this and provide excellent exercises to help combat the problem. But most ABA programs make poor use of these specialists.

Read the article. Michelle explains it all from the science angle.

Um, yeah. I think that's it for tonight. I have to get some sleep. I'll post updates as they happen.