I don’t see ABA as salvation. Quite the contrary. I see it as one form of teaching many kids that’s effective. And, ours is one-on-one. But, what I appreciate about it is that it brings in all the other therapies and disciplines together to work with the child. A good ABA program compliments and enahances all the other therapies the child is doing. That’s how our program was modelled. It’s just a different way of teaching that can probably benefit many children off the spectrum, too. It gives the kids their own tools to manage their own issues so that they can be more independent in handling their deficits and/or skills that are needed to function.

I saw Flo & Kay and it struct me as being incredibly sad. If these two brilliant women had had some form of intervention, I feel they would be independent today. Instead, they are totally dependent on family members who sometimes don’t want them. I hope they always stay together because they’re each other’s support system.

I think our sons are the same age. Mine is 5. He went to Montessori for 2 years. We have things in common. I’ve always been positive about my child, his life and future. It was in my spirit that he was going to be okay and he is. I’m happy that with sites like yours, there is growing understanding and awarness of our children.

Thank for letting me post.

Watching Kaye And Faye on TVO recently, I was struck by the behaviourist’s questions. In order to judge whether or not the savant twins understood “social interaction and emotions,” they had to answer a question that sounded more like a math problem. This alone was the behaviourist’s basis for assessment that the autistic twins did not understand emotions or social nuance.

Moving on through the TVO series, it was noteworthy how emotional, humourous and empathetic they really were. The “got” nuance. But the behaviourist said they didn’t by virtue of the one question, so hey, the expert must be right…right?

Wrong. I do not credit behavioural therapies as saviours or the path that enables our kids to do things they end up doing naturally, even if the pathways are different. Adam learned to engage by being with people, not by a facilitated method exclusively, although I admit we also tried that. I found building on his play, respecting his play, also showing him how others play — ALL of that made a difference, but I hate to credit one method to Adam’s learning style or success.

Adam learns, period. Autistic people learn. ABA doesn’t seem to learn at all.

Also, individual pretend play is a wonderful thing. But, what the professionals are working towards is getting our children to interact and communicate with others by using toys and games to do so. Whether verbal or non-verbal, communication is an essential element, but one must first understand how to engage in order to communicate.

Of all the therapies, I feel behavior modification programs play the most critical role in an autistic child’s development because they cover every aspect of life. But, I never think it’s good to force a therapy on one’s child if you don’t agree with it. Thanks for listening.

(Just doing my part for accessibility…)

:) You bet he does! Great post.