I've only had time to read the first page but I find this article very misleading
1 The reward system works, its the only thing that motivated my son, he honestly doesn't even care about the reward but he likes putting the stars up and getting a prize when he gets to 5
2 never have I seen any punishment for noncompliance
3 The article sounds like it equates working in things like eye contact and some stimming to child abuse ( the only stiming I've seen them work on are things that will interfere with his development there is always a reason ) And eye contact is very important I am eternally grateful to my father who pushed me to have eye contact as a child.
4 I've never seen them push my child to uncomfortable situations that he was very resistant to ever
I am sure there is good and bad out there maybe I found a good one but this article really is unrealistic as I see it
I am very glad I did not read it before I began because It really makes ABA sound awful and it's not a real picture
I am glad ABA worked for your situation. I suspect there will be positive and negative stories from both sides, as it depends on many things: the ability and any biases or open mindedness of the therapist, the one with Autism and if they are receptive to it or can be helped by that approach or not, and the specific therapy tried. It is good to see both points of view, as that can cause healthy debate, and/or fine tuning of things, if need..
I have no problems with proper rewards from time to time, regardless if a child has Autism or not, when a child does something great or outside of their comfort zone. But the ABA therapist, in our case, did that entirely wrong. She was rewarding our first child repetitively for answering correctly or doing simple educational questions or activities.
Without asking us parents first, she assumed two things there. First, she assumed candy was the reward. We never told her Aaron loved candy. He hates candy. In fact, food was likely seen as more as a punishment to him, as at that time our child refused most all foods, unless it was a few selects foods and presented in a very specific precise way.
Secondly, we never told that therapist educational things were hard for him, or not fun for him. Maybe many NTs can hate learning. Aaron does not hate learning. Why reward Aaron for something he already really loves, or if it comes very easy to him. That makes no sense. That's like him telling himself, "I better not do this educational stuff, as not only will the therapist give me candy, but she is suggesting it is something I am supposed to hate, or that I must have difficulty with.
So, what does Aaron do when she shows him flashcards of simple words and basic pictures. On the third therapy day, he eventually laughs, falls to the floor and starts throwing things, after he gets sick of answering everything right and being rewarded every fifth correct answer, etc for those sessions. My wife and I look at each other and I whisper to her, "What the heck is she doing. He can read books, learned thousands of flashcards at home from every category imagineable more than a year prior. This is not helping."
So, the therapist decides to play a model me game, one of the few times she attempts to do anything behavioral related. She tells Aaron to do the same thing she does, like tapping his head with one hand, after she does such with her hand to her head, and making a scrunched up face, after she does the same. And after she drops an item on the floor, Aaron models. Either she did not know Aaron could develop new routines by seeing such, or she did not care, but it would seem that she could have picked better things for him to mimick.
I guess the purpose of that game was to see if he could follow instructions, but he already had followed all in the two days of testing before aba therapy began, which was 60-90/minutes for each of those testing sessions where he answered every question and did every action request successfully. And yet they said he was behaviorally at a 1 to 18 month old for most things, to justify long term therapy, which was not true, as he was only about a year delayed from our rearsearch of milestones. He seemed closer to 2.5 - 3 years old developmentally then.
I guess my concern is not that some are fine with ABA or have been helped by it, as that is great for those persons, but my concern is not only as mentioned, but the assumption from the traditional medical community seems to be that ABA is the most proper type of treatment, and they refuse to consider other viewpoints. How can they suggest or state ABA is the answer, as ABA can mean different things to different therapists and professionals. They try to make parents feel guilty if they do not want such when they recommend such, even after explaining failures from trying that, yet they (general doctors) as professionals cannot define ABA when we asked them specifically what it entailed. They told us to ask the therapist. Then as soon as you show up, they have plans already made, without parental input.
Part of our problem also is usual protocols a part of the medical community, ones where they often refuse to look at things on a case by case basis. Remember as there is no cure, and no known specific causes, there should be no widespread treatment recommended. And the assumption often is the child or adult with such condition wants to be like the others in those behavioral ways, or needs that, or is able to tolerate that treatment or able to be helped in the way the therapists desires.
Whenever we mentioned our views that we did not necessarily agree with certain treatments recommended, until we learned what it entailed and what would be asked of our children to do, their attitude was 'What do you want us to do then?" How about giving us specific factual information on all the therapies, not just their usual recommendation, and give caregivers an unbiased view of what to expect from each, and the pros and cons of each. Nothing is more irritating than medical professionals recommending something without looking at each situation separately, or with them not standing behind what they recommend or knowing much about what they recommend, or them not being thorough.
I feel it is the caregivers and person with Autism that should feel no pressure to do what the majority is doing, as each case will be different, as each situation, one with condition, and experiences will be different. No two cases will be alike. Doctors need to be open minded about any treatment or no treatment when Autism is involved, as lots of factors are involved that these professionals often have no clue about from not having lived minute by minute and daily in that situation.
