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Petition to Ban ABA in the UK

Sapphire K said:
I already did basically. Look at the links I gave.
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Ok, I had read the first two and not found the answers I was looking for. I just read the last one, and it was more helpful for me.

It listed an alternative to ABA as something called Peaceful Parenting: What Peaceful Parenting Is and Is Not

I'm not sure I agreed with all aspects of Peaceful Parenting. I think my parents did a good job of raising me, and a lot of what they did was in the "Authoritative" realm like Peaceful Parenting. But there were still punishments/rewards for things in my childhood.
I guess the only question I still have from that is whether or not this parenting approach actually results in autistic children being better prepared and capable of handling the NT world they are going to have to live in once they become adults..?

It would've been nice (and a lot less struggle on my part) if my parents had been better able to prepare me for the NT world. But then, I didn't realize I was AS until I was ~40.. so.. yeah.. But I gather we are now at least noticing autism in children more now than when I was a kid.

Reading that article and thinking of my childhood also lead me to another thought. Perhaps it's the parents of autistic children that should be going to counselling to learn a LOT more about autism.
 
VictorR said:
A4A Ontario has an interesting paper on the topic of ABA.
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Thanks Victor! That's the sort of article I was looking for.
@Sapphire K - I'd totally suggest including that in your list of links!

Definitely seems like there is a lack of alternatives available to parents with autistic children though. Or at least, funded alternatives, which is going to seriously limit a lot of parents out there.

So, now I'm curious @Fino . You seem to have a different (positive) experience than what these articles are suggesting. What, if I may ask, was your experience?
 
Varzar said:
So, now I'm curious @Fino . You seem to have a different (positive) experience than what these articles are suggesting. What, if I may ask, was your experience?
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I work with a lot of autistic students in my piano teaching, and my mom is a preschool teacher who also frequently works with autistic students. We talk with the parents about their plan for the child, who is typically 4-5 years old, and ABA is always part of the plan, and the child always make drastic improvements in communication and behavior, allowing them to participate more fully in piano/preschool, thus actually enjoying it.
 
Research into the effectiveness of therapies has consistently shown that positive results are due to a range of factors, of which the modality used is not the most significant, and, as one might expect, the two most significant factors are, client related factors, and the therapist and their ability to create a therapeutic relationship. Therefore one would expect that in the hands of an able therapist, clients have a good chance of progressing.

Nevertheless, the approaches should still be well-founded in research and based on ethical principles, among other requirements. We know a lot more about autism and how it works these days. ABA is outdated and a new and better, integrative approach is required.

I don't know how ABA delivery and training is regulated in the US or other countries, but in the UK the person working directly with the child is called a Tutor, and actually is not required to have any specific training at all. If they do have training, it is likely to be a 40 hour training. They are not therapists.
 
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Tbh I just wish that my Spec Ed class taught me about Autism. You know, the condition that I have. I'd be able to understand myself better earlier on.
 
Thank you all for sharing!

I think my conclusion overall is that a lot of ABA sounds like it's based on outdated techniques.
I think from my personal experiences growing up, I wouldn't have wanted a super-intensive therapy, but like @Sapphire K just said, even learning more about AS in school would've been super helpful. Not knowing I was AS is what led to the majority of my struggles. If I'd known, and also maybe had something like the "Tutor" as described by @Thinx to help me learn NT facial expressions and what they mean, that would've been tremendously useful.

In short, I think what @Thinx describes of how it works in the UK is what would've been the most helpful for me as a child.

Obviously, based on @Fino's experiences, there are some children being helped by this, but I would have questions about what exactly those therapists are doing? Perhaps it's milder than some of the implementations of ABA? A more modern approach but still using the same name?
But probably more importantly, how do the children themselves feel about it? Or, how *will* they feel about it as they enter adulthood? Will they look back and be happy they received that therapy, or will they feel like they were forced into acting in a role that wasn't true to how they felt?
Either way, if it is really working for these children, it seems like it's might be more a localized anomaly for ABA, than the general rule.
 
Is it possible finances are a factor when it comes to the quality of a place doing ABA? Because I work in a wealthy area.
 
Fino said:
Is it possible finances are a factor when it comes to the quality of a place doing ABA? Because I work in a wealthy area.
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I'm certain that could play a big role.
Take education as a an example. I went to public school in the same city as my wife. She went to private school in the "rich area" of town. My school had teachers that had degrees in biology that were teaching computer science. Her school, all the teachers were required to have at least masters degrees in the subject they were actually teaching.

I'm sure the quality of therapists available in the wealthy areas is also a level above what is available to the majority.
 
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