ABA: Is it right for your child?
Because the field of ABA has a monopoly on research grants and educational funding, ABA therapy is often the only option offered by insurance for treatment of autism. There are people who feel strongly on both sides of the ABA argument, so no matter where you look you will find biased information.
I think that the autistic community with the privilege of an education has a sort of responsibility to protect current autistic children in the ways that we were not provided as children. The Americans with Disabilities Act was not passed until 1990, so there were whole generations of autistic people with little to no political protections. Because of this, we are living through a revolution of autistic empowerment now that we have the ability to do so in certain spaces.
For allistic (non-autistic) parents of an autistic child, the pressure to place your child in ABA services is overwhelming. Parents lacking relation to the autistic experience will not have access to the same information and might be confused and scared by an autism diagnosis. We can debate the reasons for this reaction, but that does not change the reality for parents.
The important thing to remember is that you know your child and family best. Practitioners tend to over-prescribe interventions because having your child in treatment more will allow them to bill you or your insurance for that time. If you decide to place your child in ABA services, here are some potential red flags to look for:
Interventions seek to stop or replace self-regulatory behavior that is not physically harming the child or others
The professional doing your program evaluation is not the person who will be covering your child’s progress and supervision
Your RBT changes several times
The therapist recommends more than 10-20 hours per week
If at a center, the therapy location is not sensory friendly for your child
Your child has an intense negative reaction and is inconsolable during the assessment
The therapists refuses your requests to supervise assessments and sessions
Programming focuses too much on “table time” or DTT methods and not enough time on Natural Environment Teaching and social interaction with others
The program requires targets to be met before providing food, water, or bathroom breaks
If at a center, they do not have bathrooms that accommodate your child’s gender identity
Programs do not have inclusive materials (Ex. only using emotion cards with pictures of one race)
You visit the center and can hear practitioners talking about their clients
