Thoughts on ABA therapy for autism?
I'm a mom of a 4 year old girl. My daughter got diagnosed with ASD (level 1) when she turned three. Back then it took a while to process the whole thing. I asked my pediatrician and she suggested ABA therapy. Covid times were rough and options were limited so we scrambled to get her the ABA therapy. She has 20-25 hours of therapy every week. She is verbal and fairly independent but it is difficult to wrangle her to do anything. Even simple things like getting her to describe how her day was at school. Anyway, I think there is a noticeable improvement in her behavior (still not on par with kids her age though). Now I don't know if I should attribute that to the ABA therapy or just general trend of kids growing up. I've started reading more and more about what I can do to help my kid and I came across so many posts that are totally against ABA therapy to a point where they consider it abuse. They are saying it's like conversion therapy and has links to PTSD in the future. It is being compared to dog training. I do see some elements of positive reinforcement in her therapy sessions but nothing to harsh. This is obviously very scary. Her therapist does not try to stop her from stimming and is very very patient with her. My daughter actually gets very excited by the idea of spending time with her therapist. I can't shake off what I am reading though. I don't want to damage her future. Can anyone on the spectrum with ABA experience or parents with ASD who go through ABA shed some light here? I thought I was doing the right thing because multiple experts including doctors had suggested ABA. Now I'm having second thoughts. #autism #abatherapy #asd
This is a tough decision for sure. Best of luck to you and your little girl.
Thank you!
You’re doing the right thing. The early you start the better to be more self sufficient in future. My son unfortunately was too low functioning to make any use of it when we tried when he was young and had funding young
Hello all- my 9 year old nephew is diagnosed with autism+adhd. He has speech delays (can only say few words with limited clarity), also pinches others sometimes due to sensory issues, and at times shows aggression (mainly towards mom). They took appointment with pediatric neurologist and psychiatrist. Now psychiatrist has prescribed medicines to basically help with focus and aggression. Anyone been through similar situation - does medicine help or we should only stick to therapy? Which therapy is recommended? They are based in india but back there awareness is still low on these topic hence seeking suggestions from the group. Please help !!
OP, How is your daughter doing with ABA. My kid is similar to yours.
A fellow mom here. ABA has evolved over years. It has pivoted from punishment to positive reinforcement. My son is not eligible for ABA, but his peers are getting ABA and their parents attribute a lot of improvement to ABA. Also If you notice something with ABA you can have an conversation with the ABA therapist to use alternative methods.
That being said there is always going to be the question - Do we let Special Needs kids be happy with their ways or try to train them to be more "Normal". ABA is about trying to teach "Normal" behaviors. Not sure of the long term impact of that.
I want my kid to have a happy and independent life. I want her to be able to hold a job but I don't want that at the expense of her going through PTSD in future.