Here on Rocky's behalf...

[DanielK42]

It took far, far too long for reasons I won't get into now, but my little four year old boy, Rockwell, has been diagnosed as Level 3 autistic for a couple of months now. Thank God he now has all the proper diagnostic stuff in order, but the older he gets the more we're coming to realize this is far, FAR from the mere speech delay we were hoping for. And the future is very unclear as to his developmental possibilities. He is, after all 4 years old. And though incredibly sweet, a challenge to raise. I'm sure you all can empathize.

It comes down to this: I've lagged in denial for a few years now, and now I want to know EVERYTHING. Is there anybody else who had this reaction, and has some advice / links / texts? I guess if I can't deny this away, I want to understand it as well as possible. Ideally on a technical level.

This is... taxing. It calls everything into question, and demands more of us than we have the present capacity to give. So it's time to expand those capacities, I guess.

That's the only way I know how to deal with this.

-Daniel

 

[Nitro]

 

[Outdated]

Hi and welcome. I don't have kids myself but you could try having a look in here:

https://www.autismforums.com/forums/parenting-autism-discussions.50/

 

[Raggamuffin]

https://beaminghealth.com/article/12-books-every-parent-of-an-autistic-child-should-read
Also, be wary of those advocating ABA therapy as it's been proven to be traumatic for many autistic people.

Unmasking Autism by Devon Price is another good book.

Ed

 

[Rodafina]

Welcome, Daniel.

This is a great place to start learning. Let us know if you need any help figuring out the forum. Looks like you already got a couple good links to get you started.

Hi Rocky!

I hope we can be supportive to you and help expand your capacity.

 

[tree]

 

[DanielK42]

https://beaminghealth.com/article/12-books-every-parent-of-an-autistic-child-should-read
Also, be wary of those advocating ABA therapy as it's been proven to be traumatic for many autistic people.

Unmasking Autism by Devon Price is another good book.

Ed

We just started ABA, as it turns out.

Got any links, documents, etc. in support of this stance? Sincere question, I'm coming to this with the most open mind possible.

 

[Kisa the tea]

Hello and welcome to the forum! I hope you're able to find helpful resources and information here to help you and Rocky!

 

[Neonatal RRT]

https://au-ti.com/2023/07/13/ama-considers-changing-its-position-on-aba-therapy/

 

[Crossbreed]

@DanielK42, I have ASD1 and have, at least, four ASD children of all three severity levels. I am the guardian of my (almost 29yo) pre-verbal, ASD3 daughter.

If we knew which country you are in, someone might be able to recommend accessible resources to you.

 

[VictorR]

We just started ABA, as it turns out.

Got any links, documents, etc. in support of this stance? Sincere question, I'm coming to this with the most open mind possible.

Welcome!

ABA has a rather regrettable history and there hasn't really been anything to show that it works overall - with many of the pro-ABA papers plagued by conflicts of interest.
There's a good paper on the topic by A4A Ontario: https://a4aontario.com/wp-content/u...ntions_Submission_Autistics_for_Autistics.pdf

That being stated, I should note that with any therapy or supports, the person delivering the service often makes a significant impact on results, and I also recognize that some service providers self-identify as ABA practitioners solely because certain insurance providers or other funding sources may only pay for ABA and not other services.

 

[Wolfnox]

1. Breathe and don’t panic.
2. Watch his development and adjust for it. Don’t form ideas or solutions based off what you learn and read alone. Everyone is different.
3. Expect as you already know difficulties.
4. Be sure you get time to relax and just breathe. This will be as you already know stressful. Find ways to decompress.
5. Be mindful of falsehoods. Lots of people have been lead to believe in false “cures” for autism. Be wary.

 

[Raggamuffin]

We just started ABA, as it turns out.

Got any links, documents, etc. in support of this stance? Sincere question, I'm coming to this with the most open mind possible.

https://autisticscienceperson.com/why-aba-therapy-is-harmful-to-autistic-people/https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AIA-08-2017-0016/full/htmlhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/...2209/does-applied-behavior-analysis-aba-causehttps://childmind.org/article/controversy-around-applied-behavior-analysis/https://www.todaysparent.com/family...common-therapy-for-autism-harmful-or-helpful/
That's from the first half page of results. There's plenty out there.

Also, the Unmasking Autism book speaks at length about the pitfalls of ABA.

Here's some excerpts from the aforementioned book:

"Despite how loathed ABA is by Autistic people, the parents and teachers of Autistic kids tend to love it, and research broadly deems it “effective.” This is because the efficacy of the program is based on the neurotypical gaze, not how the Autistic child feels. ABA does teach Autistic kids to quiet down and be less annoying and “weird.” The problem is, it does so by training them to hate themselves and obey all adults. It’s akin to evaluating how “effective” a depression treatment is by asking the depressed person’s boss how they are performing, rather than checking in with the depressed person themselves. Sadly, the comfort and convenience of the neurotypical teachers and parents are prioritized, so ABA remains the one and only “evidence-based” treatment for Autism that most insurance plans will cover. Becoming “well behaved” is more important than being psychologically well."

Seems I hit the copy/paste limit on my ebook of this. So here's some screen grabs:

Ed

 

[Aspychata]

Plus you are a great parent for being here, and trying to understand your child!

 

[Rodafina]

We just started ABA, as it turns out.

Hi again, Daniel. I’m glad some fellow forum members have provided links for more information about ABA therapy. I would encourage you to read the experiences of people here on the forum, who went through ABA as a child. Qualitative data of people’s lived experiences is important on this particular topic.

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/thoughts-on-aba.35621/
https://www.autismforums.com/threads/aba-and-the-denver-model.42317/#post-931547