ABA is not a bad thing; just part of the whole answer for kids

January 29, 2009

Martha stick with the ABA as long as it is being done correctly. Good ABA

moves away from the Stimulus/Response model and onto good teaching when the

kids are ready. My son is now recovered and we started with ABA. Today

drives, has friends, and does all the things the doctors told me he

would never do. now attends a university on a half-ride academic

scholarship, studies Mechanical Engineering and has a 3.8 GPA. He joined

Sigma Chi Fraternity and has a ton of friends. (Who would have seen that one

coming?)

Dr. G is the best medically, however, he doesn't understand about ABA. In

the past ABA was very negative and that is what Dr. G is probably objecting

to. Although Dr G only wants the best for our kids, he hasn't lived this

and doesn't understand that in order to get kids to learn like other kids

you need compliance. Dr. G and I have argued about this for years.

Good ABA is mostly ignoring the negative and reinforcing the positive. They

can't learn if they can't follow directions or be treated like other kids.

Along with ABA you need to use parts of any method that work or make sense;

ABA, RDI, floortime, or whatever. Unfortunately there is not a simple

solution where one thing is the answer. If it were easy, more kids would be

recovered. You have to trust your gut and do what you know is best for your

child. No one is as invested in this or will work as hard as you will to

help your child.

We survived the Autism diagnosis; but it wasn't easy and there were many

times I thought we weren't going to make it. There is no magic pill to cure

your child. Trust me, I searched everywhere for it. If you are expecting

an easy fix, and what you are looking for is that magic bullet, you won't

find it in a boot camp or anywhere. But there are lots of people promising

immediate cures with their hands out ready to take your money. Our

desperation makes us easy targets.

Helping my kid recover is the hardest thing I have ever done. It took so

much strength to be more stubborn than he was. If I had known in the

beginning he would get better as a result of the years of hard work, I could

have continued without all the tears, frustration, and hopelessness. But it

was extremely difficult to keep working at this, not knowing if my family's

sacrifices and efforts were actually accomplishing anything. It takes years

for them to get better. I am now in the process of writing the book to help

all of you, but need a publisher or agent to help me. If anyone has any

connections, let me know.

Hope this helps.

Marcia Hinds

805 497-8202

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