How Effective Can ABA Intervention Be? | Autism Challenging Behaviour
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- čas přidán 21. 12. 2017
- Documentary which explores the controversy around ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis), an intensive intervention used to treat autism. Parents who want ABA for their children passionately believe that it is the best way to teach a child new skills and to help them function in mainstream society, but critics of ABA argue that it is dehumanising and abusive to try to eliminate autistic behaviour.
The film follows three-year-old Jack and four-year-old Jeremiah through their first term at Treetops School in Essex - the only state school in the UK which offers a full ABA programme. Neither boy has any language, Jeremiah finds it hard to engage with the world around him and Jack has severe issues with food. Both their parents have high hopes of the 'tough love' support that Treetops offers, but will struggle with their child's progress.
We also meet Gunnar Frederiksen, a passionate and charismatic ABA consultant who works with families all over Europe. His view of autism - that it is a condition that can be cured and that families must work with their child as intensively and as early as possible if they want to take the child 'out of the condition' - is at odds with the way that many view autism today.
Gunnar is working with three-year-old Tobias in Norway and has trained the parents so that they can work with him at home as his ABA tutors. He also introduces us to Richard, a 16-year-old from Sweden who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three and whose parents were told that he would be unlikely ever to speak. Today, Richard is 'indistinguishable from his peers' and plays badminton for the Swedish national team. In an emotional scene, Richard and his family look back at video recordings of the early ABA treatment and we are confronted both by the harshness of the method and the result of the intervention.
These and other stories are intercut with the views and experiences from those who oppose ABA and who argue that at the heart of ABA is a drive to make children with autism as normal as possible, rather than accepting and celebrating their difference. Lee, an autistic mother of a son who has Aspergers, describes how the drive to make her behave and act like a 'normal' child broke her, and how she was determined to accept her son for who he was.
The question of how far we accept autistic difference and how much should we push people with autism to fit into society's norms raises wider questions that affect us all - how do we achieve compliance in our children, how much should we expect children to conform and how far should parents push children to fit in with their own expectations?
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I think we can all agree that we just want the kids to be independent one day that's it. ASD is not a disease. Parents just want their kids to grow up happy and able to take care of themselves. Remember sometimes kids are just late bloomers
As much as society thinks we want to be parents the reality is we don't want, and can not parent a child our whole life we eventually get tired, and to old.
True some kids are late bloomers but the reality of autism is some are so severe like my son that they need everything done for them the rest of their lives they never get better.
Seriously? "Late bloomers"? I think you need to expose yourself to some kids who are on the more serious end of the ASD... no such thing as 'late bloomers".
Having autism Myself it's sad how people try to change the way there brains work!!! I wouldn't want to change it makes you you !!! Shame it's sad ❤️
The way these children are being treated in early days bloody disgusting 😡😡
This Tobias guy is.. special. It breaks my heart that he believes in what he says. Autism is a different neurological condition from us who are neurotypical, and no, you cannot "cure" it. It is not harmful. As someone who works in ABA, I want to pursue a better, more ethical practices that would leave the child happy and have a good experience. In my company, we do our best to make sure that a child's feelings and emotions are validated. We don't attempt to eliminate their stereotypy behavior unless it is harmful to them and their surroundings. We do our best to help them find the best coping strategies that they can carry to adulthood. We also make sure they learn self-advocacy, and they know when to say no, and that it is okay to take breaks. I wish people would be more open. I understand the horrid history of ABA, but even medical sciences had a horrible beginnings. The sciences is always growing and always evolving, and I hope we can all work together to make people more accepting of ethical ABA, and that autism would be more widely accepted as a part of a neurodiverse world.
I haven't seen your practice so I guess I can't know exactly what you do to determine whether it's actually ethical or not, but it's really nice to know that there are some people who actually want the best for autistic kids instead of wanting to change them to be more "normal". I'm not sure if I'm autistic, but I'm diagnosed adhd and my older sister is autistic and after learning more about aba recently and some of the things that go on and the attitude of it, it absolutely breaks my heart for those kids and I'm so glad my mom never made my sister do that. She's independent and creative and she's genuinely the coolest person I know and that's because instead of putting her in typical aba, my mom helped her learn how to cope with her emotions and how to navigate the world and different situations and taught her that she doesn't have to be neurotypical to be successful or to do amazing things. I'm just really happy to think there's a type of aba that helps autistics grow and learn about their own emotions and their brain and how to cope with it all rather than burying everything and pretending to be someone they're not. Also, teaching autistic kids to say "no" rather than to just comply is one of the best things you can do for them, thank you and I hope all kinds of therapy for autistics change to be more like this and to have this mindset.
Then how do you define aba ?
Can’t be 1%. Has to be more. This is only 3 years ago. I am an educator and I see signs in almost every class I’ve had. This is actually the first year I haven’t had one I low key think is on the spectrum.
I am Autistic and all I can say is Ignore all of these ABA idiots, we are people, we are not a disease, we are great as who we are, if your worried about your child being autistic do not talk to these idiots talk to someone with Autism. There is Nothing wrong with me, there is nothing wrong with autistics, difference is not wrong... Accept and love people stop trying to make them conform into your limited boundaries.
Seeing Autism as something to be changed is disgusting. I think you should teach the chil as much as they can learn social , life skills important things , without losing themselves but what's most important is that their happy.
I have it and struggle with accepting myself
@@haannguyen4402 same
All children should be raised where good behaviors are rewarded and bad ones are not...
I can see how this can be intense but if it's what their parents think is will help make life easier for them to do then that's what's best.
The problem here is in the definition of good and bad. By forcing people to act in a way that isn't the natural expression of their feelings/emotions, or that is vastly uncomfortable for them, you strip them of their coping mechanisms. It's not like teaching a child that hitting or hurting people is bad, I agree with that as I think all people would (though the method of teaching may often be different for autistic kids), it's that the negative effects of creating guilt, shame and memories of pain around stimming, eye contact, sensory issues, personal boundaries, ways of learning, special interests, routines etc. are well documented. They don't make life easier, they make it harder. The amount of energy used by Autistic people in behaving neurotypically is one of the biggest barriers to normal functioning, it's exhausting!
Boom!!! exactly
I am all for ABA because I know first-hand how effective it can be. However, the man that said he sees nothing good in autism is heartbreaking. Yes, many things can help a person with autism find their success in life, but it cannot be cured and telling a person with autism that there is "nothing good about them" is just going to destroy self-esteem.
i totally agree! I work in ABA and I don't know anyone who believes that autism is "bad". I don't know anyone who treats students the way that man did. I felt that this documentary seemed very biased, and they seemed to deliberately chose people working in the ABA system and made them look like animal trainers.
I think it comes from upset & hurt rather than him putting his son down, when you have a baby (you grow to love that baby regardless of its needs) but when there milestones are not being met by them its rings alarm bells "on you as a parent "/im not good enough ,I've failed them , why can't they do this or that what future do they have, my youngest has sensory processing disorder, & hypomobility she didn't walk until 2 an half (just after xmas) we have had physio & occupational therapy involved in she was 10 months old needed to put her threw being handled by them and her screaming the house down was heartbreaking , shed just scream at them until they left they couldn't even touch her for the first year, it was a very slow progress (all I wanted to do was scoop her up and hug her but any type of physical contact not on her terms would send her into a meltdown an make things twice as difficult (but you are also worried to come across that you are babying them at the same time by doing things) my main physio team even said to me I have no idea how you cope with her meltdowns and stay so calm when dealing with them , my response was what else can I do? Loosing my temper with her would only make things worse and id never want anyone to question my behaviour over the way she acts if I.stay calm but firm I have won if I loose it all id feel is guit doing stuff like this has helped me so much but it's taken a while to find out about it an find ways to help her cope so that I can be her parent better and until you find that click with your child there's a sense of feel lost and disconnected from them I used to blame my self for being ill and having sepsis an being away from her to get better before I knew what was going on
I agree, it really broke my heart when he said that...it really shocked me as he is the therapist to have that outlook. It was out of line, and it also could be a sense of frustration but he didn't want to come off like that.
Starheart agree it’s a little more complicated than that. Or is it? At the end of the day we are just try to understand their needs since they can’t express it. But yeah, although they don’t fit into society that well, who’s fault is that...we “neurotypicals” are so egotistical and assume the way we are living is the only and right way. The way my son learns and inquires is just fascinating. He has taught me so much about life and I’m not usually a sappy guy..autism is challenging and has it’s ugly side but so is life for everyone it’s all about how you look at it
How can you believe in ABA it’s just traumatic for the person, Imagine if you told your ‘normal child’ that the way they acted was horrible and you hated it and you wanted to change things about them, telling them to suppress making themselves feel comfortable, so why do that to an autistic child, I know they don’t say that but that’s what you mean, talk to autistic people who have been through it and you will see how bad it really is
As someone who was trained in ABA and now works one to one in my own capacity, I don't agree fully with this method. Although there are some things to take from it, it MUST be tailored to individuals. At the end of the day, no two people are ever alike and it's important to see the person and not any labels. See why the behaviours are happening and not how to 'fix' them (I hate this terminology!). Ok it works well with food issues, but other than that take the aspect of motivation and leave it there. The child builds the rest of the bridge just as they want to and when they're ready to. In the meantime train those around them to understand them, this is much more crucial to helping them be a happy individual!
I agree ABA is not working for my son who is on the extreme severe end of autism he is unable to learn, and follow directions. I'm stuck with a child that is unable to leave the way he was as a one year old at twelve. We started ABA when he was three.
I agree as someone who is being tested for autism I agree with a little bit of the stuff there doing but they have to be their own person at the end of the day. People who have autism arent all the same!
Wow! Gunnar (not sure of spelling) hasn't got a clue. Extreme Stress at 3 may not be consciously remembered but the harm will be there. Good grief he's willing to do anything as long as the kids look Neurotypical. 🥺
Have you seen how dramatic he sounds while saying:"he hasn't said dadda to me 🥺"..? This father has absolutely zero emotional intelligence and it disgusts me that he's measuring deep things like love and happiness in such a shallow way. I highly doubt he really cares whether his child loves him or not, he's probably just embarrassed of his son being different and unable to speak like his peers..
I personally have no desire to try ABA for my autistic son. We really embrace and enjoy his quirks. We did take him to speech therapy to help him understand idioms though, to make it eaiser for him to communicate effectively. He has been diagnosed with moderate, high functioning autism, requiring substantial support, but we disagree with the last part. We declined the occupational therapy which they wanted to give him. It was over an hour away, once a week during the school day, just to help him space out his letters and tie his shoes more effectively. We figured it would be more beneficial to leave him in class and work on those things at home. He doesn't have an IEP, but I would have one implemented if he was staying in public school, to protect him. He has two weeks of elementary left, and then it's homeschooling for us, his older brothers included. I think he will really benefit from some individual instruction and an emphasis on daily life skills. I have mixed feelings about ABA. I am generally against it for high functioning children though, especially those that are verbal and can communicate fairly effectively.
I should add that I am most likely autistic as well, as, in my opinion, is my father ans my 3 brothers. I've been diagnosed with ADHD, which in my opinion I do not have, and with severe sensory processing disorder, which is not recognized on its own in the American DSM. I stim a lot, especially in public, but it's just with my hands, and not having that as a coping mechanism would be really difficult for me. I think stimming is generally a good thing, and stopping people from doing it, simply because it weirds out neurotypicals is harmful.
I think you're doing the right thing. I have autism and was educated at home after my parents realized that public education was not going to help me. I soared much better at home because I could learn in my own way. A more visual way. It took me much longer to learn to tie my shoes because of motor skill challenges but I did get there :) You're a wonderful parent following her heart on what is best for her children
Some Random Lady so what would you say the best way to teach a new skill like let’s say swimming to someone on the spectrum? Thank you
as an autistic person- you're doing the right thing. i went to OT as a kid and it was beneficial to me (my diet has always been extremely limited due to sensory issues and general taste and it helped me expand my diet slightly) but if it's not right for you i understand but i just wanted to validate this bc your son is so lucky to have a parent like you
How is jack and jeremiah doing now
I'm grateful I didn't have to endure this.
@Pateck Aaron You also don't need to buy "herbs" that don't work.
Child in ABA gains the life skills to sustain himself in eat. Child not in ABA may be on a feeding tube soon. Child in ABA learns to communicate HIS needs with his parents making life less frustrating. Child not in ABA does not have communication skills yet. ABA does work. It is not dog training. It’s motivation based teaching. All children learn through motivations the motivations are just less social with children with autism. The guy who did at home ABA does not sit right with me though. Even his method just seemed too intense and more about changing the personality rather than meeting the child in the middle. Most ABA programs in the US are more for teaching communication skills and life skills. That way the child keeps who they are but gains the ability to communicate their genius and take care of themselves.
Yes , write
If you just want a compliant child, ABA seems to work but we're not supposed to be robots. Other methods look for results that leave children as individual human beings.
Neenaw Leach I think that places need to drop the name ABA because you are right. Traditionally it would teach compliance and strip individuality. The method has been changed and adapted in some areas that that root of obedience training is gone. They embrace autism. It is not all places. Of course there are still horrible places that do things the old way. It’s gross. I do think the “good” places, keep the term ABA for insurance reasons. It’s not right. I feel for parents and children alike because filtering who will do no harm to your child’s core self but still help with their individual needs, is a difficult choice. One thing that upset me strongly as a teacher was seeing one size fits all special needs tools prior to meeting a child ever. I could talk about this all day from a personal perspective as a neurodivergent person and as professional who has studied, worked with and built teacher student relationships with neurodivergent students from volunteering in middle/high school to teaching to coaching and getting two early childhood degrees
WHY DID THE MAN SAY HE DOESN'T SEE ANYTHING GOOD ABOUT AUTISM???? I wouldn't want him working with me
I think Matthew is greatly underserved. Matthew makes good eye contact, he initiates request in a reasonable and respectible manner and MOST importantly, he can tend to task. He has such great potential.
Why does it matter if he can make eye contact? What purpose does that serve if that might not be meaningful to him, only to the people around him?
@@ashleydunn5535 exactly!
All aba patients are underserved
AUTISM CAN'T BE CURED LET THE CHILD BE A CHILD LET THEM WORK WITH THEIR OWN FEELINGS
The thing is, children grow up. If their issues arent handled they grow up into adults who are dependent on someone for the rest of their lives.
@@bluefoxthecutest2628 and that goes for all children! If a child needs help to live in the real world it should be given to them. The sad thing is not all autistic ppl realize they need that help.
@@Julia-qt5wd They shouldn't need to realize it, their parents shouldve admitted when they were children and handled it then.
@@bluefoxthecutest2628 What do you mean?
@@filipeflower .Their parents should have got them help when they were kid.
3:30 Dr.Mitzi Waltz, you said "if I had a child who was 3 years old and appeared to be a violin prodigy and i thought ok we're gonna do 40hrs a week of violin drills, social services would be knocking on my door. But if I have a child with autism, it's ok" Well... yes. That child with ASD requires a lot more assistance than your neurotypical child who "appears to be a violin prodigy." Your child with ASD requires EARLY intervention to assist them with day to day tasks while your 3 year old neurotypical violin prodigy will probably make it through life fine without 40 hours a week of individualized programming. Not really an equal or fair comparison.
Alyssa
Exactly. ABA is required for children with autism, whereas the violin thing is optional.
I don't think you understand metaphors
@@zebruh2794 I don’t think you understand how ridiculous the “metaphor” is
@@aaluz 1) I didn't know you would replay to a 1-year-old comment of yours
2) It's still a metaphor, I didn't create an English language or made the word metaphor so I don't why are you angry at me
3) I do understand how ridiculous but also I understand her viewpoint, stop being close-minded and open your mind to understand where she is coming from
@@zebruh2794 1) When did I ever express that I was angry? 2) I never said it wasn’t a metaphor, I said it was ridiculous
I have it but attend a regular high school (with social accommodations)
Is it just me or does the Richard kid just seem to have a language delay when he was a child? He seems to understand instructions and follow them easily and is also making eye contact.
Sometimes you wonder … were people who had these “success stories” just misdiagnosed? Or where they always going to end up on the “high functioning” side of autism regardless of treatment? There are many “high functioning” adults who had similar issues in childhood but end up looking just like Richard as adults without any intervention.
He was put through ABA. Meaning, he was probably punished for NOT making eye contact, which is common in ABA. He was forced to make eye contact and probably suffers PTSD to this day in regards to it. I was beaten as a child or yelled at when I didn't make eye contact and even though I absolutely hate it I still do it on occasion, especially to new people. Just to avoid someone else pointing out that I'm avoiding it, and making me feel even more uncomfortable. I can also follow and understand instructions very easily even though I am autistic. As the saying goes, if you've met one autistic person, you've met ONE autistic person. I'm about to be 33 yrs old and my autism wasn't even noticed and diagnosed until little under a year ago. Not understanding and not making eye contact does not deem a person as austic or not. Those are just two of a plethera of criteria and are not even 100% required to get a diagnosis.
I thought the same. Being so young and following instructions so well, I also started thinking "well, maybe he wasn't autistic after all. I do study ABA and think is a good treatment, when well applied.
I saw evidence of him being RE TRAUMATISED following him watching the videos from his abuse at the hands of ABA. Until I saw this video I would have wanted to consider ABA for future children now I am of the view it is abhorrent - Autism has a genetic component and I'm autistic myself
When jack was retching at the burger and chips I was willing him to vomit on the teacher as I felt that was what she deserved for how she treated him.
Id retch at such disgusting fast food, too!
Autism is a disability which my brain is working properly with my spectrum and I think I feel isolated and being very proud
As a mum/full time carer for my two adult autistic sons,this is child abuse listening to parents saying what they want well I’m so sorry but that’s not why you have a child,these beutiful rainbows are amazing they need patience understanding love and excepting who they are yes it’s difficult my eldest is 34yrs old my youngest is 19yrs old,I couldn’t continue to watch this program as I find it unsettling and uncomfortable it’s abuse these people need locking up
Some of these forms of therapy are downright harmful such as the one where they were trying to stop the stemming behavior and the one that they wouldn't even let the kid think to answer with matching stuff like that is downright wrong. If done correctly yes it can help but expecting a child to immediately do something as soon as you say it and not letting them think and trying to stop them from stemming and such is doing more harm than good. I especially feel bad for Tobias because they are trying to force him to be neurotypical and not stem and such and that therapist is stupid because it's stressing that poor child out and just because he won't necessarily remember it doesn't mean it isn't harming them long term and the one with the food aversions it's doing the opposite effect because they are doing it completely wrong
This form of ABA is very, very dangerous. The only types of therapies that are genuinely effective in the management of autism plus so as to become much more autism pure are more in the way of sensory based, which are neurological for a neuro developmental condition, which are safe, which are based on a better understanding of autism neuro development, and which DO NOT force people with autism to consciously act and behave as neuro typical people which would be to the extent of causing serious damage to their mental health. Camouflaging Autism to act as neuro typical, especially for a long time, can be extremely dangerous. Understanding of the neuro developmental building blocks of autism so that it could lead to more research into better therapies.
@@stephenryan2670 that's basically what I was trying to say just didn't have the right words so thank you
I have very mixed feelings about ABA.
One thing I would do with mine to get him to try new things is put on a movie popeye we got spinach lazy town we got fruits so I made sure we had the foods in the house when we watched it... I had no help no knowledge I still and unknowingly used the aba system because I did not encourage his behavior he still yelps rocks when anxious but at 8 he is doing amazingly if I do say so myself.
It will get easier dont treat your kids like if they cant do things all you are doing is hurting them!
Mine?
I watched this a year ago and have come back periodically. Yesterday I was confirmed autistic - stimming does not enslave me and now I view ABA with horror especially as I could have easily been subjected to it. There are ways to manage ARFID etc which are less punitive and cruel
I understand the point of saying that we shouldn't change them. However, there are certain things that NEED to be changed for the simply reason that we live in a society.
Why can't we adapt society instead? Educate people. Be sensitive to sensory needs. Don't expect the same things of everybody. Easy enough!
No. Wrong reason.
There are certain things that NEED to be changed because those things are harmful to the individual or other persons.
You shouldn't force people to conform to how society wants them to be just because that's normal.
@@noabinnendijk361 Like I said, "normal" is a subject word.
5:55 I feel that bro.
I prefer the son rise approach much more child friendly and accepting of the child
Do you have experience is this? Never heard of it. Thanks.
You mean the place that is 2 secs from having the kid on a feeding tube?👀🤦🏾♀️
I was trained in ABA and I can tell you that it certainly works with this population
You think changing a child so that they fit into todays society is better than society changing to make the child feel happy as they are?
Ellie Rainbows Society isn't going to change for any one given child. ABA is about modifying the immediate environment with the goal of eventually developing self-help skills and social skills for the child to fit into the society in which they live.
Ellie again your comments are stupid, please stop your fingers from typing about subjects you know nothing about.
if a child doesn't look at anyone in the eyes or face how are they supposed to function? Not doing this brings about many more complications; not being about to sense danger, not knowing how to react to someone else's emotions, not about to follow directions, and much more. ABA is a teaching tool and teaches kids how to read and look at faces which is something humans need to do to get by daily task.
What you're suggesting Ellie is like suggesting not reading to your kids. it's a stupid comment and a stupid suggestion. I wish you would give some thought instead of trying to comment and make others feel wrong about what they're doing for their kids, When you have little to no experience.
I don't make eye contact and I've done pretty well, I'm not saying autism doesn't have it's difficulties and that I wouldn't like to learn social skills, but teach me in a way that recognises my humanity, not in a condescending way which only aims to punish me into compliance. Especially on non-essential things like eye contact.
MaryJane you can type a response on a computer, which lets me know you are probably low on the spectrum. Maybe this type of teaching method wouldn't be right for you but as they say in the community " if you met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person". This teaching method is the only proven teaching method to work. Keep in mind there's autistic people that have never spoken a word or have to wear helmets to stop them from self harm.
Effective? Not really. Can give you a lifetime of trauma though.
There, just saved you 58 minutes and 46 seconds.
Can’t people just accept their child as he or she is? We should be happy our child is autistic because they are unique.
Unique yes, but how does this kind of unique play out for an adult?
I’ve been told I should be grateful for being autistic
@@lindaarnold5683 It depends on the society and how willing it is to be accepting of unique people.
No. There are norms in society.
@@mesompi Norms do not make something inherently better or right.
Ok nobody is going to say it? Ok I will. Jack is SOO CUTE!!! Autism can’t be cured. I don’t want to be cured.
I have the fullest respect for these care givers.....they work tirelessly for these wonderful children who have this condition...
Just because their world is sometimes very scary and forever difficult for them....
It takes someone with nerves of steel to help these children and make their lives a better place to be.....
You all deserve medals.....god bless you. X
They’re not making our lives better though, they’re giving us trauma
Wow...and we parents, in the States, of kids with special needs and ASD think our educational system is bad. This is pathetic. My son received all his services in public education with special needs classes and mainstream. He also was afforded ABA training through the public school system and b/c of that we received in home training. No private funding. Our tax dollars covered it. Seems to me, the UK should be afforded these educational settings and treatments for their population instead of the Monarchy living large.
The reason ABA is not provided through the public education system is policy. There is a stigma around it.
@@ananse77 Also, the US President costs more to the American taxpayer than the monarchy does to the British taxpayer.
If there is a parent here who has managed to secure a place at an ABA school at a tribunal, I would love to speak with you. Thanks
I disagree with the ABA personally being autistic I’d rather accept my autism than try cure it my doctor who diognosed mw said there is no cure and it’s a life long condition and I self harm run away to end my life and I wanna be “normal” but that won’t happen and I don’t do conflict so this would make me end my life 10000% cause a part of my autism is when ppl tell me off I hide and feel like everything is my fault
The is funny she say bye to jack the little boy he was walking out the door
I can't fully understand this video because my language is different But I can understand with emotion my son is 4 and a half years old he doesn't talk He also has a lot of problems in understanding our words. How do I belong to a country where it is impossible to understand I came to know about this disease from the net itself i don't know what i will do next Cause right now my heart and my brain ain't working I don't know what to do for my son I don't know the cure for this I can do only one thing and that is pray 😢
They have to pay money to have an unqualified person train their children like dogs? As an autistic person I find ABA disgusting
Yes Dr Carbon (SP?) there is a middle ground!!!
@Pateck Aaron Thank you for the info!!!
10:40. Aba guy says that he doesn't see anything good about autism. HA. The fact that their brains are SO damn smart and out of this world. The fact that technology wouldn't be around without autistic people. I'm blown away by it. I think it's amazing in a lot of ways.
Thank you :) this was a lovely comment, and a ray of sunshine in the darkness of this particular comment section . I am autistic myself and this form of ‘therapy’ doesn’t sit well with me
I disagree with the type of approach used. To me, it seemed a lot like training circus animals with a heavy emphasis on food as a reward (which is something that most professionals working in special needs schools avoid, at least here in the UK). The programme even mentioned how the approach had originally been tested on rats and pigeons. People with autism are not animals and treating them in such a basic and, to me, patronising manner makes me feel hugely uncomfortable. The autistic spectrum is extremely complex and varied and I thought that the school featured in the programme were dismissing the individual differences between children and using a “one method for all” approach.
I was also upset at the attitude of a Scandinavian ABA therapist, Gunnar Frederiksen, who was filmed during ABA sessions with a 3 year old boy in Norway. This therapist explained, with seemingly no regard to the feelings of people on the autistic spectrum, that he did not appreciate autism and could not see anything positive about it. I do not agree with this attitude. Every person with autism is special and sees the world in their own unique way. I have met and worked with a lot of people with severe autism who see the world in such a special way-their ability to get so much enjoyment out of what other people see as the tiniest things in life, such as certain sensory material, is a joy to see.
Thank you for trying to see the good in the people you work with! There aren't as many of you as there ought to be.
I wish someone would’ve made me do 40 hours of cello drills a week when I was a child *depression relapse*
It saved my son from the grip autism had on him. It was the best therapy for us, and my son
Who is now 26 drives, and works plus lives independently in a small apartment above my sister in-laws house.
The ABA requires a huge sacrifice, but it pays off I. The end.
At what age your son started talking
All people Change and Grow through learning, saying you are losing yourself by learning is dumb. People with autism have barriers to learning which requires more resources to overcome. Overcoming Anxiety needs to be learnt by all Children(and some adults), Autistic children have more Triggers and are Learning to overcome Anxiety. Learning makes new connections in the brain Not destroy, They need to be able to overcome anxiety to Learn and reach their full potential like all people.
ABA isn't only about anxiety. It IS in fact about making autistic people look NT.
Tube down the stomach!!! At some point when others are seen eating nice food
Into today's world 2021 with all of the technology that consumes us and we use to babysit our children with constantly staring at a screen, i see how Just the initiated and continuous social and physical engagement, though sometimes stressful, is crucial in ANY child's development but especially in an autistic child.
Exactly. That "aba" kid screeching at fast food while holding a tablet makes ME want to vomit
@29:02 The interviewer asks this, completely uninformed uneducated, to be kind, outside of ABA therapist, in regards to his previous comment, "Some behaviors are reasonable and some behaviors are unreasonable and if unreasonable you should demand some other behaviors from the child." He defends that he is of course being reasonable and that he "Doesn't care if it is stressing the child" but there needs to be some positive reinforcer to functionally and appropriately obtain his needs. Moreover, he says, "If he cried at age 3.5 yrs it doesn't matter, by age six he will not even remember it."
First of all, there is no such thing as "reasonable or unreasonable behaviors." All behaviors are adaptive and appropriate. They are expressions of bodily-based states, for example, heightened states of anxiety and hypervigilance or calm, restoration and homeostasis. Depending upon the arousal (and the sensory-affect-motor and sensory modulation profile, we often see mixed hyper and hypo responsivities). The point is that every expression is adaptive reflective of one's state of autonomic regulation and overall biopsychosocial profile. For example, If one is feeling insecure and stressed out, it is not because one is "misbehaving." To imply such is not only grossly misinformed, it is blindly and resplendently unempathic and by one's actions potentially sadistic!
Now, from a comprehensive developmental evidenced based, biopsychosocial perspective to treat ASD and related challenges, typical or non typical, we want to engage your child's heterogeneous sensory modulation processing differences by attributing (two little words) "purpose and meaning" to them! By engaging your child's non-injurious behaviors, by doing what s/he is doing, by going where s/he is and slowly adding what we term, emotional or "affect variations" to his/her actions we are from a neurodevelopmental (and mind you fully human) perspective intuitively and emotionally engaging with your child and your child, in turns, begins to register/understand this. This set the foundations for Functional-Emotional Development, not ignorant, surface cosmetic behavioral changes. This is a basic and integral part (on a cortical/subcortical/ autonomic nervous system level) of social-emotional regulation/co-regulation. There is a tremendous differences between the two. Without going into a whole essay here, this is deepening affect reciprocal dyadic attachment, attunement affect-gestural reciprocity, verbalization and meaning making; social-pragmatic language, etc. To do what is suggested here by this and other ABA therapist is to be kind extraordinarily misguided and potentially damaging. And yes, contrary, to what he is saying here the child does indeed remember at six and beyond all the associated anxieties and stressors, at a polyvagal level (hippocampus and autonomic nervous system; limbic, pituitary hypothalamus and adrenal axis).
There are plenty of unreasonable behaviours. Violent outbursts, disrespectful language, laziness, only eating baby food, getting naked in public, etc. My friend has an autistic kid who used to ride his bike full speed into a wall.
Therapy aims to eliminate or reduce all the unreasonable behaviours so the kid can lead a normal life, or as normal as possible.
The teachers were able to teach the kid to eat solids (in a short time) when he only ate baby food his whole life. This lesson is life changing and life saving. If treatment is working I dont know why you have a problem with it.
@@tubester4567 How can you prove you're not making that up? And by the way, "normal" is a subjective word.
@@filipeflower Almost everything I talked about was in the video, about how Autistic kids have been helped through therapy. I dont understand what you want me to prove.
@@tubester4567 Every claim you made.
These people know it aint a gift.
Think about it.
Aswell as being a disability, Autism defines the personality of the person with it. My nephew is autistic and, although times can be difficult for his parents looking after his and there are things he cannot do, there are many things he can do really well because of his autism. We shouldn't see Autistic people as a hinderence that we must change to be "normal", but simply a different type of person.
yes exactly they see the world differently and world needs all kinds of minds
I would go one step further and say it's not a disability at all! We must learn to be more neuro-diverse in our expectations of and dealing with people.
I have worked with children with Autism. I find this environment here extremely annoying with excessive bright colours! Soft colour pallets, more silence and respect is better. I prefer the Montessori approach for kids with Autism, by far!!!
It should not come down to the child will not eat so they will end up with a feeding tube. Especially when their are therapies such as ABA that can work with the problem.
Totally agreed! I was appalled when I heard that woman say he'd need to be put on a feeding tube. How utterly ridiculous!! There are so many other possible solutions. Makes me so mad!
The eating aspect is the one thing I would say this kind of intensive treatment can help with. But remember they went through weeks of making him throw up and then deny him pudding because of it... Pretty harsh. But yeah, it works. However, for things like stimming, should we really use similar techniques.. this I don't agree with.
What "problem" are you talking about?
Give em a feeding tube and watch others eating lovely food , then see if the behaviour changes
"Autism isn't a disability. It's a different ability."
- Dhar Mann
I wish they had ABA back when I was growing up, or else I probably would have had a better life growing up.
Actually I’m very grateful that I didn’t have aba growing up because I had ABA for 4 months and it made my autism worse and I regress on the skills on work on the year before
Christina B. And you’re how old?
I’m 25 but ABA happened at 19 when I was in highschool Sr. Year because they put me in the special needs class room and I have Aspergers. Don’t ever do it
Christina B. I’m 23 and was in therapy as a little kid with a diagnosis of isolated mental retardation. They said that I’d never function in society recommended for me to be institutionalized😞
Look at the council estate trash working at the ABA school as opposed to the other school which had compassion and wasn't based on pigeons in boxes
The whole not allowed to be sick? far too much attention given
Check out the channel "Fathering Autism". They are an amazing family dealing with an autistic daughter and have videos discussing ABA as well.
In this comment section, I'm seeing an awful lot of ABA trainers saying ABA works, and a whole bunch of autistic people saying ABA is horrible.
Hm, who to believe, huh? The one who actually undergoes the treatment maybe?
@Melissa Joy Sorry for the late reply, didn't see your comment, apparently.
Most autistic people can communicate, even if it's not *your* way. Body language, pictograms, sign language. Most autistic people communicate some way, neurotypicals just don't actually listen because they believe that if it's not their way, it's not communication.
And while the experience of non-communicate autistics is different than communicative autistics, I would far earlier let a communicative autistic speak for the whole community than a neurotypical trainer.
bruh i was looking for anime battle arena videos
We learned so much from Skinners work. It has been applied to all types of learning schemes.
Skinner was a monster.
Skinner was a monster! I think you got the word scheme right. He tortured hundreds of children and his shock methods are still being "applied".
@@volz519 same with Harlow. There is a new generation of psychologists coming through who view skinner as a relic of the past. I had to write an essay on him and the only settings where his work is used are abusive psychiatric hospitals and ABA… two groups with limited ability to speak out and up
ABA saved my son, and for all of the naysayers so be it, as it was the breakthrough he needed to thrive and there was absolutely nothing done to my son, inTerms of humiliation, or physical restraints. We ran the program, and hired the therapists, and it was like a family. I spoke to Dr. Lovas personally before we started ABA, and he was very patient with all of my questions.
Therapy must be done with love, and compassion, and we never tolerated anyone who took this therapy lightly. It is overwhelming work to do it right, and back in the 1990’s we paid for all of it, as insurance did nothing.
They probably did use electro shocks but happy that your son is still alive
My parents think ABA "saved" me too, and guess what? I now have anxiety that not even my Prozac can cure, and I have a huge feeling of being out of place with everyone else and having to find myself lying to myself about who I am in order to fit in.
At 45:36 he wiped a tere from his eye.😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭🤯😭😭😭
Just pull a Carly and give them a computer. Have them type on it and see what they say.
You're not serious right?! Her skill is not common. That's hardly a solution.
Or at least get them an aac device or teach them sign language so neurotypicals can understand them better. Non verbal autistic people aren't stupid yknow?
Good Lord. Someone somewhere knows why there is this explosion in autism . WTH is happening. Now there is an autism 'industry'?!
What exactly are you trying to say?
@@filipeflower Look at the CDC stats: 1 in every 68 kids ...a 30% increase since the 70's.
@@susanl8478 What is CDC?
@@filipeflower Center for Disease Control
@@susanl8478 Oh, I didn't know. I assume it's somewhere in U.S.A, right ?
this is the exact same documentry thats on real stories
"we want ABA" how about see your child for the wonderful soul they are, and get over yourself!!! YOU are their parent. YOU should take the time in looking after them and keeping them feeling happy and secure. Stop blaming it on the syatem..schools etc. Get a Grip!!!!! I know I have
That's your opinion.
ABA may make your child appear more Neurotypical which will make you believe they're better or no longer Autistic but just talk to Actually Autistic adults and you will learn about the damage and trauma.
These people are so ignorant. They do not understand autism at all.
All aba is bad, traumatising and torturous. If you want an autistic person to be different and your model is a neurotypical child then it is as bad as every other aba. There are some things that you cannot accommodate but there are a lot of things that you can. You are teaching a child that their feelings do not matter and they need to act neurotypical. If aba was done to neurotypical’s it would be considered abuse but because it is autistic’s it’s considered fine.
ABA specalist from uae welcom to all
Hello how can I contact u
I agree you should try to calm down a child with Autism however I don’t believe ABA Is the way as it seems a bit patronising to me . Oh well done kid here’s a crisp. As a teacher you should be able to grab the attention of all children.
I agree. It also teaches that there are rewards waiting for every positive thing we do, which is not realistic of the real world. All children need positive reinforcement, but this kind of constant immediate reward system trains us in the wrong way.
I am not a teacher myself but we all learn at different speeds and in the real world no one likes to be made fun of.
I am a behavioral therapist that practices ABA and I can tell you there is nothing to tough, overly demanding or abusive about it. IT WORKS. Yes, autism is a life long condition, but it does not have to be a life sentence. There are ways to connect with the child through things such as eye contact. One of my clients right now, that is our main goal. To respond to classmates and adults with eye contact. We do so by simply rewarding eye contact. It is that simple and it does work!
Or you could accept that eye contact is painful for them and isn't necessary? All they will do is learn to tolerate the discomfort, I have never heard any anecdote from an autistic person that therapy make eye contact not a problem, they just learn to put up with it, otherwise face punsihment.
I am autistic and I can tell you, it's painful. It causes a massive overload in my brain from all the empathetic information being processed. Any struggling to make eye contact has never affected my ability to communicate, and yes that's because I'm lucky enough to have never had serious difficulties with speech, but eye contact still plays no role in that. When I look at someone I have the same mental reaction as though I had just put my hand on a hot stove and yes if you were encouraged to bare putting your hand on a hot stove you might eventually do it, and it might get easier, but the discomfort and chaos in the brain remains. Again, ABA tends to make things look alright from the outside, but the long-term outlook in terms of mental health is discouraging to say the least. And it's often nearly impossible to have positive reinforcement without also having negative reinforcement through with withholding of things that may be essential to the child's emotional wellbeing because of behaviours their brain was designed to perform that don't do any harm, but make others uncomfertable becaue they'r enot normal.
I've never had ABA, any knowledge I have of that comes from friends and research, but I had social skills therapy when I was younger, as well as help with emotional regulation, extra support around times of change, and therapy to deal with low mood and anxiety later on. My social skills therapy focused on communication and connection, things like mimicking, how to script, acceptable forms of behaviour and how not to hurt or offend people, and 'how to's' for basic things like introductions, interviews, ordering etc. I don't know, perhaps it's a cultural thing about where I live that my lack of eye contact was never seen as a big problem, I've certainly never been picked up for it outside of preparation for interviews, and even then I've gotten through by forcing myself to look somewhere at their face, which usually suffices, though would likely be more difficult for some other autistic people. if you're familiar with the works of Temple Grandin my views generally align with hers, it's better to focus on teaching autistic people valuable, practicle skills rather than wasting time with more minor things like eye contact and non-disruptive, non-self-injurous stims.
That I agree with, my hot stove metaphor was in relation to your assertion that eye contact was not painful, but it is. But I totally agree, people with autism should be encouraged outside their comfort zone as far as they are capable of managing and as far as is necessary for them to live the fullest and most fulfilling life possible, and especially for children and young people, this is likely to involve socialising. I think we agree there.
actually many autistic people do say that they find eye contact uncomfortable and sometimes painful. I don't agree with making someone give eye contact just to make them seem normal. Of course you do need to learn some skills in todays social world. So it would be better to teach them to look at the mouth or nose or slightly to the side so they can mask it and socialise without feeling anxious. It is so important autistic people are listened to.
17:50 ha ha
Aba is the best treatment for autism!!! It isn't in any way cruel!
Kristen Herndon there is no treatment for autism it is a coping mechanism but it is NOT a treatment
It is not a treatment there is neither a treatment or cure for Autism it is a genetic disorder you are stuck with the rest of your life. Also while ABA may work on low functioning individuals don't think it will work on higher functioning people as they are completely different (ie someone with high functioning Autism should definitely be able to count to 100 way before age 14).
By supressing behaviors such as stimming, the kids never learn to handle themselves or to handle meltdowns or shutdowns. That may help short term, but when they're older they're going to have much more problems that they don't know how to handle and are going to be exhausted from supressing natural behaviors all day, which is quite damaging.
So yes, in a way it's very cruel.
Noa Binnendijk you are absolutely wrong, as it has made many kids have a real life,
And my son has a life do to years of therapy.
@@mrtonyo1965 if you define a life of socializing as 'a real life', then yes, your son has a real life. That doesn't mean he isn't exhausted, overloaded, or will be when he's older.
The US is such a backwards country and yes I live in the US myself :(
Wow. The US is moving forward fast but make bad decisions. ABA is a good thing for children and not for adults. I'm from EU and I have a brother who has autism.
@@zebruh2794 That's your opinion. You can't speak for everyone.
Move to the Netherlands. They're much more accepting there
This is how we are all raised to become adults only on a different level due to a new set of neurological circumstances .... get over it!
"Hand flaps and pterodactyl noises intensify"
Do you guys realise how horrible you sound when you're talking about it?
They have a medical condition they are not a bloody animal you are training
All children, regardless of medical condition, are trained in behavior. You do realize that right? If a child does a behavior you don't like (hit, kick, tease, bite, throw a tantrum in public, etc) their behavior is corrected through a consequence (scolding, time-out, grounding, etc). It has nothing to do with training them like an animal. Children with autism have to be taught proper behavior as well and their brains don't react like average brains. The same can be said for other brain conditions, as well. For example, I have ADHD. Even as an adult, I have had to learn proper behaviors and did something very similar to ABA. It's a very effective, nurturing way to encourage behave change.
You're comparing dangerous and disruptive behaviour with things that make the parents/teachers mildly uncomfortable or simply don't match what most people view as normal? There is no reason to guilt and bully a child into making eye contact, or not stimming, or to allow physical contact that makes them uncomfertable. No good comes from that kind of aggressive cookie cutter therapy that ABA is known for.
I agree 100%! My son is 7 with autism and he had some sever behaviors when I was following all the "therapies" now that I understand his needs and respect his feelings and quit the therapies that he hates, he is a brand new boy! He hugs me kisses me! Is happy and silly all day long. I will never do aba it's a soul crushing therapy that dominates children and takes a away their rights as human beings!
MaryJane those mild things become more socially unacceptable the older they become, becoming greater and greater barriers to socialization and functioning in the every day world. Things like smelling other people's hair is quite harmless at a young age, but by 10 or 12 becomes quite creepy and a barrier to establishing peer relationships. Some of the old ABA videos are definitely not how it's done today though. Toilet training, hand flapping, and loud vocalizations are all good examples of other behaviors that may not be harmful but can become barriers to functioning as an adult. Jack tantrums when he transitions...what's going to happen in 10 years when he is a teenager running full speed from activities, or biting...it's not as easily manageable. This prevents these children from needing full time care as adults and gives them opportunity for higher quality of living.
What's wrong with hand flapping? There is a big difference between helping autistic kids learn to cope with change, or toilet training etc. and the removal of (non-injurious) stimming behaviour, which is damaging and unnecessary. For the record I have autism and I'm currently living on my own and attending university, but I would not be able to do that without stimming, or sensory play, or engaging in special interests etc. Removing these things can be just as harmful to the ability of autistic people to function as allowing other issues to go unaided.
I support ABA therapy!!
I don't, as most autistics.
Doesn't matter what you do or don't approve of! If somethings works,then,most will accept it....I understand the issues that some autistic persons raise against ABA therapy. I partly agree with them. But then,I don't support to completely 'eliminate' ABA therapy. May be,we could modify it to suit autistic individuals better!
I am not 'autistic'! Still,I use different 'behavioral' therapies to 'control,modify,change' my 'unacceptable,dangerous and harmful'(for myself and others!) behaviors! There is nothing wrong in 'behavioral therapies'....Why should an autistic kid will also not get 'behavioral' therapies when needed is beyond my understanding!!! What is wrong if we can teach an autistic kid to learn to 'talk' with the help of ABA therapy,is beyond my understanding!! Do you have any idea how much help an autistic kid could get if he/she could learn to talk and express his 'feelings,troubles,problems'!?
Don't just blindly judge something as 'good or bad'. Life is not just 'black and white',there are grey areas,too. Of course,ABA is not without its disadvantages and issues. Everything in life is like that-IMPERFECT!!!!! But that doesn't mean,it doesn't have its advantages and benefits for the autistic and 'non-autistic' ones!
Perfection doesn't exist in life.....GET OVER IT!!
You try being told to sit still or to have quiet hands or not to self stimulate aka self regulate. That’s why most with autism who can talk (like me) will tell you they hate it. Those who aren’t able to talk might regress and kick or bite to get out of it because ITS TORTURE!! Stop having your child with Autism go to ABA! It takes the child’s coping mechanism and personality and everything out of them. It’s not right. Sometimes stimming is a way for your boo with Autism to communicate nonverbally.
@@mamunurrashid5652 I suggest you do more research about ABA before you blindly defend it.
@@mamunurrashid5652 Just because something "works" does not make it ethical or effective for all components involved. Lobotomies "work" for preventing certain behaviors associated with various mental health conditions, but it would be ridiculous to suggest that lobotomies are overall a good thing. ABA can reduce certain behaviors, but it does not mean much if the outcome is long-term mental health issues, poor self esteem, externalizing motivation, etc.
2nd comment
ABA is horrible, cruel and condescending. Instead of leaving us to be who we are, we get trained like dogs. Cookie-cutter approach to humanity, just to please some idiotic parent, well done. Ugh. Do this to NT’s, see how they like it to get dictated what to say, do and think, while constantly getting the message they are somehow “wrong” and have no agency. What an antiquated, disgusting practice.
aCELESTIALway no, life isn’t about being comfortable all the time. We all need challenges to grow.
Getting treated like sub-par humans is not a ‘challenge’. This shouldn't even have to be stated.
As someone with Autism I can see why it may work for people on the lower end of the spectrum who really do need a push to learn. However for higher functioning people like you and me this is downright insulting.
ABA is deshumanizing for all. By saying that you seem to imply that so called lower functionning autistics aren't worth decent treatment.
I think ABA is just an exaggeration of what we do with our children anyway. We reward positive behavior and ignore negative behavior or take away something your child wants to in order to encourage acceptable behavior. It is obviously more difficult with a child on the autistic scale but I believe it is a good thing to teach autistic children to be able to function within social norms. When we teach our children without disabilities discipline it allows them to pursue activities that inspire them and that they enjoy. I would think teaching an autistic child these basic skills is important to allowing them to participate in and have a full life.
Aba is abuse
ABA is abuse
If this "dog training" actually helps autistic children to act as normal and become normal I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Lubystka Olamonola a dog trainer looked into aba once and said it’s not dog training, because he’d never do that to a dog.
Define "normal".
Why are you acting so ableist they do not need to act normal it is important for them to be given compassion and understanding that is the best way for them to grow emotionally and socially and many studies now show these harsh approaches cause PTSD and more self harm from the autistic person now they use something called compassion based therapy
which aims to validate there emotions and give them the sensory environment they need while still teaching them valuable skills.