Carly Fleischmann posted on facebook about a study concluding that ABA may cause or exacerbate OCD. (The study isn’t available online yet.)
She was met with the usual howls of outrage and staggering lack of insight by a number of neurotypical parents.
Well my son had OCD even before he was diagnosed and received ABA. When he was almost 2 years old he would line his crayons up in the same order everyday before he would do his arts and crafts projects with me. If I moved a crayon or disrupted the line he would fix it immediately. He is a child of routine and he made his own routines. When he comes home from school, even if he has to go to the bathroom, there’s an order of the things he must do before he does anything else. Shoes off first, coat off next, a little dance around the living room area and then he’s free to do what he wants.
Linig up crayons in colour order is OCD? Taking your shoes and coat off in the same order every time is OCD?
WTF???
What is wrong with these people? A ‘success’, for this woman, seems to be a child who doesn’t line his crayons up in colour order, who undresses randomly, and to hell with the internal distress this destruction of routine causes.
I do believe slowly control should be removed to some degree to give the person a feeling of self worth.
Gosh, thanks! It’s so nice to know that NTs will consider removing a degree of their control of autistic people. Let’s not get overexcited and use words like autonomy, hey?
My son receives 30 hours a week IBI
Can you imagine, as a kid, being observed and hassled and prodded into ‘correct’ behaviour for this amount of time every week? The likelihood of becoming stressed and anxious at not being able to perform? The knowledge that this is being done because you are made wrong and these people aren’t going to stop until you are fixed?
Not looking forward to April. Really not.