Aspies For Freedom

Autism was mentioned two mornings in a row on Morning Edition, NPR's morning news show, on Wednesday Aug. 15, and Thursday Aug. 16.

NPR is consistent about making all its broadcasts available in podcast form, for about a week following the show, so you can probably still download them.

I was not impressed.  It was the usual stuff where they talk about the "explosion" of autism and how it's going to cost alot.  There was one part where NPR's microphones are in the room with some people watching a training video, where you can hear a kid having a screeching tantrum.  Also, they talked with a purveyor of ABA, giving a short description and not bothering to mention how controversial it is.  (Why exactly does it cost $75,000 per year per kid, anyway?  Where in blazes does all that money go?)  The focus was on severe forms of autism, so there was no mention of Asperger's or that there is even a debate with an other side.

Wednesday's show - re: education:
h ttp://www.n pr.org/templ ates/story/story.php?storyId=12776434
(link broken by poster - remove spaces)

Thursday's show - re: insurance:
h ttp://www.npr.org/templ ates/rundowns/rund own.php?prgId=3&prgDate=16-Aug-07
(link broken by poster - remove spaces)

To be fair, it was on NPR last year that I first heard anything of an Autistic Pride movement, and that Asperger's was something that many prefer to keep.  (Before that, to me it was just something that I had filed away in my mind as "ruled-out", which may not have been accurate anyway.)  So, I seriously doubt NPR is biased one way or the other, just simply not taking either side and being willing to give airtime to either side, with this time being the curebies' turn.

They do read on-air some of the comments they get by e-mail, so you might consider listening to the podcasts and then submitting comments.

I can answer this one... sort of. In Australia (well, Victoria) an ABA therapists earn around $15-$25 an hour, depending on experience. And kids have about an average of 20 hours ABA a week. Could be even up to 40. (Though the hours of ABA does not actually mean the kid spends that time 'training'...it includes playing with the kid and keeping them entertained.)

So, lets say on average, the therapist gets $20 an hour. And the kid does about 20 hours a week for one year, that's 52 weeks. That's paying $20,800 a year for ONE therapist. You also have an ABA Program Consultant which earns more. That therapist must also have training at the start (don't need knowledge of ABA or even autism to become a therapist because they are trained) and then must attend weekly/fornightly meetings about the kid's case.

Then the centre or whatever has to pay for the building, equipment and all that 'admin' stuff. There are staff that work there too. And of course, some might be for profit organisations. Not all of them are though.

It also doesn't cost $75k, but it *can* cost up to that much. I have: "If a family embarks on a 30hr per week program the approximate cost including program supervisors, therapists and materials is $20-$30,000[AUD] per year."
But journalistic programs want to quote the most expensive figure to make it seem worse. Along with emotive words like 'autism epedemic' and 'devistating illness'. Charities will probably also quote $75k.

My Sauces:
- http://www.abia.net.au/what_is_an_aba_therapist.htm
- Therapist friend

I really don't know where people get this kind of money from. For just one child. ABA doesn't cure anyone anyway. I personally believe (though I bet heaps of you don't) that it can help with language learning in the under 5 kids. I have seen that "47% indistinguishable from peers" to back up that it's "scientifically validated". That was from one study on 19 people. WITH NO CONTROLS!!! Gah, you bwoke science [When studying if a treatment works, you should have an experimental group and a control group. The control group does not recieve the treatment, but may get a placebo if needed. This is so you can compare the results to something, like in this case it could be said that 47% had an incorrect diagnosis of autism, or maybe 47% had no language delay and were diagnosed as aspies, or whatever. If you had a control, you would know (after some stats testing) that the change was due to the treatment for sure]. Note that there have been other studies looking at different aspects (I did a search on my uni's database on ABA) but still that figure is being quoted around the place.

I hope the parents get enough information about how it works and what to expect (not a cure for sure!). If it 'worked', medicare would be funding it. Also say that they might expect learning to happen later, many autistics learn to talk later.

And yes, unfortunatly these sorts of programs imply autism = tantrums. On that, I recomend: Neurotypicalism Everyday http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bxx5EmCRxYY [note: it's a parody]

Probably comes from jacked-up insurance.

They had another piece on it this morning.  Just thought I'd mention it.

http://www.npr.org (podcasts usually available, look for Morning Edition for Wed., Sept. 26)

If I understood the piece correctly, a father works for the insurance company that wouldn't pay for the ABA, so he ended up suing his own boss.

As for both sides of the debate, it only briefly mentioned that it can be harmful in some cases.

garmonbozia, I heard that one this morning... started a debate at our house... I had finally convinced hubby that the "make eye contact" therapies were bad...

Then they go into how he couldn't talk before and now he can thanks to ABA...

I didn't hear that it could be harmful in some cases...

It was an interesting debate though. So should insurance pay for these therapies??