Ordering More Ambulances
By Anne Dachel
We are clearly at a point in the autism epidemic where no one questions anything.
No longer do the numbers bother anyone. The current average rate of one in 36 U.S. children will, no doubt, be increased to one in 29 (the rate now in British Columbia), or one in 25 (the rate in Australia), or one in 23 (the rate in Scotland), or one in 22 (the rate in California), or one in 21 (the rate in Ireland), or maybe one in 20 (the rate in Northern Ireland). It doesn’t matter because health officials never acknowledge that there’s ever been a real increase in autism.
And we aren’t really talking about the cause of all this autism anymore. After 25 years of always increasing statistics, everyone seems happy to leave things be. We’ve long been told that no one really knows why a child has autism. It’s probably genetic with maybe bad choices by parents. We’ve had two decades of studies showing a connection to fat moms, moms on antidepressants, drinking moms, old moms, moms who marry old dads, moms who don’t get the right vitamins, moms who have babies too close together, and moms who live too close to freeways.
It’s all just part of the puzzle that is autism.
This serious developmental disorder with no known cause, prevention or cure is here to stay. If it’s your child, learn the signs and get that all important early intervention. There’s nothing else you can do.
Nothing demonstrates where we’re at better than two recent stories on Fox 2 in St. Louis.
I was struck by the fact that Fox 2 put the stories out one day apart.
The coverage was about autism therapy providers offering Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) services.
May 31, 2024, Fox 2, St. Louis, Now: Autism Support Now Clinics
VIDEO INTERVIEW:
Fox anchor: Latest statistics from the CDC show one in 36 children have an autism spectrum disorder.
Treatment is key to helping these kids with their individual needs.
The high numbers are now a given, and media outlets are happy to cite the CDC’s latest calculations as if it’s cutting edge science. The rate doesn’t actually matter to anyone in the media. Whether it’s one in 150 (2007), one in 88 (2012), one in 68 (2014), or the current one in 36 (2023), it’s never anything to worry about.
The interview was relaxed and low key. It was all about the wonderful help ABA therapy provides
Mandel: ASN, Autism Support Now, is primarily focused on ABA, Applied Behavioral Analysis. So it is program and treatment therapy more so centered around that specialty. . . .
Mandel: I would say, we are early intervention, so we are providing services to children between the ages of two and fourteen, so very important early on, what we’re doing is definitely setting them up to reach their full potential.
Anchor: Each child is really individual in the needs, right?
Mandel: Every treatment plan is definitely cultivated and uniquely based upon those individual needs that those children require.
We have amazing BCBAs, being board certified behavioral analysts that craft those treatment plans. Then our RBTs, the registered behavioral technicians that carry out and implement those day to day.
Fox 2 put out a similar story the day before about a different provider.
May 30, 2024, Fox 2 Now, St. Louis, MO: Seventh autism clinic in Missouri to open in Weldon Spring
Missouri is bringing a new center-based autism therapy clinic to Weldon Spring Thursday, commemorating the seventh to open in the state with a ribbon cutting.
Caravel Autism Health centers its focus around evaluations, diagnoses, and therapy programs for childhood autism. Their staff specializes in applied behavior analysis therapy, which provides support in a range of daily activities through positive reinforcement.
According to Caravel’s website, the therapy method is recognized for its effectiveness by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC.
“ABA therapy changes lives, but families in many communities have difficulty accessing this life-changing care because of a provider shortage,” Caravel CEO Mike Miller said in a release. “High-quality therapy early in life ensures that children achieve their full potential, so we’re opening new clinics to bring more resources and greater hope for families.”
It’s now normal and acceptable to have an autistic child.
We’re told repeatedly that autism has always been around, but it’s only been in recent years that we’ve finally recognized what it is and starting doing something about it.
The growth of ABA clinics, no questions asked, can make us feel good about autism and far superior to past generations of human beings who observed large numbers of children growing up nonverbal, not potty-trained, self-harming and requiring 24/7 care and ignored them. Officials tell us this describes a third of autistic children.
So it only seems like there’s more autism to be treated. Previously parents and doctors failed to notice children losing learned skills and regressing into autism. After 6,0000 years of human history, we now know about the condition.
In addition, the market place has figured out what to do about autism. Their horizons are unlimited.
Here’s what’s happening just in Missouri.
Autism Support Now: We have nine clinics throughout the Missouri region, that’s spreading from St. Louis to Kansas city. . . .
Caravel Autism Health: This is the company’s first clinic in Missouri, and there are plans to expand with more locations in the state this year. . . .
This is the future: More and more autism and more and more service providers.
Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.
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Would ABA help develop initiative?
Posted by: Benedetta | June 09, 2024 at 09:23 AM
Thanks AF, Lorim and Gayle for your comments.
I wish there was more research on what works and doesn't work. I remember one of the "spellers" commenting that ABA drove him crazy. My opinion is that this technique works best for early learning. My K-3 traditional phonics based curriculum was very structured and used both verbal and hand writing exercises repetitively. Phonics, spelling, math facts and poetry were memorized and orally recited. This laid a firm foundation which was built on in the later grades, gradually emphasizing logical thinking and rhetoric. This teaching method is sometimes called the Trivium, and it addresses the three stages of brain development. It appears that ABA targets primary skills, but does not shift to address the later brain development skills. Hence, an older, intelligent "speller" hated it.
What Is the Trivium? An Easy-to-Understand Analogy
https://classicalconversations.com/blog/what-is-the-trivium/
Posted by: Emmaphiladelphia | June 08, 2024 at 06:19 PM
My adult son went to a special school for children with autism that only used ABA therapy. He actually excelled with this approach and was more focused and even did some elementary academics. It was the first time we saw him make any progress at all and we also had some of the staff come to our home for extended services after program hours and that also increased his focus, attention span and academic skills. One of the home staff actually taught him to play the piano and he also did very well, playing many of his favorite Disney songs with both hands and reading the music. We were very lucky that ABA was so successful for our son who then went on to a special class in a regular high school until he was 21 and aged out. He then was enrolled in an adult program for autism that consisted eventually of 12 other young men with autism and it was a volunteer program out in the community at various sites. However, all of this did not cure my son of his autism diagnosis and he is still on the spectrum, but can communicate verbally in full sentences. I would not say this method works for everyone as each is an individual case with a different profile. I would like to see more research done on correcting the neuroimmune dysfunction that I believe is at the root of his autism diagnosis and research in this area is now ongoing and I am hopeful that it will be the answer to our prayer for an actual cure. Hope this helps others.
Posted by: Gayle | June 08, 2024 at 10:02 AM
Emma - Our son had ABA in our home from about 6th grade age to just before he turned 18. It was mainly paid for by our medical insurance Kaiser per new California law and the co-pays were paid by the regional center. Self injury is the most difficult thing to deal with. He's very low verbal. I think ABA helped him because it started right at the end of his 6th grade year when I was deciding to homeschool him because school was becoming more trouble than help. The behavioral therapists were not allowed to do academics but the interaction with caring people in our home or doing an outing was good for Timothy. They came three or four times a week for three hours. It was Easter Seals.
Posted by: lorim | June 07, 2024 at 11:41 PM
I never saw this coming.
I really did not.
1986 the insert that I bothered to read said 1 out of 11,000. That is what I thought we were.
Then the "Shot in the Dark" some time in the early 90s, and the two authors estimated 1 out of 250.
I was going down an interstate back in 2003, and a car pulled ahead of me with a sign that said it was 1 out of 150.
Was I surprised? No. Was I surprised they let it go this far, and admit nothing other than to continue? Yes.
Did I think it would be allowed to get to 1 out of 36 and still continue? No
Did I think that they were continue to make new vaccines like covid that are even worse and not get into trouble? No.
Did I think federal agencies would meet and just automatically put more and more vaccines on the childhood list like they did covid? No!
Did I think it was because they did not know? Yes.
Meanwhile world history we have Stalin starving millions, China killing millions, Cambodia killing millions.
But did I really think that was happening? No.
But that is what is going on.
THere is never enough people that die to satisfy those that are above us all. 1 out of 36 we are about to end humanity, and still it goes on.
Posted by: Benedetta | June 07, 2024 at 08:41 AM
You have to have fuction to use ABA , for most that I know ABA is a non starter but if it works for you it works for,you.As we all know the golden rule for Autism is there isnt one every sufferer is diffrent.All that helped us was diet,stem cells,oxygen, and we grow Lions Main.Sad to say that not a lot of improvement but i dont want to think what would have hapopened to him if we didnt do it all.
Thanks Anne.
Pharma For Prison
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | June 07, 2024 at 04:52 AM
Thank you Anne.
So sad.
Nothing to see here, move along.
Posted by: Jill in MI | June 06, 2024 at 07:07 PM
Bill,
It is always good to get an historical basis of topics related to autism. ABA comes out of operant conditioning in the field of psychology. This was first used to help train individual with autism when Ivar Lovaas, a psychologist, worked with Bernard Rimland and parents to start the Autism Society of America. This was in the 1960's. From the 1960's through the 1990's, medical doctors and the medical profession generally brushed off discrete trial training (Lovaas, ABA, etc.) as useless and having no value for someone with autism. Sometime around 1999, after the US Surgeon general acknowledged the work of Lovaas, you start seeing doctors recommend it and the American Pediatrics Association stating it to be the most effective treatment procedure.
I have always been both fascinated and disgusted by the fact that, for years, the medical profession in America had no valid treatment strategy for parents asking for help with their children with autism, but could always come up with what didn't work or what didn't cause autism, or whether or not it's prevalence is actually increasing. And then doctors suddenly find ABA to be the best treatment method - a treatment that has no medical basis to AT ALL - once the gate keepers of the medical establishment tell them it is alright to recommend its use.
Frankly speaking, if a physician or pediatrician doesn't understand the biomedical/functional needs of a person with autism, I really don't want them to have much to do with my son!!!
Posted by: Jeanne J | June 06, 2024 at 01:09 PM
Autism has been monetized and creates a jobs program for Biden's employment numbers.
Notice that ABA workers have no educational requirement to get into the training program. Will Biden's "newcomers" be trained for these jobs? Will taxpayers pay their wages?
ABA was not in use when my son was in the early stages of autism. I found that old fashioned discipline, early speech therapy, and an old fashioned phonics based home school curriculum (plus home schooling) enabled him to become a high functioning, independent adult. He never had some of the more severe seizures I know some AOA'ers children have had, but he did have many hours long screaming meltdowns and delayed speech.
I would like to know if any of you AOA'ers have used ABA and did you think it helped.
Thanks!
Posted by: Emmaphiladelphia | June 06, 2024 at 12:52 PM
Bill, ABA never really helped either of my grandchildren. With the adaption of spellers, I can inagine that ABA is a dying therapy.
Maurine
Posted by: mauine Meleck | June 06, 2024 at 12:31 PM
Incredibly well written rticle. Brava, Anne.
Posted by: mauine Meleck | June 06, 2024 at 09:36 AM
Applied Behavioral Analysis therapies are full of medical insurance fraud and child abuse. Every one and their mother wants to start an ABA clinic without a psychiatrist or pediatrician to lead the clinic. A person with masters degree in counseling or physical therapy is not a medical doctor.
These ABA therapies are now used to treat the very liberally defined ADHD and Bipolar in children and teenagers as well not just so called "autism".
Posted by: Bill | June 06, 2024 at 08:30 AM