Thanks for the reply, Roberta.

It was actually your new series on ABA in the US that prompted me to write here (as there was no comment option on that new article by Janet Meydam). Again I found it to adopt a quite negative tone. Just the title ‘Limitations apparent in ABA Research’ sets one’s mind up to think it should be dismissed as a treatment option. it goes on to describe the research designs as flawed while offering little by way of counterargument.

As a scientist, I can see some flawed statements in Janet’s article itself also. It dismisses the Lovaas paper for utilizing a small sample size, but sample size should be related to the strength of the signal being measured – a strong signal requires a smaller sample size – so unless the statistics in the Lovaas paper are flawed (which was not a critiicsm made by Janet) then the sample size is fine for the conclusions drawn.

I also felt Janet could have made some mention that although no one paper can be pointed to as categoric proof of the benefits of the ABA technique, such papers are rare in any branch of science and meanwhile there is a body of evidence amassed in support of ABA benefits that does not exist for other autism interventions.

I await the rest of the series with keen interest.

Andy, while we, individually, at Autism Daily Newscast may have personal views on ABA, one of our writers is trained in ABA – I actually do not. I am very happy to have others share their experiences and I am glad that you took the time to write to us. It appears that the negativity around ABA in the UK clouds the discussion around how it might be useful. There are many issues surrounding ABA even in the USA and that is why I have asked one of our US journalists to do a series on ABA today in the US.

Let me also say that I did not see the documentary as I am not in the UK and could not access the program. I am the Editor-in-Chief. Our report was on the reactions by people who either are personally on the autism spectrum and / or advocates in some manner with family members on the spectrum. The report was in no way a critique of the program; simply a follow-up on how people felt about the documentary. Naturally, the reactions to ABA are strong. This was not an article on ABA specifically and that is not our primary role. We don’t do a “Google search” and curate what other have to say we try whenever possible to go to the source. As a news site our job is to report what is happening and quite frankly the response to the documentary within the ASD community was generally negative. However, upon reading the comments again, I feel that no one we quoted actually trashed ABA. Many pointed to specific things in the documentary that they found disturbing but in almost all cases the sentiment was “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater”.

Professor Hastings’ article goes into this a little more deeply and objectively it is true. The same “objectivity” can not be said of our readers or those we spoke to about the program. Each one is quite biased… they live with it every day. Professor Hastings’ appears to have been published around the same time as the public showing of the documentary on BBC4. His is an article on how some of what was presented in the documentary was misleading and he makes many valid points. (http://theconversation.com/behavioural-method-is-not-an-attempt-to-cure-autism-19782) I liked his article – the closing paragraph is perhaps the most profound. I encourage others to read it.

I doubt that the controversy will go away as long as ABA is being used. And it will be used because depending on the type of ABA being used and the training of the professionals it has proven effective for some ASD children – like your own.

I also wonder if I might be permitted to share my own experiences with the readers of this site? Applying a home-based ABA programme under the guidance of UKYAP in just four months our 3 year old boy has developed from having virtually no language skills to being able to hold mini-conversations on choice of food and play etc. His behaviour has also improved dramatically. I therefore have no doubt that this is the best approach for his development and would encourage any parent of an autistic child to look into ABA as a potential therapy option.

An interesting point. We sought out people of influence in the community in the UK that we were able to reach in a short period of time. This is the result.