The information provided on this website is intended to share information with readers so that anyone who is raising, educating, nurturing, and caring for children with autism have access to information to be fully informed citizens. The increasing numbers of children diagnosed with autism presents an economic challenge for government. What autism will cost society drives government research and policies and those will ultimately, drive the people's ability or inability to access valuable resources.
One such costly resource is treating children with expensive evidence-based intervention known as applied behavior analysis or ABA. For years, many of us were never told about ABA or told to contact our local school district because ABA is an "educational" service and not "medically necessary." For many of us still, we were told that our children "are too old," "non verbal," "is not able to keep up with intensive ABA," "not able to imitate," or we were convinced by our IEP team that it is "time to exit" our children to a "less intrusive" or "less intensive" "life skills" or "functional" program in the school's special day class class (SDC) learning handicap (LH) or severe handicap (SH). The problem with this transition involves public implementation of non-evidence-based "techniques" or "strategies" of ABA telling parents that their children are receiving "ABA" when they really are not.
What is happening to children who exit or, as public agencies say, transition to these other interventions? If it is true that ABA has been proven to work, why are so many children being exited? Why are so many minorities and low-income children not being told about it? What will happen to children from ethnic minorities and socio-economic subgroups when they go untreated?
The truth is: if children are not going to make it as a tax-paying citizens, are not deemed worthy, then government is not willing to pay for his or her evidence-based ABA treatment (remember: it costs approx. $5,500.00 per month). Disability rights are supposed to protect the disabled. Unfortunately, children who are too challenging to fix, too costly to fix, and who will not "make it" in general education, will be transitioned to some SDC program that uses some ABA. That SDC might give a student one, or if they are lucky, maybe, two hours of discrete trial training (DTT) and some other "techniques" and "strategies" of ABA. Many parents claim that SDC-Autism/LH/SH is nothing more than "glorified babysitting."
After over 500 scientific studies supporting evidence-based ABA, public schools have devised a way to water-down proven science by watering-down evidence-based ABA. It is a major concern that school districts do not deliver high quality autism programs as reported by parents, educators and administrators.
Thanks to the on-going efforts and support from parents and advocacy organizations such as Talk About Curing Autism Now, Autism Society of America and Autism Speaks, evidence-based applied behavior analysis (ABA) intervention services is now available to more children who need this treatment. But more opportunities need to be created. Currently, California Senate Bill 946 will not allow children on Medi-Cal or welfare to receive treatment. Minorities and low socio-economic groups already populate special education classrooms in disproportionate numbers.
What will happen to this underserved group of autistic children? Without ABA, what will be their long-term outcome? ABA addresses self-care, functional language & communication skills, social and behavioral challenges and academics that school districts continue to ignore. Without an opportunity to receive ABA intervention, how will school districts be able to meet the needs of students with autism?
The California Department of Insurance provides up-to-date legislation and litigation related to autism.