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conuly
http://www.livejournal.com/users/oddizm/31058.html
I am all for teaching kids to speak (or otherwise communicate, signing or typing is fine by my standards, so long as people can understand them). I'm fine with teaching your kid how to not "meltdown", how to cope, because that's not good for anybody in the long run.
But some people take this sort of thing too far, and think it's good.
Many...cling to ritualistic behavior like hand-flapping or twirling that take the place of play.
Does this harm anybody? Is it enjoyable for the person doing it? Does it actually hinder learning, or working, or whatever else you could do? I'll take the not-so-bold stance of "not at all" and, in fact, go farther and say that interrupting somebody's natural coping mechanisms (that's what stimming often, but not always, is) just because it's unusual is a Very Bad Thing. Quite similar to forcibly changing handedness.
A.B.A. is the only intervention that has proved successful in controlled experiments, although small and unreplicated.
I'm not even touching this, although the words "small and unreplicated" would seem to cancel out the rest of the statement. Does anybody want to bring up the stats for ABA used to prevent homosexuality? Or other interventions/therapies that have at least the 50% success rate stated later in this article?
The first goal was to get Ben to sit in a chair, make eye contact and follow simple instructions, all prerequisites for language and learning.
Something else I'm Not Touching. Hands up all those who can speak and learn and Not Make Eye Contact.
The give-and-take of natural conversation can be a struggle. When Ben drops a piece of paper on the way to the recycling bin, Ms. Moon prompts him to say "oops."
Why? Dear god, WHY? People who say "oops" and "uhoh" all the time are annoying. Just pick it up and throw it out.
Dr. Taylor asked Yvonne to replace his sweatpants with jeans, like his new classmates wore. Some autistic children find certain clothes uncomfortable....
So, he should wear an uncomfortable fabric just because everybody else does? And if they all jumped off a bridge, would she make him do that too? He wasn't wearing anything inappropriate, for God's sake, and it's better to wear something comfortable and have less to worry about than wear something uncomfortable to be like everyone else.
Then, for no apparent reason, she wakes to find her son "the poster child for autism," moving from one peculiar behavior to the next so the family can't go anywhere without strangers staring.
What is "peculiar behaviour"? Is it harmful, or rude, or disruptive, or is it just something that strangers should ignore? Why does "strangers staring" come above finding out why he suddenly changed his behaviour?
*deep sigh*
I am all for teaching kids to speak (or otherwise communicate, signing or typing is fine by my standards, so long as people can understand them). I'm fine with teaching your kid how to not "meltdown", how to cope, because that's not good for anybody in the long run.
But some people take this sort of thing too far, and think it's good.
Many...cling to ritualistic behavior like hand-flapping or twirling that take the place of play.
Does this harm anybody? Is it enjoyable for the person doing it? Does it actually hinder learning, or working, or whatever else you could do? I'll take the not-so-bold stance of "not at all" and, in fact, go farther and say that interrupting somebody's natural coping mechanisms (that's what stimming often, but not always, is) just because it's unusual is a Very Bad Thing. Quite similar to forcibly changing handedness.
A.B.A. is the only intervention that has proved successful in controlled experiments, although small and unreplicated.
I'm not even touching this, although the words "small and unreplicated" would seem to cancel out the rest of the statement. Does anybody want to bring up the stats for ABA used to prevent homosexuality? Or other interventions/therapies that have at least the 50% success rate stated later in this article?
The first goal was to get Ben to sit in a chair, make eye contact and follow simple instructions, all prerequisites for language and learning.
Something else I'm Not Touching. Hands up all those who can speak and learn and Not Make Eye Contact.
The give-and-take of natural conversation can be a struggle. When Ben drops a piece of paper on the way to the recycling bin, Ms. Moon prompts him to say "oops."
Why? Dear god, WHY? People who say "oops" and "uhoh" all the time are annoying. Just pick it up and throw it out.
Dr. Taylor asked Yvonne to replace his sweatpants with jeans, like his new classmates wore. Some autistic children find certain clothes uncomfortable....
So, he should wear an uncomfortable fabric just because everybody else does? And if they all jumped off a bridge, would she make him do that too? He wasn't wearing anything inappropriate, for God's sake, and it's better to wear something comfortable and have less to worry about than wear something uncomfortable to be like everyone else.
Then, for no apparent reason, she wakes to find her son "the poster child for autism," moving from one peculiar behavior to the next so the family can't go anywhere without strangers staring.
What is "peculiar behaviour"? Is it harmful, or rude, or disruptive, or is it just something that strangers should ignore? Why does "strangers staring" come above finding out why he suddenly changed his behaviour?
*deep sigh*
