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Autism, Therapies and Acceptance: A Mother’s Perspective
Written by Morénike Giwa-Onaiwu on January 22, 2015

...And one thing kept coming up over and over and over.

“Early intervention is key. You will need a minimum of 40 hours per week of behavior therapy in order to obtain the maximum results, and you need to start now, before she’s three.” I read that and was told that more times than I could count.

..., it seemed to me that this 40 hour a week ABA recommendation was contrary to nearly everything that I’d learned about development and the young child. I mean, 40 hours/week is the equivalent of a full-time job!

There was a plethora of literature about the way children learn. About their need for variety, spontaneity, and learning experiences. About their need to be nurtured, to move and play, to have supportive relationships, to build trust, to make mistakes, to develop healthy attachments.

Moreover, on top of the recommended 40 hours of ABA, we were told that we needed to reinforce the strategies used in the therapies with her at home – so essentially she would be in therapy all day, every day, even if no therapist was present. Plus, as my daughter had sensory and fine motor differences and speech delay, she needed speech therapy and occupational therapy also. The whole thing was mind boggling. Was my daughter’s life going to be nothing but therapy after therapy from morning to night?

I was less concerned about decreasing noticeable stereotypy, increasing eye contact, enrollment in general education, etc than I was about shaping her into a healthy, whole, decent person. The therapy seemed repetitive, dry, rigid, impersonal, and domineering. It seemed as if it was designed to “break” my child’s will and obliterate her natural way of moving, engaging, and communicating so that she could learn how to perform in a more “acceptable” way.