Department Of Defense conclusion ABA dosen't work criticized
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ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 68
Gender: Male
Posts: 39,637
Location: Long Island, New York
10 Mar 2021, 3:44 am
Quote:
The Defense Department’s conclusion that military children with autism were not making progress with a key treatment has substantial flaws and is based on “incompetent” interpretation of the data, according to a new report.
The report, written by leading autism researcher Ira Cohen, is critical of DoD’s conclusions about the lack of progress of children who are diagnosed with autism and are receiving Applied Behavior Analysis therapy, or ABA, through DoD’s Autism Care Demonstration project. The demonstration project offers ABA services for all Tricare-eligible beneficiaries with Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosed by an approved provider.
One advocacy group is going so far as to say DoD has “manipulated data” and is “systematically building a false case to Congress,” with the apparent goal of cutting funding for the ABA treatment.
“DoD has been playing fast and loose with science to discredit a highly effective autism therapy and, apparently, substitute a cheaper and less effective treatment,” said David Fuscus, spokesman for the National Coalition for Access to Autism Services. Cohen conducted the analysis of DoD’s conclusions for that coalition, reviewing six DoD reports to Congress from 2018 to 2020. DoD officials are required to submit quarterly and annual reports to the House and Senate armed services committees on DoD’s ABA treatment program.
According to DoD’s most recent report, costs for the ABA treatment in the demonstration project were $370 million in fiscal 2019. The average cost for the time-consuming, intensive treatment was $23,253 in 2019. Costs vary depending on the frequency of treatment and a variety of other factors. There are 15,982 military children diagnosed with autism involved in that project.
The demonstration project started July 25, 2014 and is scheduled to end Dec. 31, 2023.
DoD is in the process of a comprehensive review and is rewriting the Autism Care Demonstration project, and advocates are concerned about what that DoD review will mean for the future of ABA therapy.
Advocates are concerned about DoD possibly removing ABA therapies for military children with autism who are the DoD Exceptional Family Member Program, or EFMP, the EFMP Coalition said in a statement to Military Times. Coalition members include Partners in Promise, Exceptional Families of the Military, Military Kids — Special Education Alliance, Military Special Needs Network and Modern Military Association of America. The coalition is also concerned that LGBTQ children with an autism diagnosis won’t receive the needed support, understanding and practices to ensure their mental well-being.
In their 2020 annual report to Congress DoD stated that their findings “demonstrate that the current format of the [autism demonstration project], and the delivery of ABA services, is not working for most Tricare beneficiaries” in the project.
But DoD’s conclusions can’t be justified, because of “profoundly serious limitations” with the way DoD used the assessment tool, stated the creator of that tool, Ira L. Cohen, in the recent report scrutinizing DoD’s evaluations of the effectiveness of ABA for military children. Cohen created that assessment tool, called the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory, or PDDBI, which is used worldwide by practitioners to evaluate children with autism, as well as their treatments such as ABA.
“Most glaring is the total lack of understanding as to how the PDDBI is scored and interpreted and the obvious failure to read the manual,” Cohen concluded.
DoD’s costs for the autism demonstration project have increased 129 percent since its inception: from $161.5 million in fiscal 2015 to $370.4 million in fiscal 2019, according to DoD’s report.
The average cost per participant has increased by 65 percent from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2019, according to DoD’s report. Average cost for an active duty family member patient in the demonstration project increased by 66 percent, from $14,393 in fiscal 2015 to $23,886 in fiscal 2019.
As of now, ABA services do not meet the TRICARE hierarchy of evidence standard for medical and proven care, DoD officials state
The report, written by leading autism researcher Ira Cohen, is critical of DoD’s conclusions about the lack of progress of children who are diagnosed with autism and are receiving Applied Behavior Analysis therapy, or ABA, through DoD’s Autism Care Demonstration project. The demonstration project offers ABA services for all Tricare-eligible beneficiaries with Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosed by an approved provider.
One advocacy group is going so far as to say DoD has “manipulated data” and is “systematically building a false case to Congress,” with the apparent goal of cutting funding for the ABA treatment.
“DoD has been playing fast and loose with science to discredit a highly effective autism therapy and, apparently, substitute a cheaper and less effective treatment,” said David Fuscus, spokesman for the National Coalition for Access to Autism Services. Cohen conducted the analysis of DoD’s conclusions for that coalition, reviewing six DoD reports to Congress from 2018 to 2020. DoD officials are required to submit quarterly and annual reports to the House and Senate armed services committees on DoD’s ABA treatment program.
According to DoD’s most recent report, costs for the ABA treatment in the demonstration project were $370 million in fiscal 2019. The average cost for the time-consuming, intensive treatment was $23,253 in 2019. Costs vary depending on the frequency of treatment and a variety of other factors. There are 15,982 military children diagnosed with autism involved in that project.
The demonstration project started July 25, 2014 and is scheduled to end Dec. 31, 2023.
DoD is in the process of a comprehensive review and is rewriting the Autism Care Demonstration project, and advocates are concerned about what that DoD review will mean for the future of ABA therapy.
Advocates are concerned about DoD possibly removing ABA therapies for military children with autism who are the DoD Exceptional Family Member Program, or EFMP, the EFMP Coalition said in a statement to Military Times. Coalition members include Partners in Promise, Exceptional Families of the Military, Military Kids — Special Education Alliance, Military Special Needs Network and Modern Military Association of America. The coalition is also concerned that LGBTQ children with an autism diagnosis won’t receive the needed support, understanding and practices to ensure their mental well-being.
In their 2020 annual report to Congress DoD stated that their findings “demonstrate that the current format of the [autism demonstration project], and the delivery of ABA services, is not working for most Tricare beneficiaries” in the project.
But DoD’s conclusions can’t be justified, because of “profoundly serious limitations” with the way DoD used the assessment tool, stated the creator of that tool, Ira L. Cohen, in the recent report scrutinizing DoD’s evaluations of the effectiveness of ABA for military children. Cohen created that assessment tool, called the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory, or PDDBI, which is used worldwide by practitioners to evaluate children with autism, as well as their treatments such as ABA.
“Most glaring is the total lack of understanding as to how the PDDBI is scored and interpreted and the obvious failure to read the manual,” Cohen concluded.
DoD’s costs for the autism demonstration project have increased 129 percent since its inception: from $161.5 million in fiscal 2015 to $370.4 million in fiscal 2019, according to DoD’s report.
The average cost per participant has increased by 65 percent from fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2019, according to DoD’s report. Average cost for an active duty family member patient in the demonstration project increased by 66 percent, from $14,393 in fiscal 2015 to $23,886 in fiscal 2019.
As of now, ABA services do not meet the TRICARE hierarchy of evidence standard for medical and proven care, DoD officials state
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
