How Effective Can ABA Intervention Be? | Autism Challenging Behaviour

Documentary which explores the controversy around ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis), an intensive intervention used to treat autism. Parents who want ABA for their children passionately believe that it is the best way to teach a child new skills and to help them function in mainstream society, but critics of ABA argue that it is dehumanising and abusive to try to eliminate autistic behaviour.

The film follows three-year-old Jack and four-year-old Jeremiah through their first term at Treetops School in Essex - the only state school in the UK which offers a full ABA programme. Neither boy has any language, Jeremiah finds it hard to engage with the world around him and Jack has severe issues with food. Both their parents have high hopes of the 'tough love' support that Treetops offers, but will struggle with their child's progress.

We also meet Gunnar Frederiksen, a passionate and charismatic ABA consultant who works with families all over Europe. His view of autism - that it is a condition that can be cured and that families must work with their child as intensively and as early as possible if they want to take the child 'out of the condition' - is at odds with the way that many view autism today.

Gunnar is working with three-year-old Tobias in Norway and has trained the parents so that they can work with him at home as his ABA tutors. He also introduces us to Richard, a 16-year-old from Sweden who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three and whose parents were told that he would be unlikely ever to speak. Today, Richard is 'indistinguishable from his peers' and plays badminton for the Swedish national team. In an emotional scene, Richard and his family look back at video recordings of the early ABA treatment and we are confronted both by the harshness of the method and the result of the intervention.

These and other stories are intercut with the views and experiences from those who oppose ABA and who argue that at the heart of ABA is a drive to make children with autism as normal as possible, rather than accepting and celebrating their difference. Lee, an autistic mother of a son who has Aspergers, describes how the drive to make her behave and act like a 'normal' child broke her, and how she was determined to accept her son for who he was.

The question of how far we accept autistic difference and how much should we push people with autism to fit into society's norms raises wider questions that affect us all - how do we achieve compliance in our children, how much should we expect children to conform and how far should parents push children to fit in with their own expectations?

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Produced by TVF International

[irenemesner]

I think we can all agree that we just want the kids to be independent one day that's it. ASD is not a disease. Parents just want their kids to grow up happy and able to take care of themselves. Remember sometimes kids are just late bloomers

[KERR]

I am Autistic and all I can say is Ignore all of these ABA idiots, we are people, we are not a disease, we are great as who we are, if your worried about your child being autistic do not talk to these idiots talk to someone with Autism. There is Nothing wrong with me, there is nothing wrong with autistics, difference is not wrong... Accept and love people stop trying to make them conform into your limited boundaries.

[chardonnaya]

Having autism Myself it's sad how people try to change the way there brains work!!! I wouldn't want to change it makes you you !!! Shame it's sad ❤️

[serenagoss]

The way these children are being treated in early days bloody disgusting 😡😡

[seventhkoala]

Effective? Not really. Can give you a lifetime of trauma though.

There, just saved you 58 minutes and 46 seconds.

[msp_isyourteacher]

Can’t be 1%. Has to be more. This is only 3 years ago. I am an educator and I see signs in almost every class I’ve had. This is actually the first year I haven’t had one I low key think is on the spectrum.

[athecanadian]

Seeing Autism as something to be changed is disgusting. I think you should teach the chil as much as they can learn social, life skills important things, without losing themselves but what's most important is that their happy.

[KatrinaL]

This Tobias guy is.. special. It breaks my heart that he believes in what he says. Autism is a different neurological condition from us who are neurotypical, and no, you cannot "cure" it. It is not harmful. As someone who works in ABA, I want to pursue a better, more ethical practices that would leave the child happy and have a good experience. In my company, we do our best to make sure that a child's feelings and emotions are validated. We don't attempt to eliminate their stereotypy behavior unless it is harmful to them and their surroundings. We do our best to help them find the best coping strategies that they can carry to adulthood. We also make sure they learn self-advocacy, and they know when to say no, and that it is okay to take breaks. I wish people would be more open. I understand the horrid history of ABA, but even medical sciences had a horrible beginnings. The sciences is always growing and always evolving, and I hope we can all work together to make people more accepting of ethical ABA, and that autism would be more widely accepted as a part of a neurodiverse world.

[peaceandhonesty]

Wow! Gunnar (not sure of spelling) hasn't got a clue. Extreme Stress at 3 may not be consciously remembered but the harm will be there. Good grief he's willing to do anything as long as the kids look Neurotypical. 🥺

[naomikurpiel]

As someone who was trained in ABA and now works one to one in my own capacity, I don't agree fully with this method. Although there are some things to take from it, it MUST be tailored to individuals. At the end of the day, no two people are ever alike and it's important to see the person and not any labels. See why the behaviours are happening and not how to 'fix' them (I hate this terminology!). Ok it works well with food issues, but other than that take the aspect of motivation and leave it there. The child builds the rest of the bridge just as they want to and when they're ready to. In the meantime train those around them to understand them, this is much more crucial to helping them be a happy individual!

[KittyBeeViolinT]

Child in ABA gains the life skills to sustain himself in eat. Child not in ABA may be on a feeding tube soon. Child in ABA learns to communicate HIS needs with his parents making life less frustrating. Child not in ABA does not have communication skills yet. ABA does work. It is not dog training. It’s motivation based teaching. All children learn through motivations the motivations are just less social with children with autism. The guy who did at home ABA does not sit right with me though. Even his method just seemed too intense and more about changing the personality rather than meeting the child in the middle. Most ABA programs in the US are more for teaching communication skills and life skills. That way the child keeps who they are but gains the ability to communicate their genius and take care of themselves.

[animallover]

All children should be raised where good behaviors are rewarded and bad ones are not...

[kaylag.]

I am all for ABA because I know first-hand how effective it can be. However, the man that said he sees nothing good in autism is heartbreaking. Yes, many things can help a person with autism find their success in life, but it cannot be cured and telling a person with autism that there is "nothing good about them" is just going to destroy self-esteem.

[Jennifer-fkkb]

Is it just me or does the Richard kid just seem to have a language delay when he was a child? He seems to understand instructions and follow them easily and is also making eye contact.
Sometimes you wonder … were people who had these “success stories” just misdiagnosed? Or where they always going to end up on the “high functioning” side of autism regardless of treatment? There are many “high functioning” adults who had similar issues in childhood but end up looking just like Richard as adults without any intervention.

[theforgottendinosaur]

They have to pay money to have an unqualified person train their children like dogs? As an autistic person I find ABA disgusting

[jennifertimberlake]

Some of these forms of therapy are downright harmful such as the one where they were trying to stop the stemming behavior and the one that they wouldn't even let the kid think to answer with matching stuff like that is downright wrong. If done correctly yes it can help but expecting a child to immediately do something as soon as you say it and not letting them think and trying to stop them from stemming and such is doing more harm than good. I especially feel bad for Tobias because they are trying to force him to be neurotypical and not stem and such and that therapist is stupid because it's stressing that poor child out and just because he won't necessarily remember it doesn't mean it isn't harming them long term and the one with the food aversions it's doing the opposite effect because they are doing it completely wrong

[lindathrall]

AUTISM CAN'T BE CURED LET THE CHILD BE A CHILD LET THEM WORK WITH THEIR OWN FEELINGS

[Demonmixer]

I'm grateful I didn't have to endure this.

[someonerandom]

I personally have no desire to try ABA for my autistic son. We really embrace and enjoy his quirks. We did take him to speech therapy to help him understand idioms though, to make it eaiser for him to communicate effectively. He has been diagnosed with moderate, high functioning autism, requiring substantial support, but we disagree with the last part. We declined the occupational therapy which they wanted to give him. It was over an hour away, once a week during the school day, just to help him space out his letters and tie his shoes more effectively. We figured it would be more beneficial to leave him in class and work on those things at home. He doesn't have an IEP, but I would have one implemented if he was staying in public school, to protect him. He has two weeks of elementary left, and then it's homeschooling for us, his older brothers included. I think he will really benefit from some individual instruction and an emphasis on daily life skills. I have mixed feelings about ABA. I am generally against it for high functioning children though, especially those that are verbal and can communicate fairly effectively.

[justsomerandominternetuser]

Ok nobody is going to say it? Ok I will. Jack is SOO CUTE!!! Autism can’t be cured. I don’t want to be cured.