Welcome to Autmazing, a channel focused on family life in a family where all the members of our family are autistic. We talk about autism, we vlog, and we have fun, all while sharing a glimpse of our lives here in rural Michigan with you. Cammie is the mom here and the person who runs the channel . Sadie is 15, Maggie is 13, Patrick is 11, James is 9, and Tessie, is now 7 years old!
Here's one thing that does help: broad autism training. I'm sure there are ordinary people who know how to handle meltdowns and could teach others who don't have this.
If my teacher can’t find out I wanted if he has my favorite snack he will probably be like use your words Anna! If I use the sentence strip he will probably be like give me ! If I hand it to him he will probably be like I want goldfish! Crackers okay nice asking Anna! Here you go ! If he knows I want more he will probably be like Anna use your words ! If I hand him goldfish he will probably be like okay! I can do that for you !
Lady, your intentions seem good. You need to listen to yourself thou. You are smart and articulated, perhaps thanks to ABA trainning you went through...however, you need to understand that when you voice out an opinion about something that can give quality of life and hope to a family, you need to base your reasons to not support. Your video does not sustain any reason for disregarding ABA as a proper choice for a family. in fact you confirm that ABA is "effective"!!! You making this video proves that. You are voicing your opinion on something very sensitive and important, using all your emotions only. I am sorry your ABA therapist could not help you with that, which is called responsability.
I asked my 9 years old son today “do i act like a child”? He said “yes, most of the time.” Im 41 and people think im in my mid 20s…i wonder if it’s because how i look or behave or both.
I think here is a true statement: everyone should know how to swim regardless of disability status. There have likely been stories of eloping which turn into tragic accidental drowning.
So what are parents supposed to do? As a father of an autistic son, I just want things to be “normal”. So if aba is so bad, what other options do I have treatment?
Speech therapy if they need help with that, OT's are fantastic and there are some other therapy types that are starting to have some good research behind them. Also you need to let go of normal, every person is an individual regardless of if they are NT or ND so every person is going to act/behave differently in different situations. Also try and work out if he has sensory issues so that you can put supports in regarding those (common ones are that things are too noisy, clothes fabrics (especially tags) and having issues with smells/textures of food)
I babysit a child that goes to ABA, often when asked the Dad what he wants because the mom is absent, it’s “no” doesn’t do nothing with him just barks at him put your clothes on not tag in the back teaching hi at home, it’s so frustrating as a babysitter to watch this ABA, act as if I can’t get him there at 2:30 you sit in the parking lot even though a minute before you can’t come in what? I’m fixing to quit babysitting this child because these ppl are crazy!! Im the only steady in this child’s life! The grandmother and dad need help I’m up to my eyeballs with these ppl!! They won’t teach him at home but let someone else teach him!! Wrong wrong wrong!!!!!!!
Regardless of whether a kid has autism or not, they learn how to behave in their environment based on positive and negative feedback that they get from the important people around them. This is just basic psychology. That's why ABA works. It's not a bad or a good thing. Parents and literally EVERYONE will give them positive and negative feedback. This is what shapes them into the person they'll become. Why not allow them to develop in a way where they get the most opportunities out of life?
I was the favorite RBT of all my patients because I genuinely paired with the kids by allowing them lead the sessions. I allowed them to engage in their favorite activities and ran the targets while i was actively engaging with the patient by playing with play doh, creating arts and crafts etc. Whenever they engaged in behavior i acknowledged them and made sure they knew i was there to help them process that emotion. Staying calm while they tried to bite me was very difficult, but i knew thats how they were trying to tell me something, thats how they communicated. I NEVER used food as reinforcement because that is unhealthy and cruel, not even the snacks. If they wanted a snack I would allow as long as they didnt ate a lot of them. Lol. The patients loved me, while the other therapists not as much because my patients would engage in behaviors during therapists transitions. The thing that made leave was when the OT suggested to not let one of my patients engage in his favorite activity due to him engaging in behavior when the activity didnt go his way. I was like 🤯🤯🤯, thats an assault to the patient!!! I was enraged and sad that i could not do more for my patients. I also never did "work" with them, i ran the targets while we were playing together. I would think about pytting myself in patients' shoes and doing "work" everyday, the same way over and over again, must be awful and mechanical. After all, they are children and they deserve to enjoy their childhood as well.
I am so sorry about your divorce. It hurts to feel the rejection, like a betrayal. My heart goes out to you and your kidddos. I know it's difficult, but this leaves room for you, your kiddos, and eventually, someone who understands.
I do believe people can use disability as an excuse, but sometimes people say that when that's not what we're doing. If you've been undiagnosed for most of your life, it can take a long time to learn this stuff.
My brother chewed on everything as a kid and his t-shirts had always holes, sadly this wasnt yesterday if I say so so chewing toys for anyone over 1 year old wasnt a thing yet so he simply chewed on things and clothes until he stopped by himself..
Chairs are the devil! I'm 46 and sitting in normal chairs is only getting harder. I'm even in PT to sit in chairs. Although my PT said to get a ball for a chair. Which is 100% better. Love your cats.
Also, the point of ABA is to teach appropriate communication. It isn't about just ignoring the maladaptive behaviors. It is also about teaching communication. If a person autistic or not is just being ignored and not taught, that is a problem.
Some behaviors are attention seeking. That is for ALL people. Even Neurotypical people. So some things for attention. It is part of being human. As a behavior tech for the last 21 years, i can say that the ABA i do now (and have done for several years) is alot different from the ABA i was taught and did 21 years ago. Is it perfect? No, nothing is. But it is much more positive and takes into consideration the whole person. That said, just like any other treatment, it isn't right for every autistic person. I am glad your girls are doing better and that you made the best choice for them.
I also have autism and for some reason didn't develop this at all. I really don't know why your eight-year-old developed this habit and I never had this at all.
I can't believe they diagnosed her with autism and then ask you to bring her back every year to be re diagnosed, that's ridiculous on their part.If they diagnosed her you shouldn't have to jump through hoops for her to get help,you're a great mum and your daughter is beautiful,it's really sad when the medical system fails people,being autistic doesn't go away,it gets easier to deal with when you're educated and you're given the tools to help your child,I'm floored that you have to worry about your insurance paying to help your daughter 😢
I use a harness and clipped carabiners to connect the harness to the LATCH car seat hooks in the car's back seat. Then I put the seat belt over it as usual. Works great!
You make some good points but I think there are extreme cases that it helps. And I have to say that my daughter nor my granddaughter with ASD could EVER tell me what was wrong amid their meltdowns. My asking always made it worse. No matter how I asked. And if I touched them, it didn’t help. We had to just wait. Always. Sitting in silence shortened them. No ASD’s are alike. So you are VERY fortunate. I regret not putting my ASD daughter into ASD therapy. Me & her dad weren’t able to keep her at home past the age of 18. She could function well enough as an adult and we had no rights. More about her below. Haveyou read the first book written by a non-verbal autistic boy called The Reason I Jump?This is an amazing book that helped me understand way more about ASD than I ever imagined. He shared so much that was surprising. The documentary is amazing also. Learning that even when someone with ASD uses THE WRONG words repeatedly to express what’s going on with them or what they want to do is mind blowing. I say this because what ASD’s say isn’t always what they mean. And their emotional expressions aren’t either. The author of the book talked so often about his deep desires not to distract or make things harder for his family or classroom. He talked about this A LOT. What do you make of this? A child who desires to not be disruptive or draw attention is one who may benefit from ABA. My granddaughter: The desire to sit in a classroom with other peers rather than being placed in a classroom with disabled children who have other kinds of disability has been a nightmare for my 5 year old granddaughter. And she was physically abused by an aide there. For MONTHS we tried everything we knew to find out why she hated school. Teacher meetings regularly. Shed loved pre1school! We put her in music therapy in hopes to help her because she is very musically inclined. When she came home with bruises she was finally able to have enough of our help to get out that a specific aide for another student (a one on one) held her down for screaming. Leaving bruises! And we did EVERYTHING with the school BEFORE we found out yet she couldn’t communicate it to us. She screamed and had horrible fits before school regularly. We asked in every way we knew ‘is someone hurting you?’ From calm talks to times when we would draw together & with toys. She’s show violent behavior between toys but she didn’t tell us. I know she couldn’t. She wanted to be in a regular classroom but some of her behaviors just were too disruptive. She could read by 3. She can play most any children’s song on piano after hearing it 3 or 4 times. So being in that class was wrong for her! And then the trauma she experienced. So when you talk about a child being vulnerable. . . I feel as if my granddaughter was more vulnerable because she was unable to control behavior in a normal classroom where she would’ve flourished. I do believe this. Now she has so much trauma. My adult ASD daughter is miserable because she cannot contain herself appropriately around people. I am certain ABA would’ve helped her as a child. She wants SO much to handle her emotions better and to have good friendships but because she simply cannot properly control herself emotionally & expressively. And she landed herself into a very toxic relationship once she was an adult. She was sexually assaulted by his roommate. So I’m picking up pieces everywhere and crying everyday when I am alone. I did everything I possibly knew to do. My daughter resisted EVERY type of therapy we put her in. We never tried ABA. I can’t change the past but my granddaughter is now in ABA. She will be 6 soon. I think it’s a good age. I don’t think before she 5 may be. Developmentally that’s just my thoughts.
You do understand that asking while in meltdown is too late, by that stage there is a really high probability that they can't tell you what is going on the same way that NT people when they are highly distressed can't verbalise. The only difference is that to you why the NT person is distressed is obvious. If you know the people in your life well then you should know what a lot of their meltdown triggers are and what the warning signs are that they are heading to meltdown (unless they are so high masking that it isn't obvious, but even then there are still tells if you know the person really well) and it is before they get to meltdown that you need to be asking the questions and removing what is causing the issues. ABA wouldn't have improved your daughter's life 1 because compliance means that she would have been more vulnerable to being in an abusive relationship and 2 there is a really high proportion of people who go through ABA that have PTSD from it. My emotional regulation has only improved in the last couple of years and that is with good therapists (psychologist and OT), learning about interoception, proprioception, how emotions feel in your body (so that you can try and link what is happening in your body with an actual emotion) and learning that I do have sensory issues. It took me really stepping back from life and finding out all these things to now know that getting a headache is one of my warning signs (I used to just have headaches all the time), if I am out with my mum she can see warning signs with the way that I move because I have now allowed myself to not be as high masking. These are the things that help, not something that forces you to mask and pretend to be something that you aren't.
