Thank you, Iouri, for taking the time to interview with me!! And a special thanks to my Spinny Stimmy tier patrons, Philip Noah, Jack Varney, and Snowbird!
What an excellent perspective from an autistic dad! I totally agree that, even when your child is nonspeaking, they can learn to communicate--and that the autistic person is their own voice. My own son learned to communicate at 14 years old, and I immediately realized I had been advocating for the wrong support for him--supports that were detrimental rather than helpful. This is why learning some reliable form of communication is so crucial. I really found this interview helpful and thoughtful. His perspectives regarding ethics and consent of specific treatments are very well-reasoned.
I want to add that some of the feedback from my son, as a nonspeaker is: any therapies applied to nonspeakers should take into account the delicate nervous system, the unreliable sensory feedback (too extreme/not enough/or confusing), plus the motor differences. So, for example, if a nonspeaking autistic individual is exposed to extreme repetition of a task, motor pathways become deeply embedded, and it beomes nearly impossible to suppress this particular action later in life--actually, it prevents what people refer to as "generalization", because the first (repetitively trained) motor response becomes "stuck". Further, when immediate prompting occurs following a command, the autistic individual is denied the TIME required to make their own, authentic response. Due to movement differences, initiation and motor planning can delay an authentic response. Really, non-autistic children are allowed time to respond. They're allowed to reason through ideas, and make mistakes--and this is part of the way people develop naturally. Autistics also need this time and space (OR even more time, actually). Another issue is believing that nonspeaking autistics don't really understand the world--or only understand at the level they can communicate. Not typically true, and harmful. When people presume that nonspeakers are picking up information from their environment (in their unique way), they will naturally provide more appropriate (higher level usually) learning opportunities. These are just a couple of ideas, there are many more, but they should be considered when attempting to intervene and teach a nonspeaking autistic person.
Hi, I'd appreciate your thoughts if you have time. Based on your experience, do you think it would be better to assume they do understand everything and teach things that are normal for that age? Perhaps with more time allowed for learning, but things that would be age appropriate for a neurotypical child. My kids are only 3.5 and 2 years old, so i'm considering things such as, when do I toilet train? For some context, they are non-verbal and can do their own version of the sign for 'more' and my older child can also do his own version of the sign for 'different'. I don't know whether to try and move them forward faster or just wait for them to develop more communication skills first and then teach other skills. I'm really interested in advice from people who have already experienced raising autistic kids, but also I understand that everyone is different so our journey will be somewhat different too.
His son sounds like mine. I got my own Dx 2 years after my son's. I can relate a lot to his perspective. Thank you for these interviews they have been very helpful and reassuring as a parent and late diagnosed autistic.
thanks for your hard work you're doing a lot for the autistic community such an honest conversation. People aren't telling me what to do because of political correctness... That's such a strong point. There are so many important harsh truths in this interview
I'm about to finish my masters degree before going into bcba. I hear the words and thoughts, and I want to be different. These thoughts are not new ones and I have spoken to my professors about the conflicting thoughts from those with more familial or self knowledge. Thank you for posting these videos!!
ALL OF YOU ARE THE BEST!. WE LOVE YOU!!!!!! EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE , AS IF THERE IS NO AUTISM ! THIS DISEASE WILL BE CURED , PATIENCE AND WE SUPPORT YOU !😇❤🪖🎖😎😭😁🤤🤌😌🙃🤏✋🖖🖐️