DEEP DIVE | Fathering Autism: MLM Scams & Child Exploitation 

As an autistic person with an autistic child, fathering autism is absolutely horrifying. Even just that beginning few clips was enough to make sick.

I am diagnosed autistic and "autism parents" like this are so awful. The ableism, the exploitation, the virtue signaling...it's all just so gross.

As an autistic person, that restaurant clip hurts so much to see, she CLEARLY is overstimulated by the restaurant and having no one offer an out to her, a place to reset, some sensory tools is utterly ignorant &self centered. I have lower support needs then Abigail, but my sensory issues cause me to get very overwhelmed in restaurants and have a hard time communicating my needs, even years before my diagnosis my parents knew me well enough and were considerate of my experience to provide support or help me leave situations that I was overwhelmed in. At best the parents are so ignorant about their kid that their actions are making her life harder in situations like these.

I'm Autistic and in my 40s. I still have meltdowns - and if anyone filmed me and put it online for profit I'd lose my shit. Abby is NOT ABLE TO CONSENT. She may never legally be able to consent. She is at the whim of her parents, and clearly they are motivated by the almighty dollar moreso than the wellbeing of their child. Sickening.

I follow a dimentia educator, and she usually demonstrates things herself. Dressing, toileting, eating, grooming, conversation; she demonstrates it all herself (or with a coworker). It can all be done without dehumanizing a person with a health challenge.

As a young autistic woman, this is horrifying. One of my biggest fears growing up when I was nonverbal was that my family would misunderstand and consent to something for me that I would never want. I feel so bad for Abby, she deserves so much better.

As an autistic kid I was very difficult to take to restaurants, and it caused a lot of meltdowns. So you know what my family did? We only ate out at familiar places and only ate out when we didn’t really have another option. I eventually was able to have better sensory regulation as I aged and now I love eating out and trying new foods.

behavioral therapist here (i work for an inclusive, hands off company that fights for parent education above all else and doesnt endorse autism speaks)😊 with regard to the whole potty video, something small that i noticed and haven’t seen people bring up is the fact that having A go through her bathroom routine in a different context than actually USING the toilet could be very confusing and uncomfortable for her. potty training is a very sensitive area of development for a lot of autistic kids because there are so many sensory aspects involved with it, and it can take a lot to help them create a positive association with a bathroom routine. it’s not fair to put her in that situation for the purpose of “education” when it could be distressing for her, and doing that could cause her to regress and see the bathroom as something negative. i’ve noticed he does this with other situations that could be potentially overstimulating for her as well. he’s using her as a test dummy and that’s not okay. if she grows up and has the capability to give informed consent to share her OWN experiences and stories, that’s one thing, but putting her in the position to be a figurehead for autism isn’t right when we don’t know if that’s what she would want. thank you for talking about this in such a graceful and kind way, savy ❤

"can you sit on the potty for me?" already i feel violated as an autistic person, and it's not even me who's being exposed.🤢😭 i can't imagine how she must be feeling inside, especially because she might not be able to communicate it.😞

Something I noticed in the clip of Abby having a meltdown is that she seemed to (as far as I could tell) have nothing to help keep her from getting overwhelmed, such as noise cancelling headphones (or similar), or sunglasses. Those things could have helped her in the resturant. It makes me wonder if they know she'll get overwhelmed/overstimulated in the resturant, and take her with nothing to help her sensory-wise to get content. I hope that isn't the case, but some parents will do stuff like that for content. Edit: Priscilla saying that Abby freaks out the other moms at the OBGYN while she was right there was disgusting. Just because someone is nonspeaking doesn’t mean they don't understand what is said. Another edit: Delaying puberty is Abby's choice (or at the least, should be). It's not (or at least, shouldn't be) Asa and Priscilla's choice, it's not their body. Yet another edit: Florida is something (and not in a good way). The fact that being autistic and trans would lead to you being denied puberty blockers, but if you're only autistic (and chances are, your parents ask, and not you), you would probably get puberty blockers. I don't get the lawmakers' train of thought on that aside from because of people (like me) being trans, we are different, and "other". Edit: The "no agency" thing is also an explanation that would fit, since us autistic people, as seen by other people can range from **insert various stereotypical and inaccurate portrayals** and infantalising by others. Yet another edit (this is apparently where I'm putting thoughts and feelings about Fathering Autism's videos and this video): The word blossoming being used in the context of afab puberty feels so icky to me. Another edit: "Little girl bras", just no. Abby isn't a "little girl" anymore. She is an adult. They're (I think) infantalising her (which happens more to nonspeaking autistic people), it shows that they still view her as a child. That they feel she is still a child, whether that be due to her being autistic, or due to her being nonspeaking, that's infantalising her. They don't view her as someone who will be an adult, they still view her as a little kid. If that continues into her being an adult, that feels very uncomfortable, even just to imagine for me Edit: Yup, there's ableism there, too. It's so uncomfortable hearing about her puberty, especially since we don't know if she gave consent or not (and I'm starting to worry and think that she might not have even been asked about it, or asked for her consent). Edit: Abby is an adult, so changed comment to reflect that.

As a disabled person, I would love to see you cover more abelist content. I feel like there isn't enough quality coverage on it

I always say, if the child of a RU-vid vlogger can bring in as much money as a child actor, then they need the same protections.

I'm so mad that we live in a world where trans kids can't get puberty blockers, but disabled kids are given puberty blockers because their parents think they're too 'hormonal'.

This whole thing reminded me of that awful interview about Sia's film about a nonverval autistic girl. The interviewer compared nonverbal autistic people to inanimate objects and praised Sia for "giving them a voice." All this despite the fact that Sia deliberately ignored autistic voices at every stage of the film's production and that the autistic girl in the film has absolutely zero agency and is portrayed as a burden on her family. And Sia reinforced that same stereotype in her response

I agree with that reddit comment. My brother is autistic and has very similar support needs as the girl from the vlog. He is verbal, but will need 1:1 24/7 support for the rest of his life. He is 31 and our mum is still his primary caregiver. I feel on social media, there is a lot of "low functioning erasure," by which I mean people who have high support needs* are very under represented and are even forgotten about altogether. This is something that saddens me a lot because I don't want people like my brother to be ignored by society, even by those who also have autism themselves. So families sharing their experiences and educating others on what it means for someone to have high support needs is very important. However, this can become problematic very easily when there is a huge incentive on social media to monetize content and/or gain followings. There is a way to discuss very difficult topics. I'd argue that there are topics that need to be discussed such as managing violent meltdowns, self-harming behaviours, puberty, personal hygiene, sexuality, accessing appropriate resources, compassion fatigue, and so on. These are challenges that most parents with children with high or even moderate support needs will likely face. But there is a way to have these conversations without harming the dignity of a child. This is why case studies are anonymous. Challenging behaviour can be reenacted or recorded with the child's identity hidden. There is no need to have the child's identity online at all. * I prefer using the term "low to high / minimal to maximal support needs" because it's more accurate and recognises that even people who are high functioning still require some level of support. It's not really a used term, but I prefer it. ASD is having a moment anyway with its terms, so you never know.

Parents of neurodivergent people stop dehumanizing their own children challenge (impossible)

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! I am so excited for this. I used to watch their videos years ago and then found out I was autistic myself and then realized how much they’re actually torturing her. I used to watch DCP tear them down, but then I got sick of him and his petty bullying and then his racist/homophobic/transphobic/misogynistic ways, so now I’ve been waiting for someone else to talk about them, I’m so glad IT’S YOU!!! I love your opinions and your facts and how well spoken you are.

Where the hell is Child Protective Services? Abby needs protection from her abusive parents.

A few years ago before I realized I was autistic I actually watched their channel a tiny amount, so I'm very interested in this vid. I remember even back then getting weird vibes but I couldn't tell exactly what, but looking at clips now I feel so awful for their kid.

I have always had major sensory issues. So seeing someone have sensory overload and meltdown on RU-vid for millions to see seems like an enormous violation. I can’t watch even 3 seconds of it. I hate privacy violations of kids on RU-vid. I can’t imagine doing that to my kids.

I've always thought it was strange they seem to be in denial about their daughter's intellectual disability rather than her autism. Abbey's challenges come much more from the profound intellectual disability more than the autism itself. The vast majority of people with significant intellectual disability have autism but the majority of people with autism do not have intellectual disability. They ARE often mutually exclusive! I feel these parents don't understand this.

As the mom of two (now adult) kids on the spectrum, I'm horrified. I'm only two minutes in and I can't believe how they're treating a child obviously having a meltdown and needing reassurance and empathetic calming. My children weren't this far on the scale, they are capable of communication and live full lives as adults, but my daughter stopped speaking at 18 months and was only 50% understandable by the time she got to kindergarten. I had to teach her how to speak since the speech therapist said she was just lazy. When she would have meltdowns, I'd calm her. When she got agitated, i redirected her. You calm them. He is only making her more upset as she seems overstimulated and is getting nothing from him but hostility. I'll watch the rest, but I'm honestly dreading how badly they will treat this poor young woman.

As a kid I ran into his account (when I was about 13) I saw a video about ABA and said that ABA is harmful He then proceeded to insult me multiple times When, again, I was like, an autistic 13 year old.

As an autistic woman, one of the things I most love about Savvy is the fact that, unlike a lot of other Toutubers, she doesn't make constant unerring eye contact in her videos. The breaks to the sides really makes me feel so much more comfortable lol.

If you had a child with Abby's needs, wouldn't you plan for a special dinner by calling ahead to reserve a quiet table, bringing her whatever sensory aids or distractions that help her, making sure she's not too hungry to wait, etc. Seems like they try to set her up to fail to get the views. It's disgusting.

FA exists because Abbie is the golden egg. Asa will never stop until people realize he is a scumbag exploiting his daughter. Asa and Priscilla have no desire to protect Abbie's privacy or dignity. They'll crash and burn eventually but in the meantime, Abbie is suffering and they refuse to acknowledge what they're doing to her. Priscilla wouldn't be so successful in LimeLife if it were for her poaching viewers from FA.

I’d kill to know what her older brother thinks about all this since he’s actually an adult and had to watch all this from the sidelines. I don’t know if he himself knows the history of mlms and all that but…I have a younger sister and if I saw our parents using her disability as a way to make cash from vid’s and mlms without her consent I would literally throw hands

I used to watch this family before I was diagnosed, but still suspecting I was autistic. I always got weird vibes from this family, but the only thing I could place was the invasion of privacy in videos, and a feeling that something was "off".

only 13 minutes in, but i do want to say that i see this sort of “spectacle” made of many autistic children by their mothers (“autism moms” 😐) on tik tok. i never see these videos directly and always as a stitch from another (usually autistic) creator. but when i go onto the original videos and look at the comments i’m always disgusted by the lack of criticism of these parents basically torturing their autistic children. i’m pretty low support needs and am self dx, but when i started middle school i started having meltdowns/fights with my mother over being asked to do things repeatedly and we didn’t know i was PDA autistic so she was just assuming i was being disrespectful and continued to push. anyways, during these meltdowns, my father would start filming me and say that he would put the videos on facebook so everyone we knew could see how much of a horrible person i was. i was 10 when this started. whenever he would say that it would only make me that much more upset and i can’t express it enough how fucking dehumanizing and humiliating that shit is. i don’t think about that time of my life very often, but when i do i feel so much sadness for my younger self. i deserved support from my parents and not to be made to feel like i was constantly in flight/fight mode. autistic people deserve the same amount of dignity and respect as allistic people get!

The whole toileting/menstrual cycle thing is especially gross for obvious reasons, one of them being that you know they would never talk about or demonstrate their teen age son with these things because he could verbally fight back. It’s also ableist that if they did the same things with Isiah they would be in a lot more trouble. People don’t see their content as abuse because of the infantilization of Abigail

I know this is long, but just so you know, Asa and Priscilla confirmed that he has a daughter he abandoned. It kind of blew up when people discovered their past run ins with the law, and along with that people also came across the court documents detailing his lack of child support payments which he had got in legal trouble for. So both Asa and Priscilla did a video on their channel talking about it and defending their despicable actions, a video they later deleted. I had been a casual viewer of them up to that point, had been watching since they first started on RU-vid, but that video put the final nail in the coffin (I was already uneasy about them to begin with). That was the last video of there’s I watched. I was beyond disgusted. I still am. It was HORRIBLE how they talked about his other daughter. Priscilla referred to her as “THAT girl.” They were so cold. No love or care towards this innocent child that is his daughter by blood. A daughter he was happy to pretend didn’t exist. They claimed that when their first son was young, Asa and Priscilla separated, and Asa left Priscilla and their oldest son behind. During that separation, Asa got with another woman, and she later ended up pregnant. They claim they had no clue the child existed until a year or two after the child was born, when the mother wanted child support, at which point Asa and Priscilla had already gotten back together. They claim the mother told Asa that she didn’t want him in the daughter’s life, and only wanted child support. So Asa and Priscilla, like the cold disgraceful people they are, chose to ignore the child’s existence “to respect the mother’s wishes.” Bull crap. “That girl” as Priscilla so kindly referred to her as, was a representation of a relationship other than their own, and it’s clear they both resent that child for existing. Their disdain was VERY clear. To make matters worse, his daughter was growing up in poverty, and they were well aware of it. Which makes it all the more awful that Asa couldn’t even bother pay child support on time, despite them living large off RU-vid (aka Abby’s exploitation) and constantly buying expensive things. And yet another horrible aspect, is Asa and Priscilla were only angry about this information getting out because it painted themselves in a negative light, and that is the only reason they ever did that video, was to defend themselves. Except for the fact that prior to the news really blowing up, somebody had alerted Asa privately that one of the smaller RU-vid gossip forums had discovered his daughter’s existence, and someone had shared his daughter’s personal information. The person was messaging Asa because they wanted him to put an end to it out of concern for the girl’s safety. Asa did nothing. Completely ignored it. It wasn’t until the news started spreading outside of that forum and into their RU-vid comments section that they made their video. But nowhere in that video did they talk about leaving the daughter alone, and there was zero concern or discussion about her safety. It was only about them, and how unfair it was that their secret didn’t stay private. I’ll never forget that video. How they spoke about this innocent child as if she was a piece of trash worthy of ignoring. How she was this “dirty little secret” that was nothing but a nuisance to their perfect little lives. Perhaps it’s because I myself had a neglectful father who disregarded my existence, but if I was married, and someone came forward with the knowledge that my husband had a child he didn’t know about from a previous relationship, you better believe we’d be getting a lawyer and filing for visitation at MINIMUM, if not partial custody, and figuring out how soon my husband (and I) could meet his child. And you better believe I would be ensuring those child support payments were made on time. I don’t care if the mother says she doesn’t want you involved. That’s your child. Your own flesh and blood. You tear down every barricade if you have to in order to have a relationship with them, because that is what’s right. That’s what that child deserves. Sure, it may be difficult to face that an unexpected child exists from your spouse, which was the result of a relationship during your period of separation, but that child is innocent. You are the adult. You put your feelings to the side, perhaps put yourself in therapy, and you do what is best for that child, which is ensuring that child has a relationship with both of their parents. And to rub further salt in the wounds of this forgotten daughter, Asa and Priscilla practically adopted (in a “bonus parents” sort of way) another girl around their oldest son’s age, named Summer. They met her during an Autism charity event, and she was great with Abby. They’d include Summer in everything, she’d usually spend summers with them, and she even lived with them for a period of time. They had meals, and hugged, and talked and cared about her like their own, and treated her to their extravagant lifestyle. Which is all great, until you remember the fact that Asa has an actual living biological daughter living in poverty whom he pretends doesn’t exist. I just cannot even fathom the pain that daughter is facing having to see it all on RU-vid, the life they so happily live without her. I’m sure she also saw that now deleted video. That video hurt my heart and deeply impacted me, so I can’t even imagine her feelings. I just feel so bad for her, and I pray she recognizes she’s better off without them. But it still hurts. I know that pain. It doesn’t just go away no matter how many times you tell yourself it’s for the best. So yeah, combined with everything else, Asa and Priscilla are horrible people. I don’t like saying things like that about people, but they are. I don’t understand how they still have the platform they do. I really, really don’t.

“I give people the benefit of the doubt… which often goes on too long” 😂 sooooo true.

I've seen TikToks about child development by parents and therapists where an adult dresses in a childlike manner (i.e., pigtails, overalls) and the information is presented via a skit. I think that's a solid option for informational content related to kids, as presenting something abstractly can be more confusing and some people are visual learners anyway. If an adult is unwilling to act out whatever is needed for the "child" to do in the video, that's a signal that the content is not respectful enough in the first place.

This is awful. I'm autistic and these parents make me so ill. We're real people, not an allistic person's claim to fame.

Oh, btw.. they gave up potty training Abbie. She is in diapers now. She signs for bathroom all the time and they ignore it. They even tell viewers “she will ask for bathroom to get out of tasks”… but most the time they are just lounging around and they still don’t take her. There is a recent video where you can actually see a bowel movement in her shorts. The video cuts and suddenly she’s in different shorts

Watching him say “calm down” to someone having an autistic meltdown is absolutely heartbreaking. If your child is this old and you still don’t know how to support them properly, that is on you.

As one of your autistic followers, im not sure i am going to be able to get through this one, so here is a comment to boost the video. Thanks for talking about this.

There's an American Girl Doll that canonically has ADHD?!?! I haven't owned AGDs since I was a kid but I might just have to get her because we stan the representation!

The people saying that the girl "seems happy" in the videos are really disturbing to me. How do they know? They don't know her personally, and especially considering her developmental and emotional differences, you cannot just look at her face and determine for sure that she's "happy". Girls are socialized at a very young age to act and appear happy when they're not, so as to avoid upsetting others (usually boys/men) and to not seem mean or bitchy. I'm not autistic and don't have first hand experience with anyone who is at her point on the spectrum, but I would not be surprised if she absorbed those same cues, and especially if she is not often able to communicate what she wants or how she's truly feeling. Viewers saying it's okay because they've determined she must be happy based on nothing are likely those same viewers whom the reddit commenters pointed out are driving the views and the clicks and the money for the parents. They're saying she seems happy to justify their own voyeurism. It's gross.

I just wanted to thank you so much for doing a video on this topic! The Fathering Autism channel is absolutely disgusting. It was especially disturbing for me when I realized how big of a following they have on RU-vid -- I was like, how can ANYONE in their right mind support this type of god-awful exploitative content?!! Asa & Priscilla only care about making as much money as possible. That's IT. They know damn well that Abby will never actually be able to consent to being filmed, but they obviously couldn't care less. To them, it seems like Abby is just a prop to support their lavish lifestyle, nothing more. The ways in which they CONSTANTLY dehumanize this poor girl are so vast, I can't even count them all. They infantalize her, talk about her in degrading & condescending ways when she's literally sitting RIGHT NEXT TO THEM, share all of her struggles & most difficult moments with the world (including very personal stuff like her incontinence issues), do shit like stand by recording her when she's having a massive meltdown instead of stepping in to help or comfort her in any way, literally record her during her visits to her psychiatrist, OBGYN, & other medical professionals... the list goes on & on & on. It's abhorrent. Unfortunately, they have a huge social media following & there aren't many other content creators willing to speak out against what they're doing to Abby. (Dad Challenge Podcast is one of the very few -- I don't know if you have seen his videos on the subject, but they're excellent.) My heart just breaks for Abby. She needs parents who actually respect her as a fellow human, not parents who simply use her diagnosis & her struggles as a way to get rich.

As an autistic person I am wary of watching this video even though I know it is important to talk about. Thank you for standing up for autistic people, you have in the past and I know this video will be full of that. Commenting for engagement!

My heart breaks for this baby. I'm autistic and my daughter is autistic as well as nonverbal. Even just watching those clips in the beginning makes my stomach turn. Already in tears lol

I haven't read all the comments yet, but aside from how unacceptable it is to A) disclose a minor child's diagnosis of any kind and B) record autistic people existing, and exploiting their disability, it's outright dangerous to be out here promoting ABA therapy, which is widely recognized in the autistic community for what it truly is: abuse. ABA is abusive. I mention this because the box that Asa was unboxing is promoting ABA practices. If this is an entrepreneur that you love and respect, I am begging you to dig deeper into this. Especially in regards to it's inherent ableism. The point of ABA is to make people like me more palatable to NT society. The founder of ABA therapy also foundrd conversion therapy, and both are extremely similar. He did not see autistic people as actual people. I am an AuDHD adult, with ND children.

As an autistic woman who wasn't diagnosed until I was 28, having a meltdown when you have no concept of what is happening to you is fucking terrifying. Once I learned what was going on and was able to spot the signs of overstimulation and take action to prevent a meltdown, I gained a lot more control of my life. I have no idea if Abby has been given tools to recognize when she's getting overwhelmed and methods to cope, but it hardly even matters, because the most important tool, removing herself from the situation, is completely denied to her. It makes me so sad.

Commenting to boost this in the algorithm!!! Thank you so much for talking about autism so respectfully and accurately, and thank you for taking the time to understand autistic people instead of just seeing us as a list of bad symptoms that need to be fixed!!! Also, can I just say that I HATE when people say you can't talk about disability if you're not disabled??? Has anyone ever heard of like, compassion??? Like, compassionate empathy??? You know, putting yourself in the shoes of someone else so you can relate to their perspective without literally living it??? I thought we wanted abled and neurotypical people to understand and respect us, not treat us as a dirty topic you can't talk about respectfully!!! Even if you weren't disabled Savvy, that's still a ridiculous thing to say. Keep up the good work!!! You deserve so much more attention than you have!!!

my special interest is horror films and i can't think of any scenes that made me as desperate to help, hopeless, and discomfortable, as these clips of fatheringautism in fact, the one good clip that you showed made everything even worse, since it showed that they are capable of being like normal and even helpful, and yet they chose not to be

Thank you for how you approached this video. I feel like the lack of resources for parents with neurodivergent kids is a major reason why so many support channels like this. It’s possible to do that without over sharing your child. 👍

Also, Priscilla obviously HATES the fact that her only daughter has autism and developmental delays; it’s very clear that she was hoping for a daughter who would be her little mini-me, wanting to shop, get her hair and nails done, etc. As sad as it makes me to say, I get the feeling she’s embarrassed that her only daughter isn’t what she perceives as “normal”. The mother/daughter spa days she forces on Abby are so uncomfortable to watch, because that’s not Abby’s idea of a fun mother/daughter day, it’s Priscilla’s; same goes for the way Priscilla decorated Abby’s room. She refuses to meet her daughter where she’s at, always pushing Abby to do things she doesn’t enjoy, because it make Priscilla feel better. Makes me so angry.

About the animal in a zoo thing: some animals don't like being consumed as a spectacle either (hence the need to have private areas if you must have a zoo). One particularly memorable example I saw was this gorilla who had had it up to HERE with being stared at, so she turned around and took a giant pee in front of the window. And since she was a primate, that display of urination means the same thing as when a human either does, or gives a nod to, that same gesture.

I’m legitimately terrified that I won’t be able to get top surgery because I’m autistic, and I’m an adult

I am mortified. I found them via youtube shorts and it seemed rather wholesome in the shorts. I never watched any long form content or subscribed, I was just shown them through my algorithm. I had no idea this is what Abbie lived with and it breaks my heart.

F*** yes. I'm ill and NEED this content to recover. And new bone marrow but I like to focus on the positives...

I despise Fathering Autism as a low support needs autistic person myself with twin boys that have high support needs autism, the very idea of filming my children when they're having a hard time makes me want to throw up

There's absolutely NO REASON to film your child having a meltdown, autism or not, and it's especially gross knowing that it's already difficult for their daughter to communicate her needs and wishes. If you DESPERATELY NEED to give parents advice on helping your child or dealing with the difficult emotions associated with it, you can do that without exploiting your child and making a spectacle of them.

I have a distinct memory from when I was crying a lot and couldn’t get myself to calm down and my dad threatened to record me so my grandma could see. Of course that only made me cry harder, it was terrifying for me. Nobody should ever be recorded when they are having a distressing moment. Nobody should be recorded without their consent! It was disgusting that the father kept recording in the restaurant and he didn’t do anything at all to help her. Saying “calm down” is nothing. It doesn’t help and in my experience could actually make it worse because of course they want to calm down but they can’t so it makes them feel worse. Also I’ve seen some comments point out that she didn’t have anything to help her like headphones, sunglasses, or fidgets.

This is a great video Savvy! Thank you for covering these guys - you’ve covered everything in a really detailed way whilst focusing on their child and her dignity as opposed to maybe going off down the rabbit hole but definitely more irrelevant points about the family as a whole.

Literally not even left the intro and like. That bit in the restaurant. I'm low support needs autistic and I was instantly like "why have they taken her to a loud public environment like that? Why aren't they leaving? She's obviously overloaded, she can't just calm down." Terrible parents. EDIT: Got to the part where you go into detail on that particular vid. The sounds Abby is making hurt to hear. I make similar sounds and movements when extremely distressed and I could imagine exactly what she was feeling. Poor kid. And then afterwards she gets to hear her Dad not-so-subtly calling her a burden and blaming her for ruining her brother's special dinner. It's a nightmare.

This is so heartbreaking. My 10yr old wants to be an influencer and RU-vid star but she wants it very curated with her concent and approval of each thing posted, this girl CANNOT consent, she cannot fathom what the long lasting effects of what is being posted will have. This is just so sad. Also, Savvy I love watching your hands during your videos, your movements are so elegant and your hands are absolutely beautiful.

Thank you thank you thank you. This channel has bothered me for years and I was feeling like I was the odd one out. How no one sees how they treat their child as anything but exploitation, I will never understand. He has recorded some of the most uncomfortable moments I've witnessed on a family channel and people are applauding him like he's doing something ground breaking. All he's doing is embarrassing and using his kid for views and money. I'm happy to finally see people talking about this channel.

I am so angry. If they actually understood that going to a restaurant would cause that much distress, you put accommodations in place, you do not sit next to the flipping kitchen with the music, etc and then be oh so frustrated with the 'hashtag Autism life' when you caused/ contributed to it in the first place. And film the whole thing. Abbie knows everything that is going on. 😡

As a Autistic girl so happy to see someone talking about them I follow them but….many things about them make me uncomfortable and sad for their kid Sadly can’t see this all rn I got to go out😭

I have an autistic child and their account has always infuriated me. DO NOT EXPLOIT YOUR DISABLED CHILDREN. Especially when they’re vulnerable and having meltdowns. ITS NOT THAT DIFFICULT. Their channel should be terminated.

"LOL see what you're in for?" Because it's so hilarious that you think your child is a burden and have no shame about saying so to the whole world. I just started watching and already I'm livid. I bet Autism Speaks loves these people.

It happens with every disability though. As a blind person I saw a mother of a blind kid punishing him by moving all the furniture in the house

I recently came across a RU-vid short that said something like "day in the life of a special needs mom" and was basically "arent i an angel for putting up with my disabled children and not sending them away?"

This is going to be a multi-day watch for me bc exploiting disabled children is a thing that is triggering for me. I’m a parent of a Disabled child & I’ve finally accepted myself as being Disabled as a result of working towards anti ableism. As parents we should not be looking to other Parents of Disabled kids. We should talked to anti-ableist therapists (hard to find but they are out there) AND Disabled adult. With social media there are LOTS of people who use AAC (augmented adaptive communication) and lots of people who need a lot of help with care tasks and have a lot of support needs. Looking towards other parents is like listening to the oppressor talk about how the oppressed feels. There is an entire Disability Day of Mourning bc so many Disabled people are killed by their caregivers. It is viewed as NORMAL to speak about your child as if they are a burden who is less than human, I’ve heard many parents say they’re slaves to their disabled children. And resources, well you can exist as a human and someone can ask you for information bc you’re just existing as a human that doesn’t pretend you don’t have a disabled child. There are also plenty of groups (also, only be in those groups if they value the input of Disabled adults over other parents) where you can ask specific questions and get answers from parents and disabled adults. Adding the next day-why are both parents going to the OBGYN with her? I would have NEVER wanted my Dad to go to the OBGYN with me…my 10yr old stopped wanting her Dad to to 95% of caregiving last year. I would Never even ASK her if he could come to an OBGYN but I’d tell her that any info I get I’m going to relay to him bc it’s important he knows her health information. Also on consent-Does Abby know she can say ‘no’ or is it even safe? She doesn’t seem to have AAC so is she even allowed to express complex thoughts, are her responses ignored bc her Sign is easy to ignore? How many meltdowns are as a result of not having a way to express herself fully and are really extreme frustration at not being listened to? It seems as if the “no I don’t want to be filmed” she has access to is screaming and being physical and that she knows even that would be ignored. I’m also going to add that as a result of not being able to say no they are setting her up for abuse. 80% of Disabled people are abused and part of that is the need for care and part of that is being taught to constantly be compliant and that your ‘no’ will always be ignored.

I'm autstic and I love watching your videos, but this might be one I have to watch in bits because this makes me so angry that I'm physically shaking just from the opening.

I have an autistic child and I would never use my son like this. Abby is just like my son and I want to help her. I want to give her a hug and give her her fav stuffie, and let her play

Ugh. Putting a child this young on round-the-clock bc pills to stop her cycle (do they plan to do this forever? Honestly how does this affect her development? Just yikes) - just makes me crazy. I am disabled, and I understand these issues can be incredibly difficult but these family vloggers are just enraging. Savy, as usual, you rock!

My mom used to threaten me that she was going to record me when I had meltdowns and shutdowns. I am so relieved that she never got her hands on a video camera and that she never had a RU-vid channel or internet in general, because she might have done the same to me as the Maas couple do to Abbie. Meltdowns and shutdowns are something that is beyond our control and it is infuriating to see that weaponized against autistics

Saying "it's frustrating. It's not her fault, but..." or that she "freaks out the moms to be.. don't have kids lol!" Or is "blossoming into a young woman" (ick) right in front of her like she's a dog that can't understand them was really upsetting

As another woman who grew up undiagnosed (and is still technically undiagnosed because healthcare), I really appreciate the point of view you brought to the situation. I've only ever seen clips from this channel before - mostly the toilet training one, which still just makes me dry heave to be honest - so seeing a more thorough journey through their videos was both enlightening and disturbing. Now, I'm not in the same place on the spectrum as Abby, but I have a lot of childhood memories of melting down, of being afraid or upset or in discomfort and not being able to express it the way a NT person might, of having quirks and tics and stimming behaviors that got me bullied constantly. And then I think of that poor young woman and the fact that she's been through so much and had it all put on the internet for profit without her consent... It's disgusting and more people need to talk about it.

This hair, shirt, nails combo is excellent! Not the point of this video at all but I'm jealous of this look 😂

As an autistic person, the Fathering Autism clips were hard to watch. It's very telling that they have the Autism Speaks puzzle piece in their channel banner. Also, they reference ABA, which is literally just autism conversion therapy. Disgusting.

I'm glad more people are calling them out, I did several years ago and got attacked by their "community"

I had their videos come up on shorts, and those short snippets were really nice at times. Im a support worker, and A really reminded me of one of my favourite clients, whose parents are not as hands on in supporting their kiddo. It was really sweet to see those short snippets of milestones and nice moments. It always irked me when they talked like A wasnt there, or that she couldnt understand them. There were a few other slightly uncomfortable things the parents posted, but nothing that was as serious as what youve explained here. Frankly im really horrified by what has been shared of A's life, how these parents are exploiting her for influence and profit, and are not putting her well-being first. I really appreciate the autistic voices in the comment section giving their experiences, and I hope A gets to live her life privately and surrounded by love and appropriate support

You hit on so many things that really spoke to me here. Firstly, I'm disabled due to juvenille arthritis that manifested before I started puberty. You're mentioning the way that many, many people, particularly able-bodied people, are so quick to gatekeep what a "real" disabled person is is incredibly relatable. Just because someone isn't a wheelchair, that doesn't mean that we don't struggle doing daily activities that the average person doesn't think twice about. Much like all the times you've gone over how harmful it is when people try to determine if a queer person is a "real" queer, it's disgusting, harmful, and it really needs to stop. I'm not autistic nor do I have much knowledge about it as a general condition, but because my various health problems started when I was still a kid, I do know all about parents acting like their the ones put upon because their child is sick. For most of my childhood, my parents could not at all comprehend that I was the one who was sick. More often than not, it really felt like they thought I was just inventing new problems to make their lives harder. I felt like a burden for a long time and it wasn't until after I started living on my own that I was able to realize that I didn't have to define myself by what they wanted or thought of me. None of this is to diminish how difficult it must be for any parent of a disabled child to have to deal with those extra challenges. What I'm saying is that it's incredibly unhelpful to, you know, the actual disabled person to treat them like their limitations and illnesses are their personality or to make them think that someone else who should be helping them is being up upon because you happen to be sick.

Fantastic video. You describe your experience with Autism the way my son seems to experience it and it's always enlightening to hear from someone who actually has a shared experience with him. The family posting these private moments for public consumption is absolutely disgusting. How is this child supposed to grow up with any sense of security in her life? I feel for her, and her brother. He must feel cast aside. Even though the videos don't glorify the daughter, they seem to forget he even exists.

i have only watched the intro so far, but as someone who was only diagnosed autistic this year at 33yo, i just want to thank you for sharing how your almost certain autism manifests. i don't know about you, but i always thought these sensory experiences, social confusions, and body quirks were universal - until it was made very clear that was not the case. because of this, i appreciate hearing the experiences of other late-dx autistics and the ways we've navigated the world without knowing why we are different. 💙 thank you for being wonderfully you, savy. snd thank you for exposing this family vlog channel - they seem to be exploiting a child with higher support needs regardless of the harm done to her, and if that isn't a case for deplatforming, i don't know what is.

Asa and Priscilla treat Abby like a dog. Their instructions towards her is gross. Isiah is basically the third caregiver for Abby. And he's definitely the golden son. Rumour online went around that Asa and Priscilla bought him a house.

I was humiliated to even be in the training bra section of the store at that age. I cannot imagine how I would feel if that experience was broadcasted to hundreds of thousands of people. Absolutely disgusting

I’m so happy someone called this family out !! I stopped watching them a long time ago. I feel so sad for abby!

Thank you for this vid. It’s a terrible, infantilizing, invasive treatment of Abby. I stumbled across a video of theirs where they treated Abby like a dog who got into the snack cabinet and it was just appalling. I understand that some people with sensory issues can be weird about food, I’m an older sister and caretaker to a disabled sibling who has a very specific diet and suffers from sensory overload as well, but they way they handled it just gave me ick.

I have a 15 year old autistic, nonverbal, autistic child, and I can’t believe this exists. Why do parents do this?

My parents actually know these people. There's even a chance I've interacted with Abby. My parents distanced themselves away after witnessing the way they treated her/ignored my parents' advice on how to help her (I and my siblings are also autistic). They tried getting into the food truck buisinsess for a time, I guess this make up MLM is the latest thing.

Seriously, Savy, thank you making this video! This type of mindset is so distressingly common in "Autism Parents" spaces. Now, I know that parents who have to deal with the added stress of having a child that doesn't present as normal by societal standards need spaces where they can feel safe and unjudged to express their frustrations with the things they are dealing with. I get that. I applaud that. What happens far too often in these spaces, though, is that the parents develop Main Character syndrome (that keeps popping up all the time in these discussions about flawed empathy), make the autism all about them, as though it's their own personal tragedy, and then turn around and try to exploit and profit off of the backs of the struggles of the actually autistic kids who depend on them like any kid depends on their parents and guardians. Like, seriously, so much of Autism Research and Autism Parents is about pandering to these selfish attitudes and has nothing to do with autistic people at all. Even ABA, the official go to therapy for autistic children falls into this same mindset of making the Parents feel comfortable around their autistic children by teaching the children to model everything they do so as to make other people feel comfortable around them. They are left with absolutely no sense of autonomy over their own bodies, their own experiences and needs, and they end up only existing as a burden for other people to deal with. They feel they never have the right to say no or to express their own thoughts and needs. As one of those actually autistic people, it all legitimately pisses me right off to no end!

I'm someone who has had the pleasure of being able to work with autistic patients both young and old in the past (not licensed, still going through school for psychology, but have shadowed/assisted doctors as an intern on numerous occasions) , and god, the family being out for dinner, with their daughter clearly overstimulated and in distress, and the parents nonchalant almost... uncaring, reactions, just repeating "calm down" to her, just angers me so much. The father shoving a camera in her face no doubt also played a role in worsening her sensory overload, both of the parents focus are on the wrong things whilst refusing to learn to accept their daughter (look at the way the mother uses her as a "negative spectacle" around expecting mothers, as well as the "hormonal treatments") , ignoring what matters most which is supporting and caring for her to ensure she has the best life. Imo, they've failed as parents, and sadly, this kind of parent that both uses their autistic child as a form of status piece, whist being deeply entrenched in ableist rhetoric (and often times infantilizing or dehumanizing rhetoric) towards them (though not with ayoutube channels) is sickeningly common.

I'm glad to see an adult youtuber be open about their doll hobby, because I'm sick and tired of the stereotype that adults collecting dolls need to be creepy loners who treat dolls as substitute children, as opposed to just appreceating the fidgeting potential paired with all the fun designs for fantasy hairstyles and outfits.

Thank you so much for calling out this channel!!!! OMG I’ve seen a few of their videos and I can’t stand it. It’s so uncomfortable and inappropriate on every level. There seems to be a new “fad” on social media of parents creating entire accounts around their disabled children, I’ve seen sooo many of these types of videos on instagram reels (I also report every single one for inappropriate content. All of these parents use the excuse of “we are doing this so other families won’t feel alone and to educate”. Bullshit!! You like the pay check and attention, and your milking that cow for as long as you can. Also that clip of them talking about taking her to the gynaecologist is beyond exploitative. How do they know how she feels about her body and reproduction, or how she may feel in the future? The mom mentions the plan of putting her on birth control to delay her period, that’s control and abuse. They are writing her future for her before it happens. And that clip with the dad and her in the booth where she’s freaking out gave me so much anxiety. The poor girl was probably so overwhelmed and the dad just sits there and literally boxes her into that restaurant booth. She has no where to run. Jeeez maybe she wants to get out of there, it could be stimulation overload for her😡. Ok rant done, I really enjoy your videos.

As an autistic person who also have an autistic sibling, I found Fathering Autism very exploitative and I believe that Neurodivergent children should have a right to privacy.

My mother recently had the idea of writing about her experience with raising me, a person with ADHD. Even tho I'm in my mid 20ies and having a rather popular name, she first made sure that she could use ny real first name.

Amazing video. Very well researched. Very organized and structured and also very professional and fact based. This is the type of video that should be on RU-vid. Great work on this one.

Autistic person with autistic kid here. This video was a harrowing ordeal from beginning to end. One thing I agree with though: if this is how you treat your kids, don't have kids. Neither of them are allowed any privacy or agency. Who wants to grow up like this?

I was selectively mute as a child (I didn't speak to anyone except parents and siblings and a couple close friends) and so often other kids thought I couldn't hear them talking about me or they would do things to me like cut off my hair because they thought I wouldn't be able to tell anyone. Well, I did tell people, my mom, and she went full Mama Bear on those kids. I wasn't diagnosed with autism until I was 27, but now that I know everything that experienced as a kid was autism, I would be horrified if it was documented for the world to see. My mom was contacted by Inside Edition when I was 7 about doing a piece on selective mutism, but my mom turned them down because she didn't want cameras following me around and making me uncomfortable and exposed in that way.

As an autistic I wanna fight these parents. I have reported them so many times because they refuse to allow their autistic daughter the dignity of privacy and post videos of her at her most vulnerable moments. The parents are straight up trash and it breaks my heart that they treat their daughter so abysmally. The types of reactions that Abby shows in their exploitative videos are her in very clear distress, and no matter what garbage "autism parents" try to say that's not a default setting for autistic people. I know this both because of 37 years of personal experience as well as over 12 years of professional experience working with ND kids in the classroom as well as as a nanny. Parents like this don't view their autistic children as people just as worthy of respect and dignity as NT people are and instead view us as broken and in need of fixing, which is why they put their child in abuse that claims to be therapy(ABA). I'm in a facebook group that was created for non autistic parents to ask advice from autistic adults on how to better help their autistic children. The group literally has rules about not sharing pictures/videos of autistic kids in vulnerable states(ie meltdowns, bathroom habits, etc) and a lot of the parents use anonymous posting when asking for advice in detail without identifying info to protect their kids' privacy. It's 100% possible to educate people and have open dialogue without denying your kids' privacy. As many issues as I had with my parents growing up as an autistic kid in the 90's they treated me like I'm person they loved rather than a source of income for them like these parents do.

Thank you for breaking down Fathering Autisms gross content!! 1000% agree family channels need to be discouraged on this platform. Your vids are great! Ps, not sure if its just me but I was experiencing audio popping/ glitches throughout the video, didn't take away from the fan content you've made

As an Autistic, I HATE Fathering Autism and hate how this so called father and his wife treat Abby. Abby needs to be with people that won't treat her like a toddler and a dog. She needs to be with people who would help her develop properly, because she's obviously been to anxious and overstimulated to develop properly.

In regards to the toilet video- that was so unnecessary. He could show how to use a token economy to potty train, or explain how they potty trained Abby without exploiting her in the video. She was obviously uncomfortable and the way that he had her “use the bathroom” was a change in routine for her and confused her.

Totally agree with your rant on pubety blockers!! They are a very useful medication used for blocking hormonal issues even certain cancers and gynea issues. However the whole political angle is crazy. Teenagers with or without disabilities should be able to consent on their treatment. In regards gender-reaffirming - they aren't - they just help delay biology so give extra time for getting psychological input.

thank GOD my parents were equally autistic so instead of treating me horribly they just thought everything was “normal”