Fathering Autism Passing Abbie Off Again | Taking Her Out Of School Which Was Doing What They Wanted 

As a disabled person who has cerebral palsy my grandma and parents always talked to me like a equal even though the doctors told them I would be dumb and I’m a pretty smart teen. There’s so much technology she deserves the basic right to Communicate.

What bothers me is that they fixate on wanting Abbie to learn the most ridiculous activities. Once she is “successful” and independent with using the bathroom, doctor appointments, walking down stairs etc then they focus on activities that aren’t important but will make THEIR life easier. Then she regresses in the priority activities first mentioned. It’s like a cycle of constantly re-learning the same things. They need to just have the main basic skills they work on everyday, and leave her the hell alone. She won’t ever be independent - let her live in peace 😠😭

I didn't like when they say they're trying to encourage Abbie to communicate, but choose to ignore her when she is CLEARLY communicating that she doesn't like something or is "all done" as she's over stimulated. They're trying to fit her into their world, when they should be trying to fit into hers.

My son is Aspergers/high functioning Autism, and he has had sensory issues from 6 months old and up. It was horrific at age 2. We did what he could handle and slowly introduced and reintroduced him (never, ever forced- that's traumatic) to noisy environments/activities.. and it did wonders! He is 5 now. It's still there, but barely noticeable. But, when he says no to noisy things, we respect that. Go at your child's pace.. be patient. His little bro has helped so much, though. ♥️

THEY aren’t forcing her to wear the mask I guarantee it. She’s prob wearing it because the place that she works at enforces that rule. I’m a home health care nurse and my company MAKES us wear them. It doesn’t matter if the people that I work for says that I don’t have to we still are made to wear them due to the people I work with

This is called immersion therapy and is why ABA therapy is so controversial. For example if a child doesn’t like loud noises they force the child to listen to loud noises to desensitize or “normalize” them. A lot of autistic adults that were in this type of therapy are coming out saying how bad it was.

It cracks me up that Asa wears those Columbia hiking shirts and a sports strap on his sunglasses… Like,who does he think he’s fooling 😂

My son has autism... "trying to build a tolerance" causes severe anxiety. If my son is uncomfortable someplace... I DO NOT force him because it causes anxiety attacks. I hate these parents with a passion.

Josh you hit the nail on the head. I do ABA. During my training, they taught us to NOT use language such as “can you come here?” “Can we do _____” and to just “tell them” what we’re doing and what’s expected. It IS insane and it IS wrong to not give children choices! Thankfully I’m learning about this in school as I’m on the path to becoming a speech pathologist. GIVE CHILDREN THE OPTION AND THE MEANS TO COMMUNICATE THEIR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. Just because Abbie has complex communication needs does NOT mean she can’t express herself. I have never seen them model language for her. All they do is talk at her. ASS-a and Pricilla need a big lesson in teaching and understanding communication.

My daughter has always struggled with loud places and is now an adult with a career. It's difficult to watch Abby and not truly know how she feels about being filmed on a regular basis. I think they originally thought they were helping other families navigate an autistic child..not the case anymore. My prayers are for Abby.❤

Stopped watching when he put her period practices out there for everyone to see. Whether she knows what’s going on or not that type of privacy violation is disgusting

The funniest part of that whole video is the thought of Asa teaching PE

I have a daughter with pretty significant special needs that has been in OT, speech, PT, etc since she was 10 months old due to her medical history. She is now 11. I would never EVER think to record a meeting with one of her therapists or profit off of her needs. It's all I have to make it through the day. Nevermind putting a camera in front of our faces. All of my attention is focused on my kid every waking moment of the day and theirs should be too.They are disgusting and should be ashamed.

You have opened my eyes to things that use to seem so innocent. I started watching family vlogging in my teens and never thought anything was wrong with it. But now as I’m about to have my 1st child and watching your videos it’s beyond shocking. So happy I stumbled across your channel, thanks for making these josh!

Let me preface this by saying, I am 40 yrs old and I have battled with weight issues for a majority of my life, and finally got my ish together, losing 92lbs, with the side of gaining a little back then losing it, etc. With that being said, Ive noticed that especially over the past 6 months Abby has put on weight and I feel like if Priscilla and Asa really cared, they would want to make changes to all of their eating habits and no exercise habits. I think Abby is on the depo bc shot so she doesnt get a monthly cycle which is known to make you gain weight but the reality is, they eat like absolute garbage everyday. When you go to Dunkin every single day, sometimes 2 times a day, eat out several times a week to Chik Fil A, Chipotle, restaurants and fast food and no portion control when Priscilla cooks, they are just setting Abby up to follow in their footsteps and thats not cool. I never understood why Priscilla got weight loss surgery, yes she lost what 100lbs, but even after that (which is still amazing, dont get me wrong) she was/is still morbidly obese and you can tell shes gained a lot back. You never see her portion control her foods, she still eats like crap and doesnt exercise and then says "you can still be chunky and be healthy", um no thats a lie. What bothers me is how "pro" Abby they claim to be, yet her health when it comes to food and gaining weight is not an issue and hiw they claim they want to be around until they are old yet they cant be bothered to make changes to the fact that they are morbidly obese. The math aint mathin as they say!!

"The most joy i've ever seen from Abigail is when she's running away from her family." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I have Autism and i used to watch this family but i started seeing how bad it was, i mean sometimes i need to leave places because i'm overwhelmed if i was told no i would have a full on meltdown.

I have a medical kiddo and you do have to build tolerance to situations but ESSENTIAL things (doctor visits, grocery shopping, etc) Not meet and greets 😒

I used to watch their channel. You are so right she loves school. The sad thing is. She can go to school till she is 22 years old. I think it's cruel that they are taking her from a place she loves to go because it doesn't fit in with their life style. They say it's for her. But, it's not.

Escape from demands is a common behavior function of problem behaviors. Hence why it is important to follow through on demand and make the task escape contingent on them actually first completing the task. I get what you're saying but if you just let individuals with developmental delay escape from every demand you will get nowhere because the escape is what is reinforcing the problem behavior.

Checkout the vid on them called "I don't want to do this sometimes" That one really made me sad for Abby's future. You know, not saying this is why, but think about what this man did to his other daughter. Never Ever pays to abandon your children. You really do reap what you sow.

I find it very hard to believe that they will help Abby make any progress once.she.stops going to school. They are not disciplined people to work that hard.

What I don’t understand is, they have a TONNE OF MONEY and a child who loves to run. Why didn’t they buy a house with a large piece of land which they can put a high fence (for safety) have it filled with things she enjoys (not just them) It can then be a place where she can run as much as she likes, so they don’t have to worry and she can be happy. They could have it with lovely trees, plants, seats etc.

I feel that the only reason why they pulled her out of school was so that they can film her more. I could never film someone at their worst moment and post it on social media. It's just wrong on so many levels. If they want to homeschool her, that's fine, but don't just soley put it on just one person. The parents should be hands on with the education also. I feel like they are way too money hungry to care about what Abbie actually wants

Priscilla reminds me of Ursula the sea witch from the little mermaid film! 🧜‍♀️😆

The goal is for the individual to be as independent as possible. My brother-in-law is 52 years old chronologically. His mental age is a range from early elementary (if not lower) to low teenager. He has intellectual and developmental disabilities (and probably Austin but it wasn’t diagnosed when he was young). He graduated from high school. He speaks. He has so few skills it’s upsetting to me. He has learned helplessness because his family (mainly father) did way too many things for him as he was growing up and even when he moved into his own apartment. His dad would go to his apartment twice a week and do the laundry and clean and vacuum and all the other things. Because of this, his repertoire of skills is much lower than what he physically and mentally could do … if he’d been taught and required to do it. He moved in with us in June 2020. I was shocked to learn that he didn’t know how to make a bed. He didn’t know how to clean a sink or toilet or bathtub. He doesn’t pay attention when he drops chips or other things on the floor or makes a mess on the counter. It’s frustrating and upsets me because he could do these things. He was let down. 😢 Many of my students and clients (kindergarten to middle school) will not become fully independent. That’s okay. My job is to teach them to be as independent as possible so they don’t have to depend on others for everything. ☺️

16:44 the way he talks about her, plans out his response to her sounds more like he’s animal trainer at a zoo rather than his daughter.

I thought the same thing about why they are pulling Abbie out of school since they no longer film at the school, even to show pick up and drop off. But they also don’t even talk about things like the flounder pounder which they always talked about and filmed. They said a week or two ago they don’t do Surfers for Autism anymore. Some of it would have been to Covid-19 but I suspect there is more to the story. As far as school is concerned, I suspect part of it is not wanting to do the commute anymore.

The command vs question thing is part of ABA and part of why it’s so controversial

I watched their channel once made me feel very uncomfortable about what they do. I have two sons with Autism I couldn't ever record my children

As a father of a child with "severe" autism I understand what they are saying regarding the stretching out. It is really to try and help them cope with social situations especially as they get older. However, we don't do it often because there is nothing worth getting our son worked up over. We still take him to restaurants and if he doesn't want to be there we try to see if he will calm down but after about 5 minutes we just take our food to go. It's a delicate balance and an extremely difficult one especially with a child that is nonverbal like my son and the child in the video.

My friend has 4 kids. Her one daughter has severe autism and cerebral palsy. She is a nurse and stressed. These people are money hungry. Priscilla is always on trips.

The school you were referring to when mentioning them suing wasn't the same one she attends now. The one she attends now has iirc been greatly funded my her parents..

you definately earned my respect good job your doing!

Ughhhh these people 😖 I am so glad you cover them since nobody else cares to, and you come from such a fair, objective place which I admire. You’re right, something is majorly off right now (way more than usual) 🤔 thank you for another great video! ❤️ your channel!

YES!!!!! omg I literally commented on your video yesterday asking for a continuation on the F.A. series!! Thank you !!!! thank you thank you!!!!

They are going to Mexico next week for a mlm trip. Respite for an entire week.

As someone with autism that has a lot of sensory issues (to the extent that just going into a mall makes me hyperventilate and go into a fight or flight response), building up someone with autism 's tolerance in the way they talk about strikes me as misguided at best. Sensory overload is both exhausting and can be painful. Think of it this way. What Asa might think is just overwhelming for Abbie is actually painful for her.

Agree! They put so much 'spin' on content. I feel the only way this family will stop the vlog-abuse, is if social-media laws change. I continue to pray that Abbie will have the 'protection' she deserves. Dianne.

Thanks I love your content keep doing what you do

I have two kids like Abby and I don't think that they should be allowed to put Abby on RU-vid. This is not helping anyone. They are just making money off her and it's not right. They get so much help that other families can't and they don't even appreciate it, like the service dog they said that they didn't need. The parents act like teenagers.

Abby has been LET DOWN. At 16, she should have been taught how to ask for a break by now. It’s one of the first things I teach kids (early elementary). It is a NECESSARY skill!!

I didn't realize Abigail only had one more year of high school! They really have failed her and now expect her to just go off on her own? They're beyond delusional and I wish she had just one person out there that actually cared about her needs.

Looking forward to this!

Both of my boys are autistic. I always listen to them and their social cues. One is nonverbal and one can say a few words, If we are going to go somewhere , Like the grocery store for example,we always take them at the time of day when the places are quiet and there is not many people. I find it works better that way but if there is a time they don’t want to do it I don’t make them. It’s the same thing for restaurants. We pick a restaurant with low lighting and we go at a time when there isn’t many people. Doing things like letting them choose the table we sit at it really helps them enjoy their experience. And if you explain to the hostess at the restaurant that your child is special needs they are very accommodating.

Sorry Josh I’ll believe it when I see that they’re actually going to hire professionals to help with Abbie’s vocational skills. They think they know everything and do things their own way no matter what the experts tell them.

As an ABA therapist, it’s crazy to me that they are only working on these skills now… when she’s 16! We usually try to teach these to children as early as possible!!

Great stream Josh @TheDadChallengePodcast Everything you said was well said and keep preaching it! 📢

Plus you notice Abb gained a lil weight , which is fine but also with the parents being obese it could get out of hand before they realize it and we know they don’t like exercise lol Asa said he gives Abb the same portion as himself …. Like cmon

It is so bizarre and disgusting to me that they feel completely fine recording their special needs daughter & showing it to the world. I have a child with autism & when he was a bit younger I needed to record a few short videos of some of the things he was doing, so I could show it to his doctors & therapists. I felt so bad & uncomfortable doing that, especially since they were some of his most vulnerable situations. I could NOT imagine recording him (or my non-special needs daughter) to share with the rest of the world, under the guise of education. You can educate people without showing strangers your child’s every day life. It’s gross and it’s wrong!!

Abigail goes to one of the best schools (private) for Autism in the nation (and certainly state of Florida) with all sort of great sensory rooms, music therapy, communicative tech. etc. No homeschool can provide what that school provide (and kids with IEPs can go until their 21st birthday)! It’s been studied internationally for innovative therapies for these kids!!! I have learned about it and talked/worked one year with someone who worked there (her husband was the breadwinner and transferred to NC)! There are waiting lists for teachers to INTERVIEW there. They get some of the best in the nation-if not world! I wonder if they have been run off because of their family vlogging and other parents worried about their kids being on the vlog? Ask? I’m by no means thin and need a healthier lifestyle, too. But I do also worry about Abby’s health as she is only 16.

Both my boys are autistic. And when they don’t want to do something, and that’s obvious to you as a parent, YOU HAVE TO LISTEN to them!!! It’s important! They don’t have a way to communicate (my oldest isn’t verbal) and we don’t know the reasons why they feel the way they do. You HAVE TO LISTEN! This is frustrating to me. This family disgusts me.

They want their daughter to learn control but they don’t show control on their eating. Healthy eating is important for Abigail and her parents also.

Instead of trying to "teach " others why not focus on helping your own child. I'm a mom of two kids with Autism and this family makes me cringe and cry for that poor girl. I honestly don't get how they get by with some of them stuff they do. I agree Josh with the button however they will never honor it

looking forward to watching this, i’ve seen every one of ur vids on fathering autism. I do feel bad for Abbie, it’s so clear that they are taking advantage of her.

And isn't Isaiah just treated like the grearest child on earth and Abbie is made fun of...Father and son doing skits on their daughter/sisters handicaps,then roaring with laughter all at Abbies expense..How vile can people get.

Yes its good to expise her cuz her anxiety has gitten worse & exposure helps the more she goes to places she is anxious in the better she gets. U want her to have access to the world like restuarants, grocery stores ect.

Why wouldn't they try to teach her life skills even if she needs a carer for the rest of her life. Just because she has a disability doesn't mean you don't set goals and strive for them

They keep feeding that kid Chipotle and then film her looking bigger and bigger by the day. I understand not talking about weight in kids, but with how big her parents are, there is a solid reason to be very alarmed.

Being a parent who never had experience with autism. It's deff been helpful seeing various channels documenting their autistic kids...young or teenagers ....idk if all channels have motives...but seeing other non verbal kids is deff a plus for me raising a non verbal kid...but all kids are different

So true about the gluttony. Rn all they’re doing is going on trips. Leaving her. Then they did a huge video about how they are sad that caring for Abbie is forever … yet she has made them all the money they have.

I had gastric bypass I have been as big as 415 and low as 125 I have gained back about 30 and am 150. It’s obvious they eat and don’t do shit for health by Priscilla’s lack of progress.

Why so many goldfish? Just because they eat unhealthy doesn’t mean they should make her eat unhealthy. I believe that’s a form of child abuse too. A snack here and there is just fine, but they owe it to her to help her make healthier food choices.

He says he doesn't watch the show, and it shows, what a nut !

I’m an OT who works daily with children on the spectrum. If anyone is interested in a respectful approach with building skills and supporting autistic individuals, please look into DIR/Floortime approach. Abbie actually communicates a lot in these videos non-verbally that her parents choose to ignore. It makes me sad that they ignore her communications and emotional/affective signaling. They never share joy together. Have you ever seen them laugh together? So much sadness watching these videos. Saying No is a right. Why take that from her… Also every positive re-i for cement they give is “good job”. She is characterized by fulfilling specific expectations from them. Not allowed to be herself a lot.

I don’t know the full story of this but as an autistic mom you have to expose them to the world I started doing this with my son but also they need to teach her a sign when it’s overwhelming to remove herself before the fight and flight moment happens

My daughter has high functioning autism and ADHD. She asked to go bowling a couple of weeks ago however once we got there she started to feel extremely overwhelmed. We had already paid for two games however once I saw my daughter in distressed so we immediately left. My daughter’s mental health is too important to me. If she isn’t comfortable somewhere I have no problem leaving. She’s almost 16 and bless her heart she tried her best to stay. But once I saw it was stressing her out I told her that we did NOT have to stay.🥰 Also instead of asking for our money back I asked them if they could just give the games to someone else.

“Uhhh yo wan a gril cheh sanwhiiii” I was dying Josh!!! Spit out my water!!!

If I had a dollar for every time they said they were going to do scheduled activities with Abby...they do it for a couple/few weeks and stop. P.S. I LOVED dodgeball! :D

I think what a lot of people don't get is that there is a giant difference between a child's fear/ anxiety and sensory overload. Too many neurotypical people assume it's anxiety or just kids being obstinate when it's not. Autistic people experience the world differently and, some things that are a minor nuisance to us can be downright painful for an autistic person. "Building tolerance" isn't a thing in that case. All it does is force a person to mask their discomfort/ pain for the approval of others. That's why ABA and techniques like it are absolute trash and cause PTSD and teach autistic people to ignore their own bodies.

She's already gained so much weight.

There is a benefit to exposure therapy. That’s how therapists help with phobias. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) calls the principle distress tolerance. But There are some things Abbie needs to do like going to the doctor. It took them years to get her comfortable doing things getting her blood pressure taken. Those things they need to work with her on getting them done.

They should have been doing this sort of intense life skills for her entire life! She doesn’t have table tasks easily available but she really enjoys them. Cilla doesn’t want the toys out in sight.

Oh yeah! If I had the money to hire a private teacher for my three kids, I would absolutely do it in a heart beat!!

On point as always Josh!

I’m just absolutely disgusted by this. Exploiting their non verbal special needs daughter for money. Thank you for bringing light to this

Asa and Priscilla have gotten soooo big, their lack of exercise and horrible eating habits are hurting Abbie. When Summer left their home she started living a much healthier lifestyle.

if you’re child can out run you you definitely need to fix something with your Health you’re son is not around to babysit anymore

Yikes, I thought Priscilla DID NOT have the weight loss surgery as they had to pay cash out of pocket for it when they were buying that house!!! That along with never seeing any kind of portion control or exercise!!! Figured she had lost some weight, as required, before the surgery. She definitely has put it all back on, and then some. And she's taking Abbie down the exact same path, so sad...

My daughter doesn’t like restaurants unless the lighting is low. So like chilis YES. Denny’s NO. You know your kids best and while it’s nice to not have to deal with meltdowns if you CAN avoid it. Sometimes you have to take your child into places they don’t like. But if it’s a restaurant that seems like an easy choice, don’t go to that restaurant 😂. Such an easy choice. My daughter used to hate grocery stores. But as a military spouse with no support to watch my kids while I go, she HAD to learn to accept it. It was hard. I started with a backpack she could wear and headphones and a hat. It really helped her so much. She used to sit in the buggy and scream at every sound. It was very overwhelming for her. Now it’s so much easier. Or with grocery pick up now makes my life EASY! And hers too! They need to accommodate for her once, instead she has to accommodate for their lack of compassion for her sensory struggles.

To my knowledge they did not sue that school. They sued the public school/district that she had been in prior to current school.

With my son being non verbal I do talk to him like a baby sometimes. Idk why I do it. Maybe to see his excitement and some type of response since her is non verbal. It’s hard to explain. It just makes me happy to see any type of response from him.

I know this is shallow and off topic but, what is the sweater you are wearing? I LOVE IT! Can you give me a hint, a link, a brand, anything?

You forgot when she said she wants to be in charge of shopping, you forgot to add eating . They look like they eat way to much but their daughter looks like they don’t let her eat as much as they do.

I think helping Abigail to tolerate certain environments to help HER quality of life is a good thing.... But because of their track record and how they exploit her I'm always like second guessing everything they do 👀

I may also be speaking from ignorance here as my children did not have autism. My daughter had ADHD which caused severe anxiety disorder, panic disorder, OCD and severe social anxiety when she was young (she still does as an adult). As for building up tolerance, that was something we had to do when she was younger. Otherwise any time we would go out in public she would just freeze and go directly into a severe panic attack. I knew in life there would be times, obviously, that she would have to be in public where there were crowds. So with the help of her therapist we worked on that.

Can't wait. Asa has now 100 000 subscribers.

The take a break icon was one of the first word icons I put on my autistic sons iPad. This is chilling that she has no way to say break, like what???

In public school, they have to follow the curriculum but modified. The typical subjects have to be included (modified). It’s super frustrating when you have kids who cannot speak or barely speak who have other MUCH MORE IMPORTANT things to learn!

They don't want to drive her to school anymore they are clearly not morning people

I agree too, Josh that the Vocational School thing is really great for Abigail I didn't know that she had IDD as well as autism you taught me something Josh and I thank you.

How the heck did I miss this? Watching the replay.

I'm not autistic. but I'm also not neurotypical, and I sometimes find being in big crowds overwhelming, even if it's family. I often avoid big gatherings for that reason. It can be physically painful for me to be around a lot of people because all I hear is this big hum behind me of people talking that I'm trying to keep up with all at once. It is exhausting. If that's a fraction of what Abbie feels when they are forcing her into these things, she cannot be mentally well.

I'm autistic and I feel like the sensory stuff is something not to push. There isn't such a thing as tolerance. Sensory stuff never becomes less. You can find coping mechanisms that make it easier to handle or easier to recover from. But the only real way to make it less are things that genuinely reduce it (ear plugs/headphones, sunglasses, things like that). Essentially our brains don't filter sensory input. Everything is actively processed and nothing is automatically ignored by the brain like for most people (example: most brains filter out the sound of electricity, many autistic people can hear it actively most of the time we're around things that are plugged in). You can learn to remember to accommodate yourself. You can learn to be better at self care after a stressful environment. You can't learn to make your brain function differently. There are some things that you have to train yourself to find coping mechanisms for if you want to live independently, such as either driving or surviving public transit because you have to occasionally go places (although the availability of work from home jobs and grocery delivery help a lot, though I typically prefer grocery curbside pick up for the sake of price). The difference is that there are some things where you personally have to weigh your interest in the thing vs how much it will mess you up for the next week. An example of this for me is that going to Ren Fest with friends every year is worth the energy it will cost, going on vacation with my best friend is worth the energy, but going to a sports event I'm not interested in would not be worth it even if the tickets were free because it costs energy. Going to get tea and look around the local thrift store are worth the energy, but walking through Walmart is maybe not worth the energy when I can just do pick up. It's an individual choice based on a bunch of pros and cons and no one should be making those decisions except for the person.

Mom & dad will understand when they are in a nursing home depending on others to understand them & I pray its a nice one !

Hello! I'm still watching but just wanted to say the Therapist is probably required to wear a mask through whoever she is employed by or it's her personal preference. When my Grandsons therapists came to the house the always had to wear one.

I can’t stand either of them the arrogance just oozes

It's called exposure therapy it is actually very helpful for ppl with anxiety to help show them that different scenarios aren't so scary such as enjoying a hockey game or dinner she needs to learn to trust different atmosphere!

so what's the point of asking, if at the end of the day they are still demanding by not accepting the "no" as an answer!

I took that to mean that the common mistake was giving a command instead of asking. He followed up with "If they say no, you're just going to have to accept that."