Saturday, July 18, 2009

Autism Challenges - Conor Shines On Day 2 at Grammy and Grampy's

I received a harsh comment today about Day 1 of Conor's visit to Grammy and Grampy's that I rejected for publication. The comment argued that Conor's difficulties on his first day at his grandparents' house proved that ABA does not work and predicted a dismal future for Conor. The comment was poorly reasoned, indicated that the commenter has never read what I have said about Conor's severe autism or the progress he has made.

The over stimulation and excitement of Day 1 subsided somewhat today and Conor had a great day as shown in these pics at Grammy and Grampy's today. The top picture is out of focus but shows a big Conor smile so I included it. (I also included the shot of the Crow flying overhead outside our motel because I love crows - smart, beautiful birds).









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7 comments:

navywifeandmom said...

Did that person comment anonymously?

Gotta love those cowards.

Gee, my daughter has had an awful day today where she wants to stim with water and strip her clothes off all day long. Does that prove that what I'm doing doesn't really work?

No, it probably means that she's bored because school is out and it is hot outside and we have no AC.

I guess our kids aren't allowed to have bad days just like any other kid does.

Unknown said...

hello navywifeandmom

No, the commnent was not anonymous, it was a poster who is opposed to ABA.

I post anti-ABA comments here. This one was unreasonable and harsh in reference to Conor's situation.

James Bender said...

Awesome site! I have a guy here that is almost 14 now. He's a full timer for everyone!
We love him to death and wouldn't trade him for anything despite all of the little things that seem so wrong about his Autism.
Someday we'll have a government that understands what this is all about.

Claire said...

Thank you for sharing these pics with us! It's so great to see Conor's successes. Crows are exceptional birds aren't they?

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing! I always read your blog and keep up to date with your posts on Twitter.

As a parent of an autistic boy, I have been on the receiving end of the vitriol of those who have nothing better to do than trash our efforts and all the hard work we do for our very sick children/teens. Just keep trucking along, you know what is best for your son.

Congrats on all his progress! Many hugs to you two!

navywifeandmom said...

Oh I know Harold. I know you allow dissenting opinions in your comments section. I figured whatever this person said was really rude or overly harsh..

Surprised they didn't post "anonymously".

Anonymous said...

The person who posted a commnet like that clearly has no understanding of autism or ABA. The use of ABA methodology does not mean the chld is miraculously "cured" or never again has behaviors in new environments or teaching situations. ABA is a wide umbrella that is the only proven methodolgoy to teach children on the spectrum and it is quite effective. What this ignorant, nasty person also fails to see is that we all learn through ABA, particularly through discrete trial. From the time we are young new skills are constantly broken down and then put together as a whole and generalized. How does this person think a typical child learns to ride a bike, speak, tie their shoes, get dressed, play, eventually drive a car and so forth? For example, no child, typical or autistic, would just jump on a bike and go before they learned how to ride it. They have to first learn to sit, balance, peddle, steer, brake and so on.

I have no doubt this person was from the ND crowd and this is proof that there is something seriously wrong with many of them. They are anti everything it seesms and ironically by bashing ABA and constantly preaching that this method should not be used to teach, they are doing the very thing they claim they are against--discriminating against an autistic child and denying them an education and quality of life.

Connor has clearly made great progress through intensive ABA, dedicated staff and parents who follow through and that is what is called an appropriate education by caring individuals.