US Federal Judge: ABA Proven and Highly Effective Treatment of Children with Autism

It is hard to believe that in 2012 a government agency with responsibilities for the provision or administration of health care could take the position that ABA is an "unproven" treatment for autism.  That was the justification though of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration in refusing to provide Medicaid coverage for ABA treatment for three persons with autism.   As reported  by the Miami Herald US Federal Judge Joan Lenard disagreed and ordered the FAHCA to provide the Medicaid coverage for the applied behavior analysis treatment: "U.S. Judge Joan Lenard ruled Friday that applied behavioral analysis be covered by Medicaid....Lenard held that ABA was a proven and highly effective treatment of children with autism."

Apparently the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration is not familiar with authorities from the US Surgeon General to the American Pediatric Association and  a number of state agencies that have reviewed the scientific literature and found ABA to be the most evidence based effective treatment for autism.  Or perhaps they   accidentally  subscribed to updates from anti-ABA activists Michelle Dawson and Laurent Mottron who have appeared (often) in the media and in Canadian legal and political proceedings in a prolonged and determined effort to prevent Canadian autistic children from receiving ABA treatment for their autism disorders.    Regardless, US Federal Judge Joan Lenard, in addition to issuing an order directing the agency to provide Medicaid coverage for ABA, has also educated the agency on the benefits of ABA treatment for children with autism disorders. 

EIBI as Intervention of Choice for Young Children with Autism

".... the results of our meta-analysis supports the implication that early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) should be the intervention of choice for young children with autism."

Sigmund Eldevik, Richard Hastings, and Carl Hughes, Bangor College, UK

Erik Jahr, Akershus University Hospital, Norway

Svein Eikeseth, Akershus University College, Norway

Scott Cross, Lovaas Institute for Early Intervention, USA

The recent meta-analysis by Eldevik and others must be very disheartening to anti-ABA crusaders in their efforts to disparage ABA intervention for children with autism. Parents seeking to actually help their autistic children though can take heart that yet another study supports their struggle to obtain ABA intervention for their children. Hopefully public decision makers will be guided by this and previous studies and reviews in determining how best to help autistic children.

The meta-analysis was summarized in Meta-analyses of research findings can help guide practice and policy in Issue # 9, of the newsletter of the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts. In conducting their meta-analysis the authors identified 34 studies through a systematic literature search and included 9 studies that had either a comparison or a control group. The authors found statistically significant improvements in IQ and adaptive behavior. They also reviewed a recent meta-analysis published in 2009 (Spreckley & Boyd) that purported to show that EIBI produced no better effects than what was described as standard care. The Eldevik team identified several serious errors in the Spreckley & Boyd meta-analysis though one of which I found particularly interesting, a misunderstanding by the authors of the Spreckly & Boyd meta-analyis of how EIBI and ABA are delivered:

"That analysis had a number of serious limitations, however. First, only 4 studies were included, so the full range of evidence for EIBI was not reviewed. Second, it was not clear from the report how EIBI was defined, so the studies may not reflect genuine EIBI as it is understood in our field. Third, and perhaps most problematic, the authors (Australian physical therapists) seemed to misunderstand how genuine EIBI is delivered, and what a study by Sallows and Graupner (2005) showed. In that study, one group of children with autism received EIBI directed by professional behavior analysts, and the other group received EIBI managed by their parents, who received training and frequent consultation from the behavior analysts. Both groups had comparably large gains on several measures after 4 years of EIBI. Spreckley and Boyd (2009) incorrectly characterized the parent-managed EIBI as “standard care,” i.e., non-ABA intervention. Because there were few differences between the groups after treatment, those authors concluded that EIBI was no more effective than what they erroneously treated as “standard care.”"

The misunderstanding of how EIBI and ABA are actually delivered is an impression that seems to permeate much of the online criticisms of ABA, particularly those by people who have absolutely no experience with ABA. Eldevik, Jahr, Eikeseth and Cross have performed a valuable service by helping to replace anti-ABA ideology with still more demonstrated evidence of ABA effectiveness.

autism

Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis Workshop in Arizona - Real Help for Autistic Children

With all the nonsense about autism in the mainstream media, Hollywood movies and Neurodiversity blog sites it is refreshing to see a simple notice like the one from Arizona about an organization actually trying to help autistic children. The notice, on yourwestvalley.com, refers to a workshop called Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis presented by the Arizona Autism United, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization providing services to children with autism spectrum disorders in Arizona.

The notice states quite simply that Applied Behavior Analysis is a method used to intervene on problem behaviors and teach new skills. Contrary to all the tortured arguments put forth by anti-ABA activists like Michelle Dawson that simple statement reflects the focused approach of people, and ABA, that actually help autistic children.

The yourwestvalley.com article Workshop focus is 'Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis' has all the contact information for parents in the area who might be interested in registering for this free workshop scheduled for Aug. 22 .

This type of hard work and focus on actually helping autistic children is not likely to make the NYT, CNN or CBC but it is the type of effort that goes on every day by parents and organizations concerned about the realities facing autistic children in a challenging world. People who do what they can to help. Real autism advocates.

Nothing is done without them.

autism