Published on 12, July, 2020
My 2 year old just diagnosed with autism. Now what would happen next. I heard about occupational therapy and ABA. But whom to contact for these. Shall I search privately or the get a referral from gp.
They say it's moved on, but ABA is historically based on making autistic people behave like neurotypicals; basically stopping them from stimming, forcing eye contact and hugs etc, through relentless training with punishment and reward. Torture! Basically.
It may succeed in making them appear "better" or "more acceptable" in the eyes of NT adults, but that'll also be an adult psychological crisis waiting to happen.
After all there is a reason we don't slap left handed kiddies' hands anymore to make them write with the right because they'd be in league with the devil - it's asking them to do something unnatural to them just to fit in . It's giving them a powerful message that they are not OK to be who they are and it's damaging. So, we've given up doing that.
Pretty much is the same for ABA. Your son is a normal autistic kid, not a defective neurotypical, and needs to live the best autistic life he can and that is going to depend as much on the NT world understanding him as him understanding NTs and knowing it's OK to do things his way.
That's not to say that you and he don't need or deserve support through the challenges this brings, so yes, I would speak to your GP about that.
Occupational therapy, I gather, can help with some of the distress caused by the sensory issues.