If you listened to anti-ABA advocates like Michelle Dawson and Dr. Laurent Mottron you might erroneously think that ABA oppresses autistic children. These staunch opponents of ABA for autistic children, with little or no direct experience themselves with ABA as an autism treatment, have made representations to the Supreme Court of Canada and the Canadian Senate in a continuing campaign to prevent government funding of ABA treatment for autism in Canada.
Ms. Dawson and Dr. Mottron conduct this anti-ABA campaign despite reviews by responsible, credible agencies like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the US Surgeon General, the MADSEC (Maine) Autism Task Force, and the New York State Department of Health, all of which have confirmed that ABA, based on hundreds of studies over several decades of research, is effective at realizing persistent gains in intellect, communication and socialization skills and improved positive behavior.
Michelle Dawson is an adult diagnosed autistic who often offers her perspectives on behalf of all autistic people, including her anti-ABA biases. Unlike Ms Dawson, Wesley Romey is a 13 year old autistic boy, diagnosed as a child, who has actually received ABA treatment and advocates for Medicare coverage of autism treatment, specifically ABA, as he did compellingly at a rally Saturday in Surrey, British Columbia. As reported by Surrey Now Wesley enthralled the audience with his comments:
"We want medicare for autism and we want it now!" he cried to the crowd, and was met with a standing ovation.
...
Wesley, though, was the speaker who particularly touched the crowd. Wesley shared with the audience his success with Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy. He urged listeners to demand the government fund autism treatment, because he is proof that it works.
"I want to say this to every Canadian out there. It's not fair that every child with autism doesn't get the same chance that I did. If you don't stand up for your children, who will?"
It is time to break the self perpetuated myth that Michelle Dawson speaks for all autistic persons in her opposition to ABA treatment for autistic children. She does not have the experience, the expertise, or any legitimate moral basis, to oppose effective, evidence based, ABA treatment for autism.
It is time the federal government stopped holding sham "national autism symposiums", with keynote speakers like anti-ABA advocate Dr. Laurent Mottron, and started acknolwedging the credible agencies like the AAP, the MADSEC Autism Task Force, the New York State Department of Health and the US Surgeon General that, based on objective reviews of hundreds of studies, confirm ABA as an effective autism treatment.
It is time the federal government read the Senate report "Pay Now or Pay Later" and started taking Canada's autism crisis seriously with1 in 150 children being diagnosed with autism.
It is time that the federal government started listening to the thousands of parents of autistic children across Canada who are fighting tooth and nail to obtain ABA treatment for their autistic children while such treatment will be most effective.
It is time, it is long past time, that the federal government stop ingoring the plight of so many autistic children and their families.
It is time, it is long past time, that all autistic children in Canada in need of ABA treatment receive such treatment in timely fashion regardless of which province their parents live in.
Take it from Wesley Romey, it is time for Medicare for Autism NOW!
autism
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