Confessions of an autism mother: I'm afraid I know more than our Special Ed DoE official

October 3, 11:58 AMNY Schools ExaminerKathleen Byrne

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The only scientifically proved autism treatment, intensive 1:1 Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), is widely unavailable in New York City special ed preschools. ABA is a method of teaching children with autism--who are not natural learners--how to learn. Through repetition of skill-building drills, children with autism create the foundation of neural pathways needed for learning in a general education setting.

Yes, ABA is expensive. It requires trained professionals and 1:1 instruction. Yet if we provide quality ABA instruction for autistic children between the ages of three and five, about half of those children will move on to a general education setting and will not need another special education service for the rest of their academic lives. ABA preschools save the DoE money in the long run.

When I had my CPSE meeting with our district administrator, I repeated ad naseum that I wanted a minimum of 25 hours a week of 1:1 ABA instruction for my daughter Fiona. The CPSE official (I won’t name her because I still need her) stared blankly back at me. I don’t think she knew what I was talking about. This is inexcusable, considering 20-30 hours a week of ABA is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and by our state’s own Department of Health for children with autism.

The DoE spends an enormous amount of money fighting parents who insist, rightly, on an appropriate education for their autistic children. They should instead spend those wasted legal fees on the correct application of ABA in our preschools for autism. Effective autism education should be available to all, not just to those who can afford a lawyer.