Is ABA therapy good for autistic kids?

[applecherry]

My DD is 9 years of age. I doubted that she was on the spectrum when she was 3. I got help from a clinic of aba therapy solutions, path2potential.org/what-is-... for the early intervention procedure. But at that time, we couldn't confirm her condition as she was too young for showing the challenging symptoms. Even now, she doesn't have self-control or eye contact issues. She faces difficulties in meeting her academic goals. She is in the 3rd grade but reading at the level of a 1st grader! Her motor skills are fine, but it seems challenging for her to communicate the needs outside the home. I know autism is not a disease, and I should accept the difference. Though as a mom, I feel emotionally drained seeing my girl falling behind her peers.

I considered fetching her to the same clinic as we went for the diagnosis. It is an ABA therapy clinic, but I see there are a lot of controversies linked with ABA. I don't know all of them are genuine, but I don't think quora and Reddit will approve these many fake posts. I was pretty comfortable with this ABA therapy clinic, but then I'm not ready to take chances! Can anyone help me by sharing your ABA experiences?

[Birch_]

I think those posts are almost certainly genuine. ABA is definitely harmful and abusive, it gives people ptsd and really needs to be banned. I see some people talking about “good ABA” but there’s no such thing in my opinion and there are plenty of studies confirming it. If you would like advice you can trust, ASAN is the place to go. Everyone is different and the most important thing is to do what makes your daughter feel happy and safe. She might catch up with her reading or she might need a bit of extra help, she might have other skills develop or she might not. You can’t force these things only offer support. A specialist occupational therapist might be able to offer some advice and I can see that you’ve been doing your research so I’m sure you will find one who is supportive and will work in a way that helps rather than hurts your daughter.

Good luck, I hope everything goes well for you both.