Autism Moms Pursue Degrees in Applied Behavior Analysis

A New York Times article, published on April 20, 2008^[1] talks about how a number of mothers with children labeled with autism or other "spectrum disorders" are dropping their regular jobs, and pursuing masters degrees in Applied Behavior Analysis. This is incredible for two reasons: 1. the number of behavior analysts are increasing, and 2. behavioral training at home, in addition to behavioral training at school, greatly increases the prognosis of "autistic" children.

During the graduate seminar I have been taking this summer, a number of my fellow students have expressed interest in parent training. The general assumption (at least from what I have gathered), is that parents could only benefit from an understanding of how learning works, and how the principles of behavior apply to everyday life, and not just the Skinner box. A number of my fellow students have also addressed concerns that teaching parents to be quality behavior analysts is a bit of a pipe dream, since most people work 40 hours a week, have other children, and are overwhelmed with life's responsibilities. This is normal, no doubt. And I must clarify that I am in no way saying that adults with children labeled autistic are bad parents; they aren't. But they could all benefit from training in Applied Behavior Analysis.

So it seems that getting a masters degree in ABA solves the issue, at least one parent at a time. This way, not only can the parent apply competent interventions, but they also act as a resource for other parents, along with other competently trained behavior analysts.

It seems to me that parents with children labeled as autistic are the biggest advocates for autism and autism treatment, and I'm happy to see more and more parents picking up Applied Behavior Analysis and ditching ineffective "treatments".

^{[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/education/edlife/continuinged.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/U/University%20of%20North%20Carolina}