To: Editor, TIME magazine
CC: Claudia Wallis
Dear Sir or Madam,
The May TIME article titled “A Tale of Two Schools” by Claudia Wallis would seem fraught with bias toward her school of choice for an environment of learning for autistic children. The tone clearly implies that the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) approach is somehow a cold, impersonal and (God forbid), a science-based method of behavioral learning – whereas the ‘Floortime’ approach of the Celebrate the Children School (CTC) is so much more open and ‘feel good’. As the grandparent of an eight-year-old autistic child whose mother has applied ABA as a life styleto reclaim her child from a sadly ill-equipped public support system, I can assure you that the progress to ‘mainstreaming’ my grandson is more than proof of the ABA pudding. The implication in Wallis’ article that the gains made through ABA intervention are somehow ‘robotic’ learned behaviors is outrageous. She has applied little research (‘science’ being apparently distasteful to her) to this subject beyond visiting two therapy sites which apply different approaches. It is disgraceful that so influential a publication as TIME accepted for publication such a biased article on such a socially sensitive and scientifically challenging subject. I need only spend a day with the marvelous young man who is the product of the ABA approach to intervention, look into his eyes and see the recognition which was absent only two years ago, witness a child’s playful smile instead of an attempt to avert contact, to tell you that ABA is a validated and proven scientific method. It is this abhorrent intoxication with ‘whatever feels good’ philosophy (where ‘Don’t do that.’ is a profanity), rather than with what works, that has our current American cosmopolitan society in such disrepair that college students graduate unable to write or read as effectively as our forefathers of one hundred years previous.
Sincerely yours,
Stan Sugrue, PhD (Biology)
Tavernier, FL
Guidelines for Submissions to the ASAT Forum
There are a number of internet forums that enable members of the public, both parents and professionals, to share their experiences surrounding the diagnosis, treatment and ongoing progress of a child with autism. The ASAT forum is another such venue; however, this forum will host contributions that reflect ASAT’s mission and guiding values:
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