A while back I was talking to a preschool teacher. She had a background in ABA. She wasn’t Zip’s teacher but she knew Zip and commented how happy and secure he seemed at his (mainstream) preschool. How, when something upset him, he regulated and returned to his happy self.

I told her that at home I try my best to minimise the things that are uncomfortable or distressing to Zip.

And she was... shocked. “Don’t you want to build resilience?” She asked me.

It was my turn to be shocked. There was a poster on the wall about “The circle of security”.

I summarised; because Zip knows that with me at home he’ll be comfortable and safe... he knows that whatever distresses he has during the day are time-limited.

She looked puzzled. And I’ll never forget what she said next.

“Do you think ‘The Circle of Security’ applies to him even though he’s Autistic?”

... well, yeah?

This is “modern” ABA.

To intentionally deprive children of an environment they feel safe and comfortable in.

To assume that the normal guidelines for children’s emotional and psychological development... do not apply to Autistic children.

#SayNoToABA