I think that I should inform my online journal readers of what it is I do for a career. I do Applied Behavior Analysis, which is a behavioral intervention therapy to treat autism. Using a behavioral model, we can teach children with autism to control their behavior, to have normal social interactions, and to function like everyone else. For those of you who are unaware of Behavioral Psychology, ABA comes from the idea that for every behavior, there is both a cause, and a consequence. If we want a behavior to increase, we reinforce it. If we want a behavior to decrease, we either ignore it, or if necessary, punish. Using this principle of teaching, children with autism have fully recovered! It is scientifically based and has data, not just case studies, to back it up.

The problem....ABA is expensive. For an early intervention program (ABA is most effective when introduced as early as possible, and done extensively), it can cost up to 60,000 dollars a year. For older children, the costs are about 20,000. This is alot for families to pay, especially since it is a medically necessary treatment to treat a medical disorder (which affects 1 in every 200 people). However, it is not recognized by the government as medical treatment that should be funded. This needs to change! If you would like to help with our fight for kids with autism, you can sign a petition online here.   Autism is steadily increasing, but you can help.