From Prompting to Shaping to Letting Go: My Love Affair with ABA and How Being a Bad Mom Helped My Daughter with Autism Succeed

By Kathleen Jae

Did I Really Want to Be a "Bad Mom?""Only bad moms make their children work and won't let them play." It has been almost 25 years since a school administrator blurted out to me those callous words when I told her I was going to teach my newly diagnosed three-year-old daughter with autism using Applied Behavior Analysis. "That's Lovaas," she sniffed. "Aversives." I shook my head. I knew Dr. Lovaas had included that controversial application in "The Me-Book," but I also knew I would never use it-and to be honest, at that time I did not know much more than that But I understood enough to realize that behavioral therapy was the only way to teach my daughter to learn how to learn. A quarter of a century later, more parents than ever are receiving the same diagnosis for their children, and ABA is still the only scientific-based intervention recommended for autism. Katie and I encountered a myriad of roadblocks along the way, but her tenacity and courage defeated the naysayers. My daughter's story is one that I hope will inspire you, and I can say with absolute certainty that Katie is my hero.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1734063211
• ISBN13: 9781734063219
• Release Date: October 2019
• Publisher: Kathleen Emmerling
• Length: 174 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"