Dear Ms. Marchitelli,
We would like to thank you for bringing this important issue to light, as the search for reliable treatments and the threat of being taken advantage of are so difficult for many families of children with autism. In your article, you share Kristi Mardell’s story about being contacted by a stranger and ultimately paying for a program that the stranger in question was not able to actually connect her to. While we are saddened that she was given false hope, we are grateful to you and her for sharing the experience so that other families can learn from it.
The method that was initially offered to Ms. Mardell promised to help her son to become verbal, which she was fortunately able to recognize as unlikely to be realistic. Other parents may not be able to see past such an appealing option, and may not understand that it is not scientifically supported.
You quote Deborah Pugh, executive director of Autism Community Training, “We find it heartbreaking when families call us about the money they have spent on useless resources and under qualified ‘professionals.’ What is worse than the loss of money, is the time wasted.” We here at the Association for Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT) feel the same way, and are fully committed to acknowledging scientifically-based treatments and educating the community about untrustworthy, non-evidence based theories. Often families and parents suffer not only financially, but also educationally and emotionally, as a result of false information being spread.
Thank you for including Ms. Pugh’s statement that individualized work with a professional is the most effective form of treatment, and at the same time we recognize that parents struggle to find accessible applied behavior analysis (ABA) programs and experienced professionals to deliver and implement high-quality treatment plans. The time wasted on ineffective approaches is particularly unfortunate because it is time that could have been spent making progress with one that is evidence-based. We especially support early intensive behavioral treatment or intervention (EIBT or EIBI), which is based on the principles of ABA and typically begins when a child is four years old or younger. Information about ABA and EIBI/EIBT can be found on our website: https://asatonline.org/for-parents/learn-more-about-specific-treatments/.
Additionally, we welcome and encourage anybody who is looking for autism treatment programs to utilize the resources we provide online in order to better understand the difference between methods that are trustworthy, evidence-based methods and those that are not.
The ASAT team commends efforts like yours to increase awareness of scams and faulty approaches so that families around the globe can be informed and protected from falling victim to such practices.
Rachel Liebert and Renee Wozniak, PhD, BCBA-D
Association for Science in Autism Treatment
