Proposals will end teaching of ABA, parents claim

PARENTS of children with autism have joined academics and ABA professionals in warning that Department of Education proposals to transform autism education will “eradicate the teaching of ABA in this country” and adversely impact upon a child’s ability to reach its full potential.

Shine, the Irish Progressive Association for Autism, has warned that if the science of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) is to be effective, it has to be taught to a precise standard which they say will not exist in the Department of Education’s planned mixed model.

Pat McCormack, a Dublin-based parent of a six-year-old girl with autism, said he believes the deal “is nothing short of disaster for our children”.