Charlie’s ABA Therapy unfair discharge

A few days ago, I shared Charlie’s ABA center’s decision to discharge him from ABA Therapy for not meeting the 80% recommended hours of clinical recommendation. I had known about the center’s decision since March but only shared it now. I want to reiterate that the people Charlie works with are incredible. I have no criticism of his direct therapy or ABA as a therapy.

After seeing my blog post, his ABA center reached out, so I’m hoping we’ll find a way to allow Charlie to attend both school and ABA. I will keep you posted.

Timeline of Charlie’s discharge from ABA Therapy

Charlie was supposed to be discharged in May, right before the summer break. I complained that leaving him without therapy or school for two months (July and August) was unethical, so they are allowing Charlie to come to ABA three days a week until August. It’s ironic because we are more than happy to do 40 hours a week of ABA during the summer, but they can’t accommodate that, so we’ll take what we can get.

The frustrating thing is that I fought so hard to get Charlie into that special-needs school. Charlie’s team was a big part of this process and helped me along the way by attending meetings and providing data on Charlie’s severe behaviors, so to lose ABA after finally getting him into school feels like a slap in the face.

When parents say advocating for our children is a never-ending battle, it’s not an exaggeration. I had no time to celebrate Charlie’s admission to the school for children with severe disabilities before I was already facing issues with ABA.

And please, don’t let my negative experience with one aspect of ABA deter you from trying it for your children. I will be forever grateful for the people I’ve met through ABA and the skills Charlie has learned. Forever. Their screwing up one thing doesn’t take away from all the positive things they’ve accomplished with Charlie.