Ten Reasons Kids with Autism (and Their Parents) Deserve
Mary Beth Walsh, Ph.D.
High quality behavioral interventions for children with autism can be hard to find, and harder still to fund. Starting up and running an ABA program in your house impacts standard family routines, and generally mystifies relatives and friends. So, why do parents do this? This presentation will enumerate the reasons children with autism deserve behavioral intervention, and the reasons parents need to work hard to guarantee access to quality education based in the principles of applied behavior analysis for their children with autism, and all children with autism.
Mary Beth Walsh is the mother of two children, a 10 year old who has autism, and a 14 year old, who does not. She is on the Board of Directors of The Association for Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT) and currently serves as the Consumer Representative on the Board of the New Jersey Association for Behavior Analysis. She has presented on strategies for successfully including individuals with autism in faith communities at conferences sponsored by both Autism New Jersey (formerly COSAC) and NJABA. She holds a doctorate in theology and ethics from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, teaches in the Master of Arts Program in Pastoral Ministry at Caldwell College, co-chairs the Special Education Parent Teacher Organization in her public school district, and is co-editor of the new resource, Journey into Community: Including Individuals with Autism in Faith Communities.