An Interview With Jonathan Alderson
A few weeks ago I came across a great web site www.ChallengeTheMyths.com. It was a site that debunks the negative stereo types that our ASD children face including:
- Children with autism can’t share affection.
- Repetitious behaviour (stims) are bad and should be stopped.
- Children with autism should be pushed to socialize as early as possible.
- ABA is the only evidence-based treatment for autism.
- Most children with autism have mental retardation.
- Children lose their chance to change once they turn 5.
- Children with autism lack creativity and imagination.
As the mother of a child with autism I had known for a long time that none of the myths were entirely true, and so I was very excited to find someone else out there starting a conversation to debunk these negative stereotypes so the rest of the world will know it too! On Mr. Alderson’s web site, I decided to share my stories about how my son is a living testimony who challenges daily many of the myths Alderson writes about: I wrote examples of how my son is so affectionate; How far he has come using a relationship based approach that he started when he was very close to five years old; and, How smart and creative his is.
The author of the site and of the book “Challenging The Myths Of Autism”, Jonathan Alderson, then personally replied to my posts to talk about the myths. At that point I was half through his book and was so impressed with his insight and knowledge about the way our kids really are that I decided I had to ask him for an interview. I was over the moon happy when he agreed!
Click here to listen to the interview!
(Our site is using an Adobe Flash Player. If your device does not support Flash, go to floortime.podomatic.com to listen.)
For more on Jonathan Alderson visit:
www.challengethemyths.com
www.imti.ca
His book “Challenging The Myths Of Autism” is available here on Indigo.ca and here on Amazon.ca.
Check out this book review:Challenging the Myths of Autism: Unlock New Possibilities and Hope
Congratulations Jonathan Alderson on winning the International Book Award for parent resource!!!!!
