Re: Peer -reviewed research on the efficacy of TEACCH

[Anonymous]

#5223

Hi Margaret & Janice,

I am not sure where you live and obviously cannot speak for other authorities.

But just to clarify a couple of points:

You are wrong to say that TEACCH is not offered in the home – in my county it certainly is as that is what our Team does and indeed it works best when used across different environments, through out the child’s day and not just in school.

Also, if used correctly, TEACCH DOES teach and not just manage.

It concerns me that you seem to have such low regard for the opinion of other parents. When you make your feelings about TEACCH known to other parents in your “autistic” circles you say of them:
‘You know what? A lot of them still dont get it. You know why? Because they have never been offered anything else and they feel inured to it, afraid to “let it go” in case nothing else gets offered.’

Are you saying that parents less able to judge how ‘well their child is coming on’ than you are? Surely they are the best judge of their own child.

Could it not simply be that their opinion is valid, that they ARE happy with TEACCH and that it is just that different approaches suit different children and TEACCH was not approprate for your child whereas another intervention is working better.

Many of the families we have worked with have, indeed researched other interventions, and for their own reasons, have decided that they would like to impliment TEACCH at home. On the other hand some families do not feel it is appropriate for them or their family set up.