Lovaas/ABA: a parent's view

Diane Fellows - mother of Oliver - describes the ups and downs of running a Lovaas-style home-based programme:

"I am the mother of Oliver, a three and a half year old boy whom we were always led to believe had severe autism. We now know that Oliver's autism is only moderate but he did have severe compliance problems as well.

"We have recently started a Lovaas or ABA home-based therapy programme and do about 30 hours a week. This has tackled his compliance and his autism and Oliver is now steadily overcoming both. Whilst I would not say that Lovaas is a miracle cure, I would say that it has helped improve our quality of life enormously.

"Oliver will now respond to his name, come when asked, sit down when asked and he is generally more in our world. He is more compliant in every aspect of his life and is learning so fast that we are struggling to keep up with him. We have been astonished by how bright he is.

"The down-side is that we are having to pay specialist therapists. They charge £5 an hour plus travelling time. We have a supervisor who comes fortnightly and is £70 for half a day, but she does ring us for an hour in the week that we don't see her so that she can move the programme along and iron out our problems. She is always available 24 hours a day! We are also having to use a Norwegian consultant who will come to us four times a year and do a one-day workshop each time - costing roughly £1,000 per visit.

"Then there is the cost of building a special room which is Oliver's work room. We built a conservatory and kitted it out for him, at a cost of £10,000. We also have to buy new toys, books, puzzles and rewards weekly at a cost of around £30.

"It is quite intrusive into your lives - we have strangers in our home for 30 hours a week. We believe it is worth it. Our little boy is definitely improving considerably."

Related resources

• Lovaas