Emails have been sent to the IAA and also letters have been sent via recorded delivery. As of 28th May, 4th June, 4th August, 2012, 18th October, 2012, 19th March, 2013 no response has been forthcoming.
To Kevin Whelan - CEO Irish Autism Action
Dear Kevin
We watched your appearance on IrelandAM (02/04/2012) with some confusion. It appeared that the presenters were of the impression that ABA schools were still operating in the Republic of Ireland. You know that this is not the case yet you did not highlight this fact or seek to correct their misperception. Why did you not draw attention to the fact that the Department of Education closed down the ABA schools? Why did you not make public the appalling situation where experienced ABA tutors were offered a choice of redundancy or re-employment as 'non-teaching' Special Needs Assistants?
You then said that the Department of Education referred to the new schools as 'evidence-based'. However, surely as someone who has kept abreast of international developments in autism practice and as CEO of Irish Autism Action you must know that they are NOT evidence based. Surely you also know that there is no research evidence to support the Department of Education's preferred model for schools for children with autism. Attached is a recent publication that exposes the fallacy of eclectic provision (available from here http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S175094671100002X). If you ask your government for research evidence you will find that they too do not have any to support this policy decision. Why did you not correct this? Do the parents of children with autism not deserve to know the real lie of the landscape in Ireland now? Is it not fair that they expect you and the IAA to be forthright and transparent when discussing educational options for their children.
You said that 'progress' had been made in relation to schooling for children with autism. We are not sure how you measure progress. You will know that back in November 1998, the year that saw the funding for the first ABA pilot school, Michael Martin issued a press release outlining the template of provision for ASD units. The ABA schools are now gone, the ASD units now number in excess of 430 and Autism Ireland schools operate off a similar model to these units, with the exception of small lip service paid to ABA provision through a Director of Education role. How is that progress?Surely parents would be interested in seeing any communication you have had with the Division of Behaviour Analysis on the progress you claim that has been made. Is the Division supportive of your claims?
Communicating with professional bodies in ABA is perhaps the best way to instill confidence in parents that the IAA is focused on evidence-based practice and that it is not merely a business model that will support anything that makes money. No doubt you can furnish details of your communications with professional bodies in ABA inside and outside of Ireland who have congratulated you on the progress you claim to have made for children in Ireland. Are international bodies confident about the way in which ABA is implemented in Irish schools?
As you know, training standards in ABA are available at the Behavior Analysis Certification Board website (www.bacb.com). We presume you also know that successive governments in the Republic have never sought advice about the nature of ABA or about standards of training in ABA from any ABA organization (see second attachment by Dr. Keenan (State sponsored child abuse?) which you are free to publish on your site; download available at bottom of Home page from here http://www.imagesforbehaviouranalysts.com/). For some reason academics not trained in ABA are solicited for their views on ABA and that’s about as far as it goes. Why has the IAA never challenged this practice? Surely it would make sense for the IAA who purports to understand ABA to evidence their understanding by the actions they have taken to correct misinformation; this is evidence-based practice on another level. Can the IAA provide evidence of its achievements in educating TDs about ABA? We think not, for surely the removal of any focused implementation of ABA in schools is evidence of failure!
As CEO of the IAA you have an obligation to present those you say you represent with the unvarnished truth. Sadly, we did not sense that that was what we were watching on your TV appearance.
This message has been copied to Maeve Bracken for circulation with members of the Division of Behaviour Analysis. In the interests of transparency, and in keeping with your commitment to evidence-based practice, can we presume you will be making this letter public and that you will be sharing also the evidence of your communications with ABA bodies as outlined above. We would like to think you can supply evidence to correct any misunderstanding we have about the activities of the IAA.
Dr. Mickey Keenan FHEA, FBPsS, BCBA-D
School of Psychology
University of Ulster
Coleraine
County L'Derry
N. Ireland BT52 1SA
Tel. 0044(0)2870 124283/124326
[email protected]
Professor Karola Dillenburger BCBA-D; Chartered Clinical Psychologist (HPC)
QUART Centre
Queen's University of Belfast
School of Education
69/71 University Street
Belfast
Northern Ireland BT7 1HL
ACE Provider for BCBA/BCaBA
email: [email protected]
Phone: 0044(0)28 9097 5985
To Kevin Whelan - CEO Irish Autism Action
Dear Kevin
We watched your appearance on IrelandAM (02/04/2012) with some confusion. It appeared that the presenters were of the impression that ABA schools were still operating in the Republic of Ireland. You know that this is not the case yet you did not highlight this fact or seek to correct their misperception. Why did you not draw attention to the fact that the Department of Education closed down the ABA schools? Why did you not make public the appalling situation where experienced ABA tutors were offered a choice of redundancy or re-employment as 'non-teaching' Special Needs Assistants?
You then said that the Department of Education referred to the new schools as 'evidence-based'. However, surely as someone who has kept abreast of international developments in autism practice and as CEO of Irish Autism Action you must know that they are NOT evidence based. Surely you also know that there is no research evidence to support the Department of Education's preferred model for schools for children with autism. Attached is a recent publication that exposes the fallacy of eclectic provision (available from here http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S175094671100002X). If you ask your government for research evidence you will find that they too do not have any to support this policy decision. Why did you not correct this? Do the parents of children with autism not deserve to know the real lie of the landscape in Ireland now? Is it not fair that they expect you and the IAA to be forthright and transparent when discussing educational options for their children.
You said that 'progress' had been made in relation to schooling for children with autism. We are not sure how you measure progress. You will know that back in November 1998, the year that saw the funding for the first ABA pilot school, Michael Martin issued a press release outlining the template of provision for ASD units. The ABA schools are now gone, the ASD units now number in excess of 430 and Autism Ireland schools operate off a similar model to these units, with the exception of small lip service paid to ABA provision through a Director of Education role. How is that progress?Surely parents would be interested in seeing any communication you have had with the Division of Behaviour Analysis on the progress you claim that has been made. Is the Division supportive of your claims?
Communicating with professional bodies in ABA is perhaps the best way to instill confidence in parents that the IAA is focused on evidence-based practice and that it is not merely a business model that will support anything that makes money. No doubt you can furnish details of your communications with professional bodies in ABA inside and outside of Ireland who have congratulated you on the progress you claim to have made for children in Ireland. Are international bodies confident about the way in which ABA is implemented in Irish schools?
As you know, training standards in ABA are available at the Behavior Analysis Certification Board website (www.bacb.com). We presume you also know that successive governments in the Republic have never sought advice about the nature of ABA or about standards of training in ABA from any ABA organization (see second attachment by Dr. Keenan (State sponsored child abuse?) which you are free to publish on your site; download available at bottom of Home page from here http://www.imagesforbehaviouranalysts.com/). For some reason academics not trained in ABA are solicited for their views on ABA and that’s about as far as it goes. Why has the IAA never challenged this practice? Surely it would make sense for the IAA who purports to understand ABA to evidence their understanding by the actions they have taken to correct misinformation; this is evidence-based practice on another level. Can the IAA provide evidence of its achievements in educating TDs about ABA? We think not, for surely the removal of any focused implementation of ABA in schools is evidence of failure!
As CEO of the IAA you have an obligation to present those you say you represent with the unvarnished truth. Sadly, we did not sense that that was what we were watching on your TV appearance.
This message has been copied to Maeve Bracken for circulation with members of the Division of Behaviour Analysis. In the interests of transparency, and in keeping with your commitment to evidence-based practice, can we presume you will be making this letter public and that you will be sharing also the evidence of your communications with ABA bodies as outlined above. We would like to think you can supply evidence to correct any misunderstanding we have about the activities of the IAA.
Dr. Mickey Keenan FHEA, FBPsS, BCBA-D
School of Psychology
University of Ulster
Coleraine
County L'Derry
N. Ireland BT52 1SA
Tel. 0044(0)2870 124283/124326
[email protected]
Professor Karola Dillenburger BCBA-D; Chartered Clinical Psychologist (HPC)
QUART Centre
Queen's University of Belfast
School of Education
69/71 University Street
Belfast
Northern Ireland BT7 1HL
ACE Provider for BCBA/BCaBA
email: [email protected]
Phone: 0044(0)28 9097 5985