Cures are not in the interest of "attachment disorder therapists" either. These people charge lots of money for their "therapy", though I wouldn't be surprised if many of them also sponsor no-charge initial "screenings" and (most importantly to getting their potential paying clients on board) free "support" groups, where the not-yet-paying parents can mingle with parents who ARE paying and who are enthusiastically recommending the therapy. After sinking thousands or tens of thousands of dollars into something like this, many people have a hard time facing up to the fact that it was all scam, and try to push away their doubt by becoming ever stronger and louder advocates.
Do you KNOW that this family is relying only on "charities and volunteer groups", and not paying therapists? Do you KNOW what therapist or therapists they're using, and have you googled the names of those therapists or otherwise objectively researched them (or are the parents declining to share the names?)? Are you SURE that even though your direct contact with the parents reassures you that they only have their child's best interests in mind, that they haven't been taken in by someone who doesn't?
I really think you should dig up all the facts before jumping on board to support and defend these people. If not, you risk finding out after the fact, that you were energetically pushing for something which would have allowed horrible child abuse to continue.
Parents of troubled children are often desperate, and there's a big industry of scammers who are well-organized to take advantage of their desperation. One of the biggest scams is the Scientologists, who (while never identifying themselves as Scientologists until a family has already been sucked in very deep), push their "no drug" therapies for ADD/ADHD symptoms. The Scientologists have been greatly aided in their scam by the widespread and legitimate concern that ADD/ADHD diagnoses are often hasty and incorrect, and that drugs are being prescribed for thousands of young children, with only the flimsiest of evidence that they are needed or even beneficial. Nearly all the parents who get sucked into Scientology this way, start out with nothing but genuine desire to help their children, and a desire to avoid having their children swept up in an epidemic of incorrect ADD/ADHD diagnoses. But that doesn't make the Scientology-affiliated alternative groups they turn to, anything but evil and dangerous.
I didn't say that, I was talking about the relative integrity of the APA compared to other alternatives. I am sure that Mr. Johnson is paying a therapist, but there are also volunteer groups involved. So it's both.
Are you SURE that even though your direct contact with the parents reassures you that they only have their child's best interests in mind, that they haven't been taken in by someone who doesn't?
Like the public schools? Look, we disagree on one thing. I don't think it is government's purvey to determine how child rearing should be done in every case, particularly with significant unknown challenges such as FAS.
My wife ran the newborn nursery at Alexian Brothers Hospital. She could rarely get CPS to intervene in the case of poor families with drug and alcohol problems. OTOH, the number of instances where CPS has taken custody of middle and upper class kids for little cause are legion. There is a reason. CPS gets a substantial Federal grant for adopting a child quickly. Middle class kids are easy to adopt.
So, when one considers the balance, collectivist protection of individual children versus individual freedom to succeed or fail in raising a child, as long as there is no sign of physical abuse, I really don't think such constitutes probable cause for collective action.
There are people who think you should never even raise your voice to a dog when training it. OTOH, there are people who believe a pinch collar is more humane than constant struggle to get the dog's attention possibly resulting in an accident when a disobedient dog runs in front of a car. There are quantitiative studies supporting both positions.
Now I'm not saying that kids with deep developmental problems are dogs, but they aren't altogether the same as the rest of us either. It could well be possible that use of force to get their attention might work better. Unless someone succeeds or fails finding that out versus if we all adopt a standard system based upon what WE think is necessary, we'll never know. The ultimate accountability lies with the parents. The APA and the government have no accountability whatsoever.
These are parents who took the risk of adopting that child. We didn't. They are doing what they believe is best for him. Others say they don't have that right. The real question is: who gets to enforce that right. Do you really think it ought to be government? From what I can tell, they aren't doing so hot.
A babysitter that was in the house one time smelled urine and saw inconsistencies. in the boy's room. Inconsistencies could be anything. Perhaps the room was spotless yet the smell of urine was inconsistent with that.
There are an awful lot of busy-body do-gooders that do more harm than good. Many of them wield government power.