What to know
- Daniels and Badwall developed a “progressive ABA” model that blends evidence-based practice with a more flexible, individualized approach to autistic education.
- The authors say traditional ABA can be too rigid, often overlooking cultural context, learner autonomy and meaningful educator–student relationships.
- Their Burlington-based institute, Missing Links, uses progressive methods to teach both academic and essential life skills for neurodivergent kids and adults.
- Families report stronger engagement and longer-lasting skills, while instructors say the approach makes their work more intuitive, respectful and sustainable.
- As the book gains national attention, the pair are expanding their Progressive ABA Network with blogs, podcasts and upcoming training courses.
Two renowned Canadian educators have shot to No. 1 on Amazon’s trending books list with a new title that introduces a progressive model for supporting neurodivergent learners, a method they say is transforming outcomes for students, families and educators.
Abandoning Traditional Autism Programming With a Modern Approach became a best seller in Amazon Canada within a week of being released on Nov. 1. It follows the journeys of authors Michael John Daniels and Am Badwall in exploring a modern and respectful approach to support neurodivergent learners.
Daniels tells Now Toronto the book is a culmination of more than 20 years of work and a long-standing friendship, combining the extensive educational background and hands-on experience both authors have with neurodivergent education.
Their paths first crossed decades ago, when Badwall, who had been working as a practitioner, educator, and advocate with neurodivergent individuals for almost 30 years, suggested that “education extraordinaire” Daniels join her work.
“Instantly, he was a natural, we had such joy in teaching and connecting and programming for these clients and working with their families and understanding the bigger picture of what their life trajectories and what their hopes and dreams were as clients,” Badwall told Now Toronto.
Although the book has been out for less than a month, it has already proven to be a great success, an accomplishment that left both authors shocked and honoured.
“We’re very grateful. Grateful to our community, our families, our staff, and our personal families, who are all supporting us. We’re so happy and thankful,” Daniels said.
A NEW APPROACH THAT CLOSES EDUCATIONAL GAPS
Most educators that work with neurodivergent students utilize Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), a traditional scientific approach considered the gold standard in autistic education.
Although the highly-respected method has been supporting learners and their loved ones for decades, offering structure, skill acquisition and measurable progress, Daniels and Badwall explain that its rigid nature, based on data and specific goals, often cannot fulfill the needs of all autistic students.
Badwall explains that the method’s one-model-fits-all nature often focuses too much on specific skills and achievements that the student needs to complete before moving on to a different skill, often failing to consider individual needs, relationship with educators, and even cultural differences.
“There was a time where we were asked to kind of follow through a very [strict] prerequisite way of teaching… Mike and I can attest to meetings that we sat in with parents where they would say, ‘Well, that’s not even a skill that comes up in our home or culturally, that’s not even sensitive.’…And we had our own supervisors that were saying to us, ‘No, that needs to be taught, because that’s the next target.’”
Having experienced and heard from individuals and parents about these challenges, the educators joined forces to develop a progressive method based on ABA, which considers a broader approach to applying this method, combining data with a deeper understanding of each individual’s needs and journeys.
“When we talk about progressive ABA, it’s not a departure from the science of ABA, but it’s just bringing in this moment in time where we’re really kind of honoring autonomy and the evolution of neurodivergent learning,” Badwall said.
“Progressive practitioners… are looking at things broader, and they’re making sure that their staff are pairing and connecting with students first and making sure that they’re teaching in a much more meaningful way, and checking for understanding before taking data.”
PROGRESSIVE METHOD BENEFITS STUDENTS, INSTRUCTORS
Although this is the authors’ first book together, Badwall and Daniels have also founded Missing Links, a private educational institute in Burlington, ON that uses a multidisciplinary approach and progressive ABA practices to support academic and social development of neurodivergent students.
The school offers a range of programming for neurodivergent kids and adults, with social programs that teach basic life skills beyond the basic school curriculums, including managing finances, following schedules, technology and jobs skills, among others.
Working hands-on with students and families, the authors say they have received positive feedback on their progressive methods, with clients saying they feel heard and glad the school focuses on useful social skills.
“We’ve had really great feedback from families that are saying that this has been broader than the scope that they were receiving. Being either somewhere else or what they’ve done in the past, or that skills have stuck longer,” Badwall said.
Meanwhile, Daniels also explains that progressive ABA has had a positive impact on the instructors, who feel respected and heard with the less rigid method.
“Things that a staff [member] has reflected to us recently that she, in her own practice, feels much lighter and happier, and feels that her efforts that she’s putting into it actually make more sense, because there’s an end to what she’s teaching in a very structured way that makes sense, not only for the child, but for herself,” Daniels said.
The authors, who are both racialized minorities, say that the method has also been able to better serve culturally-diverse students, as instructors receive training to consider families’ cultural backgrounds when teaching.
“It is invaluable…We are nurturing the whole individual, and to do that, you have to have that cultural understanding or the other experience to understand,” he said.
“It’s a non-negotiable we have that our staff, our team, with that same consideration to know that no matter who we are working with, no matter what family we’re supporting, our perspective is always with the idea of, ‘How can we make life better, easier, supported for them,’ and that requires an understanding that sometimes we’ll have to try to stretch our thinking beyond an experience we may have had,” he added.
With busy schedules between their groundbreaking research and teaching, the authors said they’ve already started developing other book editions. Meanwhile, they’ve also developed a Progressive ABA Network website, which includes blog posts, podcast episodes, and upcoming courses with training on different areas.
