Savannah asked Angie Kim:

Elizabeth came to the right conclusion by the end realizing that she was forcing behaviors on her autistic child but I think it was a missed opportunity to write this more explicitly. I would’ve liked said on how this kind of therapy impacts the experience of the actual autistic person. Applied Behavioral Analysis is truly traumatic for autistic individuals. Would you consider delving more into this in your next book?

Angie Kim Hi Savannah! Thank you so much for your question. I think many of my creative writing students (who are nonspeaking autistics) would definitely agree with you about the trauma of ABA; many of their stories and essays are about the shame and trauma of that experience. I think of Miracle Creek and Happiness Falls as companion novels, in that MC focuses more on the parenting angle and HF focuses more on the nonspeaking child and siblings' perspectives. I didn't go into ABA itself in HF, but instead focused on the alternative communication therapies and methods (spelling and typing) that so many ABA proponents fight and are skeptical of. I hope this answers your question!

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