Many children receiving Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy spend between 30 and 40 hours a week at their center. For families juggling work, commuting, and other essential therapies like speech or occupational therapy, some days can be as long as 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. By the time we get home, especially in the fall and winter months, it is already dark. This means my son, like many children in ABA, has spent an entire day indoors without stepping outside even once.

The lack of outdoor space at many ABA centers is a serious concern. These children attend year round, and they do not receive the breaks that school aged children do. There is no summer break, no spring break, and only a couple of days off for major holidays. While other children spend warm weather months outside at recess, camp, parks, or simply playing in their yards, ABA children often spend their entire day in therapy rooms with no outdoor space and no scheduled outdoor time.

Outdoor time is not optional for children. Fresh air, sunlight, movement, and nature play are essential for physical health, emotional regulation, sensory needs, and overall development. Many autistic children benefit enormously from outdoor environments that help them calm their bodies, regulate sensory input, and burn energy in healthy ways. Schools are expected to provide daily recess. Most states require daycares and early childhood programs to offer outdoor play or gross motor activity. Even dog daycare facilities in many states have requirements for exercise or outdoor access. Yet ABA centers, which require more weekly hours than both schools and daycares, have no requirement to provide outdoor time at all.

I understand that safety is a concern, but if our society recognizes outdoor time as important enough to guarantee it to prisoners for their mental and physical well being, then surely autistic children deserve at least the same level of consideration.

When children are expected to attend therapy for 30 to 40 hours each week, often with strict attendance expectations and the risk of discharge for falling below certain percentages, it becomes even more important to ensure that their environment supports their well being. These children deserve sunlight, movement, rest, and time outdoors just like any other child.

I am asking lawmakers, regulatory agencies, and healthcare authorities to require ABA centers to provide outdoor spaces and to include outdoor time in their daily schedules. This could be accomplished through renovating existing facilities, creating safe enclosed outdoor spaces, forming partnerships with nearby parks or community areas, or ensuring that new centers are designed with outdoor access in mind. No child should spend hundreds of hours each month confined indoors without access to fresh air.

By advocating for this change, we can ensure that ABA therapy supports the whole child and not just their therapy goals. Autistic children deserve environments that nurture their health, happiness, and development. Please sign this petition to require outdoor spaces and outdoor time at ABA centers. Our children deserve better.