You are completely correct. A&P do NOT do the work required. They always rely on Abbie's teachers and therapists to do everything and then reap the benefit of the work that others have done. A&P don't seem to understand that it is SO important for them to really and truly carry on the work at home. Asshat talks a lot, including in the example you gave, but all that talking is just noise and is rarely if ever put into practice. I think A&P don't do the work because they are extremely lazy, they view it as too bothersome or inconvenient - it interrupts and takes away from what THEY want to be doing, and on some level, they simply don't CARE to do anything but the bare minimum.
In addition to the laziness and the.... I guess you could say "can't be bothered-ness," I think another major factor with the issue of them doing the bare minimum is them not actually taking advice from those with specialized knowledge on the topic seriously.
And this is almost entirely an Asa problem. How many times have we seen & commented about his inability to follow directions from doctors, therapists, educators, etc? How often have we seen him just blatantly talk right over Brandi as she's trying to yet again explain some sort of structure for Abbie? I mean,
tit, remember at the beginning of the pandemic when JSA closed & the school provided structured curriculum tailored to her learning needs? That lasted, what, two days before he decided
he knew better than the "best school for autism in the state" and tossed it all aside. Wasn't there something with the contractors doing the kitchen renovation too?
To him, and to people like him, he knows better than every expert out there. There's no collaboration, there's no middle ground. It's his way or no way.
We've all met someone like him, haven't we?
Remember way back in the old house, they laughed and joked about Asa not being able to "work for someone else" so he needs to be his own boss? People like that aren't funny or quirky. They're insufferable, miserable pricks. They're people who refuse to take direction, who refuse to follow procedure. No one can tell them what to do!! In fact, if someone tells them what to do, they'll do the exact opposite just for spite. It's honestly like
Oppositional Defiant Disorder in an adult. He doesn't listen to bosses, he doesn't listen to therapists, he doesn't listen to the court telling him to pay child support, he doesn't listen to the law about not driving on a suspended license, he only listens to people who tell him what he wants to hear for his own gratification.
And Priscilla.
She's got so much wrong with her as it is, but with Priscilla I think it just comes down to Abbie being "Asa's kid." Beyond her natural state of sloth, beyond her lack of intelligence and lack of intellectual curiosity, she's angry and bitter and resentful about not having The Perfect Princess Daughter™ in the wake of Asa dicking down some other woman while she was alone and fat with a young child and no future. She thought she landed a dashing military man but he (left?) the Coast Guard and couldn't hold down a job and they were broke and she had no education and no money and she
knew there was no way she'd find a rich man willing to take care of a fat single mother with no skills and no class. So when Asa came back, when she talked him into coming back, and she got him really locked in with another pregnancy, with the baby that would solve all their problems, with the little princess who she could dress like a doll and parade around and buy makeup and prom dresses and and and....
But no. She didn't get that. She got a child she's ashamed of, and while Asa's stuck with her now it's not for the reasons she'd hoped. So that's "Asa's kid." She sees no reason to expend any effort, even the most basic effort ("I called the school and told them we're comin' in hot!!") because she just doesn't care.