I hate insurance companies as much as the next person, but as an autistic person, it’s my duty to advocate for my own community. This means calling out abusive practices. www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Replies
I am sorry you received abuse in the name of ABA therapy. The ABA therapy my son received was a miracle and when done correctly is such a benefit.
dec 14, 2024, 3:57 pm • 0 0 • view
I haven’t gone through ABA. But it’s telling when the main opponents to ABA are autistic people who have gone through ABA, and the main proponents are BCBA’s and parents.
dec 14, 2024, 4:11 pm • 2 0 • view
I am a Mom to 2 kids on the spectrum and what my sons received was a true gift. My sons remember nothing but positivity because that is how it was applied.
dec 14, 2024, 4:14 pm • 0 0 • view
But they did not receive ABA. They received someone's interpretation that had very abusive practices.
dec 14, 2024, 4:12 pm • 0 0 • view
That statement makes as much sense as Christians trying to convince me that other Christians aren’t real Christians, and that they’re interpreting the bible wrong.
dec 14, 2024, 10:13 pm • 1 0 • view
I'm a BCBA and disagree. There is a ton of disinformation about ABA out there and I've yet to come across claims being made that actually have merit. But I'm curious if you also disbelieve the science of behaviorism - which undergirds ABA and explains everyone's behavior, not just Autistics.
dec 14, 2024, 8:45 am • 2 0 • view
So, when autistic people tell you it was torturous and traumatic to go through ABA as a child, that had less merit than someone who isn't autistic saying it's fine? The. Actual. Fuck.
dec 14, 2024, 10:43 am • 3 0 • view
Then they received abuse in the name of ABA therapy. I truly feel for them. Proper ABA therapy does not include the abuses I have heard described by many online.
dec 14, 2024, 4:03 pm • 1 0 • view
Absolutely. I think that because it is so intensive, and the population often so vulnerable, abuse can more easily occur. But we have strict ethical guidelines and high levels of training. Sadly where I have seen abuse is in schools where paras are not trained enough at all.
dec 14, 2024, 4:07 pm • 0 0 • view
Or autistic people saying they think its great. I have no doubt some people had bad experiences, but anecdote isn't data. I've yet to hear someone point to a practice that is actually common and standard in ABA today (or in the past decade at least) that is torturous or traumatic.
dec 14, 2024, 10:47 am • 0 0 • view
You think the survey I linked to is anecdotal? You think the hundreds of participants were lying? Did you even read the study before commenting?
dec 14, 2024, 12:52 pm • 2 0 • view
Yep, I read it, and I've read scholarly responses to it. It had a number of flaws. I've yet to see the things people complain are happening in ABA happen in ABA, nor are they the standard of the practice. There were issues decades ago, but I don't see them today.
dec 14, 2024, 1:24 pm • 1 0 • view
How do you respond to the study done by the department of defence then? It was conducted in 2020 and the respondents were parents of children currently going through ABA. It had over 3000 participants and it didn’t support ABA being effective.
dec 14, 2024, 3:05 pm • 2 0 • view
If ABA isn’t even effective in the first place, then trying to argue that it’s not traumatic is redundant.
dec 14, 2024, 3:06 pm • 2 0 • view
I'd have to spend more time with it but the number of studies showing ABA as effective is far greater. The science of learning is incredibly solid, and that's all ABA is based in. In my own practice and those I've worked with over the years,
dec 14, 2024, 3:14 pm • 0 0 • view
we've seen incredible success, bringing joy/independence back into the lives of countless people and their family's lives.
dec 14, 2024, 3:14 pm • 0 0 • view
Then send me links to the study’s that support ABA. Just as I’ve sent links to support my own views.
dec 14, 2024, 3:16 pm • 1 0 • view
There are a few ABA journals, but research has been published in a number of journals. Here's a meta-analysis of 29 studies. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
dec 14, 2024, 3:27 pm • 1 0 • view
Oh, that's good, they stopped the physical punishment, no more electric shocks to keep the auties in line, good news folks they are just using less obviously abusive forms of manipulation on kids with deficient skills at navigating a social hierarchy to "help" them appear less autistic.
dec 14, 2024, 10:54 am • 1 0 • view
You decry the actual voices of autistic adults as anecdotal yet accept the views of non autistic therapists endorsing this practice as fact, see the problem there?
dec 14, 2024, 10:56 am • 1 0 • view
Try reading again. There are autistic people who support ABA and those who don't. You should be able to point to a standard or common ABA practice right now that is harmful if that is your claim.
dec 14, 2024, 10:58 am • 0 0 • view
That's a great example of disinfo right there. None of the standardized assessments I use, or the goals I write are to make anyone "appear less autistic". None of that is standard practice. You're either badly misinformed or lying.
dec 14, 2024, 10:56 am • 0 0 • view
Or perhaps I violently respond to people trying to change other kids because I remember having adults trying to force me to fit certain molds which didn't make sense or feel natural. Yeah my info on ABA is out of date, I didn't know anyone was still doing that shit to kids.
dec 14, 2024, 10:59 am • 2 0 • view
You can say oh we aren't doing shit like they were 20 years ago but you're using the same name and wondering why autistic adults who experienced it or learned about it from others are angry about it.
dec 14, 2024, 11:01 am • 2 0 • view
I fully support your being angry about what was done in the past. But the field is very aware of its history of unethical practices. This has happened in many forms of medicine. People speak up and hopefully it learns even though the change is usually far too slow.
dec 14, 2024, 11:06 am • 1 0 • view
I would say the issues were not central to ABA though and more reflective of discriminatory attitudes among the broader public that used bx training to teach the wrong things. The same principles are simply how all humans learn, the issue is in what we are teaching.
dec 14, 2024, 11:06 am • 0 0 • view
God bless you!
dec 14, 2024, 1:59 pm • 0 0 • view
Thank you for posting this — I was looking for the study. 💪
dec 14, 2024, 3:42 am • 7 0 • view