In ABA, children are not given the same respect and access to care as with any other form of therapy. Their access to stimming, comfort objects, and other self-regulatory measures is blocked so the therapist can observe the child self-injurious behaviors.
An autistic teenager is forced into court-ordered ABA. Each week, his anxiety builds until he elopes from the scene and runs into traffic to escape his therapists.
Behaviorism is predicated on a philosophy that ignores neurology and fails to acknowledge the consequence of working against biological needs. It fosters learned helplessness.
An Open Letter to the NYT: Acknowledge the Controversy Surrounding ABA with an in-depth exploration of the murky ethical issues that surround Applied Behavior Analysis.
Before I knew I was autistic, I was pushed into a position at a new job as an ABA registered behavior technician. This is my experience with the training course… or how to become an ABA therapist online in 2 days.
The New York Times dropped all journalistic standards to publish a commercial for Applied Behavior Analysis without critical review of the facts– like that it’s not a therapy, it doesn’t work, and it’s abusive to autistic people.
Autistic people are often depicted as subhuman or alien creatures. Where does the stereotype come from, and what can we do about it?
The bias towards ABA is so strong that it feels insurmountable to convince anyone, through logic, reason, and personal experiences, of the harms caused by regimented behaviorism.
Evidence-based:
– It is a term that in psychology is often used to designate a therapy as being of a different orientation than traditional psychotherapy, without necessarily having scientific studies that show its long-term benefits or the perception of well-being on the part of the client and the recipient of the therapy.
Carol Millman’s article comparing dog training to ABA garnered the attention of many BCBAs. Dr. Thomas Zane and Katie Gorycki respond, and Carol Millman replies in line.
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