TW: Mentions of suicide and abuse

Texas is one of the last states in the United States to fund Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for autistic children through Medicaid. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to bill for ABA services through Medicaid was delayed. This gives a small window of time during the 2021 legislative session to convince lawmakers that they should not fund ABA.

Content notice: mentions of suicide and abuse

The Autistic community has long recognized that all ABA is abusive. This is due to higher rates of complex post traumatic stress disorder, the ways it grooms us that enables others to abuse us, and the emphasis on masking skills that lead to higher rates of suicidal ideation and suicidality.

Unfortunately, our stories have not been told en masse for politicians to hear. Instead, they hear the stories of our parents, teachers, and abusers.

This needs to end!

Furthermore, the process to testify to committees who make these decisions is often inaccessible for our community. The Stop Texas ABA Coalition has decided to collect as many survivor stories as we can. We want our community’s concerns to be expressed. We want to counter the tale that this is the best “treatment” for our population.

Help us #StopTXABA by posting a public video on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or YouTube using the #StopTXABA hashtag. We will edit the videos together to show legislators. We want them to understand what ABA has done and continues to do to us. And to proudly announce Nothing About Us Without Us!