ABA criticism article written by an ABA BCBA

[Magna]

A friend of mine found this article titled:
I am a disillusioned BCBA: Autistics are right about ABA

BCBA stands for: board certified behavior analyst.

The link to the article is below:

I am a disillusioned BCBA: Autistics are right about ABA » NeuroClastic

I was not surprised after reading the article, but I was shocked by some of the things, sickened and angered by other things and overall greatly disturbed. I do not have direct experience with ABA, but I have indirect experience with it because one of my autistic nieces underwent intensive Lovaas ABA therapy for a good number of years in her childhood. Her therapy included an ABA person coming to her home regularly, etc. I was disturbed by some of the "therapies" taught to her parents such as the insistence on eye contact to the point of interrupting her while she was trying to communicate with others to insist on eye contact.

My biggest "take away" from reading the above article is a reinforcement of my conviction and what I believe to be fact: Neurotypical neurology isn't the "right", "correct"neurotype. Its' the most prevalent, but that does not mean it's the ideal neurotype warranting the correction of or modification of neurodiverse neurtypes in an attempt to convert ND neurotypes to NT. That's deeply disturbing to me and has an almost eugenic mindset in relation to a mental health practice.

Also, knowing the contributions that ND people have made toward the advancement of humanity, the premise and goal of ABA is in my opinion, an egregious affront to neurodiversity and to autism specifically.

 

[Aspychata]

A friend of mine found this article titled:
I am a disillusioned BCBA: Autistics are right about ABA

BCBA stands for: board certified behavior analyst.

The link to the article is below:

I am a disillusioned BCBA: Autistics are right about ABA » NeuroClastic

I was not surprised after reading the article, but I was shocked by some of the things, sickened and angered by other things and overall greatly disturbed. I do not have direct experience with ABA, but I have indirect experience with it because one of my autistic nieces underwent intensive Lovaas ABA therapy for a good number of years in her childhood. Her therapy included an ABA person coming to her home regularly, etc. I was disturbed by some of the "therapies" taught to her parents such as the insistence on eye contact to the point of interrupting her while she was trying to communicate with others to insist on eye contact.

My biggest "take away" from reading the above article is a reinforcement of my conviction and what I believe to be fact: Neurotypical neurology isn't the "right", "correct"neurotype. Its' the most prevalent, but that does not mean it's the ideal neurotype warranting the correction of or modification of neurodiverse neurtypes in an attempt to convert ND neurotypes to NT. That's deeply disturbing to me and has an almost eugenic mindset in relation to a mental health practice.

Also, knowing the contributions that ND people have made toward the advancement of humanity, the premise and goal of ABA is in my opinion, an egregious affront to neurodiversity and to autism specifically.

Just reading your post makes me think of gay teenagers being forced to de-gay themselves by trying to force masculine thought processes on them. Like blue is better then pink, and a strong gait is great instead of a swissy prance. Change that because your parents have o'kayed that l come in here and force behavior modification sessions on your barely matured brain.

 

[Magna]

Just reading your post makes me think of gay teenagers being forced to de-gay themselves by trying to force masculine thought processes on them. Like blue is better then pink, and a strong gait is great instead of a swissy prance. Change that because your parents have o'kayed that l come in here and force behavior modification sessions on your barely matured brain.

A parallel is made in the article about ABA and "conversion therapy" which is what you describe.

 

[Thinx]

It's intrusive, disrespectful and deeply disturbing, I agree. It's an abuse of the child or adult, I would say.

 

[OkRad]

".....Autistics are right...." People would save us a LOT of trouble if they would just believe us about ourselves.