Why it is so disappointing to see ProPublica’s recent feature promoting hefty insurance mandates for Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), given the opposition by autism and autistic-led organizations to the practice.
Tag: ABA therapy
No, ABA therapy cannot affirm neurodiversity, not without becoming something that is not ABA therapy.
The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn is an absolutely wonderful, important book for kids that don’t have a voice and may not be able to identify abuse or know how to talk about it. Fantastic for autistic and allistic readers alike.
Autistic children only get one childhood, and they deserve properly qualified and properly experienced professional teams. Teams that consider autistic ways of communication, ethics, human rights, and potential harms very carefully indeed.
Why parents of autistic kids need to be cautious and thoughtful about the therapies they consider for their children.
Even though the Son-Rise therapists take credit for Kyle’s successes, maybe he’s done well because of his family’s kindness…in spite of the therapy, not because of it.
This checklist is for people who aren’t autistic (or whose autistic traits differ from those of their child/charge) to understand what may upset an autistic person, and cause them distress.
Autistics for Autistics has fought to get residential institutions in Canada shut down. We’ve fought to get sheltered workshops closed. We’ve battled for regulation of group homes, which are almost completely unregulated and often run on an abusive, prison-like ABA model.
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) taught me that social skills were context-free rules I had to follow: forcing my hands to be quiet, staring back at eyeballs that bored into mine, contorting myself to make myself look less autistic at the expense of my happiness and overall well-being.
If early intervention professionals truly want to serve autistic children, then they need to transition to better ways to guide our autistic kids, ways that don’t crush those children’s spirits and hearts.