Recently, ABAI released a statement in response to the avalanche of criticism they’ve received for constantly increasing the Judge Rotenberg Center’s presence at the annual conference. Specifically, about their lack of action in response to the serious concerns about the JRC, and overall sketchy practices. The response itself can be…
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Many a caregiver of autistic kids will proudly declare that they don’t treat their child any differently than they would if they weren’t autistic. Especially if they have more than 1 child, at least one of whom is neurotypical, they will often provide several examples of how they will put…
CW: Ableism, mention of suicide, sexism, hate symbols, sexual assault It’s that time again: Upon the end of March the world will swarm with blue lights and puzzle pieces, dedicating the entire month of April to Autism Awareness Month. Depending on your corner of social media, you will probably see…
One of the most “annoying” stereotypes about ABA is that it’s robotic. BCBAs and therapists are portrayed as unemotional beings walking around with our clipboards watching with deadpan expressions as a toddler cries. Many of us find this description deeply offensive and launch into a pedantic explanation for how inaccurate…
Spoiler alert: It’s still troubling and true. CW: Aversives, torture, child abuse on the basis of gender, sexual, and romantic orientation, suicide/suicidal ideation It seems about a month before I made this post, ABA International put out this statement on conversion therapy. Well what kind of marsupial writer would I…
Health insurance. The one thing all providers in America can agree on. I’ve yet to meet a single provider in any field that has any kind words to spare for it. In the 10+ years I’ve been in the field, I’ve watched health insurance pull our hands farther and farther…
Raise your hand if you came out of grad school thinking ABA has all the answers. Have you ever scoffed at an occupational therapist’s report, with all of its mentalistic language and “poor measurement?” What about working with speech pathologists? How often have you tried to convince families to drop…
CW: ableism, suicide ABA with autistic children was literally created with the goal of making them “indistinguishable from their typically developing peers.” With the focus being only on observable and measurable behaviors to outsiders, the radical behaviorist roots of ABA as a therapy for autism becomes questionable at best. In…
This is a change of pace. Typically, this blog is aimed at practitioners, with harsh truths and demands to do better. This time though, I want to talk to the caregivers: The parents, the grandparents, the foster families, the relatives of children who have just been discovered to be autistic.…
CW: Ableism Halloween season is upon us, so let’s talk about that blue pumpkin thing that’s going around. If you’re not familiar, the idea is that autistic children should be given blue pumpkins or buckets to carry when trick-or-treating, so they can be identified as autistic when they hold it…