We need to talk about Kupferstein. Let’s preface this by saying that I fully support further research on ABA’s effects on the living beings these strategies are used on – human or otherwise. Most human services, such as medical and psychology, make sure to examine side effects on any treatment…
Tag: criticism
Well, here we are again, and I’m going to run out of catchy titles for each time ABA International manages to make an ass out of themselves. Once again, they manage to demonstrate a lack of self-awareness so astronomical, that if it had a diagnosis, they themselves would probably label…
TW: Descriptions of harmful practices. This might come as a shock, but I don’t have much of a history of behaving in ways neurotypical people would expect. I know. Take all the time you need with that. Over time, I’ve suspected this might be part of the reason I can…
TW: ableism, contingent electric skin shock (CESS) Well, it took the better part of a year, but ABAI finally released their – erm – “statement” regarding the use of Contingent Electric Skin Shock (CESS). It’s hard to call a 34-page document a “statement,” so I supposed the authors’ description of…
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…
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…
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 post is in response to the announcement shown below from ABA International’s Facebook page on 9/7/2021. The announcement came as a bit of a surprise, to me at least, considering how long the autistic and ABA Reform communities have been reaching out to them to say or do– well,…