CW: abuse, supremacy, ableism, offensive images and descriptions of disability
The core of all of ABA’s issues is supremacy.
Supremacy is the belief that one group is inherently better than another. This term is most often associated with white supremacy, the belief that people with light skin are inherently better than any people with darker skin or other racial features different from those of western Europeans. Ableism is discrimination against others on the basis of perceived ability. That is, ABA’s flaws come from ableism, which ultimately comes from the idea that people without disabilities are inherently better than those with disabilities.
Was your first thought “I’m not ableist!” or “I can’t be ableist because ___?”
Here’s the thing, our culture and society embeds supremacy into our learning histories from the moment we’re born into it. There is no way a non-disabled person can’t be ableist, just like white people can’t not be racist. Yes, both of those are true. Take a second to be angry and defensive about those, and resist the urge to send me an angry email because I’m going to ignore it.
Now, take a deep breath and continue.
It doesn’t mean you are a bad person or actively think you’re better than anyone. It just means you have implicit biases. Don’t believe me? Here, take the test. Harvard’s done a whole study on it.
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo beautifully illustrates how supremacy (in this case racial) is interwoven into our learning histories. The media we consume often portrays stereotypes such that, when you picture areas or roles in society, you likely automatically assign these fictional people attributes based on these implicit biases.
For example, when you picture a janitor: Is the first thing that comes to mind a person of color?
You may firmly understand that not all janitors are people of color. You may firmly believe that janitorial work is honorable and deserving of respect and that anybody can and should be a part of it. I would agree with you. But that doesn’t change the fact that janitorial work is generally undervalued (and underpaid) in our society, and that people of color are often in positions that are undervalued and underpaid.
Just… read White Fragility. It’s a great introduction, and when you are able to understand systematic racism, it becomes easier to understand systemic ableism.
Be aware of your implicit biases
If you’re a BCBA, you (hopefully) learned in grad school during your research methods classes that humans are inherently biased. We have our own learning histories that color the verbal behavior that makes up our ability to interpret information and form beliefs. When designing research studies (or critiquing other people’s), we are taught over and over again to control our biases and try to interpret and measure everything as objectively as possible.
Yet, somehow, when it comes to our personal sensitivities, that goes out the window faster than a teenager’s joint when they hear their parents come home.
To deny your own learning history is to be dishonest to yourself and to your clients. Practicing with the idea that you have no inherent ableism is just going to close you off to feedback and leave you overconfident and susceptible to harmful practices.
Most practitioners would agree that cultural humility is important. Diversity training is becoming more common, and it has been added to our required continuing education by the BACB. For those of you unfamiliar with the term: Cultural humility is the understanding that you are unable to fully understand the nuances and experiences of cultures that are not your own. It reminds us to check in with families and learn what we need to know about their culture so we can be sure we are providing services respectfully and meaningfully. It’s vital to appropriate and ethical practice.
If cultural humility is important though, why isn’t ability humility?
Ability humility: The understanding that we cannot possibly fully understand all of the nuances and experiences of abilities other than those identical to our own.
Thus, if you are not autistic, you will never fully understand the autistic experience.
You will never be a good ally to any group if you aren’t humble and honest about your own learning history and that fact that it differs from others’.
To understand and identify ableism, you need to first understand privilege.
Let’s get one more thing clear before we go any further: Privilege is NOT a statement of how hard your life has or hasn’t been. Growing up with challenges does NOT mean you don’t have privilege. Privilege means hardships in your life were not created and/or exacerbated by who you are (i.e. your race or ability).
If you are white and you live in the United States, you have privilege. If you are not neurodivergent, you have privilege. Depending on your environment, your level of privilege will change. For example, I identify and present as female. In the US, that means I am more likely to be perceived as less competent and rational, but am also more likely to get certain jobs, such as in childcare.
Denying privilege is dishonest and usually rooted in prejudice.
What does ableism look like?
When you picture ableism, what do you picture? Is it the building with stairs leading to the front door whose owners refuse to put a ramp in? Is it refusing to hire people with noticeable deformities? Maybe you picture active harassment or physical assaults on visibly disabled people?
But that’s not a thing anymore, that was a really long time ago, right?
Actually, it wasn’t. That was all commonplace in the 60s and 70s. Do yourself a favor and watch Crip Camp (2020).
Not only does all of that still exist, ableism lurking deep in our learning histories shows up constantly. From inspiration/disability porn to things we say in-passing.
“It was like the blind leading the blind.”
“I’m so OCD about my desk.”
“If they had half a brain…”
All of those statements are based on the perception that people with disabilities– mental disorders, physical disabilities, neurological differences– are inferior to those without. The references to them are the negative context in each statement.
Practitioners working with disabled populations: When you tell people what you do for a living, what is the most common reaction? Is it something along the lines of: “Aww. You must be so patient,” or “wow, I couldn’t possibly do that.” When I was working primarily with adults, a very common reaction was “eww,” which usually meant I had to walk away before I slapped someone.
Regardless of the specific words, the message is usually this: Gold star to you for being willing to tolerate those lesser people.
Humans are fallible and we created ABA
Hey, practitioners, show of hands: Who has been mistreated by an employer while working at an ABA company?
I can’t see you, but I’ve done this before. I know there are hands in the air. A lot of them. I’m one of them. I’ve got trauma from it. I would say I’ve been treated poorly more often than not by employers. So my question is this: How can you deny that ABA can be abusive when we abuse each other all the time?
Now add in a power dynamic and a learning history that likely promotes compliance and submission (with or without ABA). If you are working with disabled people, you are working with vulnerable populations. Vulnerable in that they may not be able to communicate in a way you understand, are often taught from a young age to comply, and are marginalized in society. That ableism that’s embedded in your learning history? It’s embedded in theirs too. You cannot require or expect them to teach you better. It’s your job to learn better and break these cycles for your clients.
They see the same images and hear the same sayings we do. And before you say “yeah, but ____ doesn’t understand,” stop and consider the ableism in that statement. We cannot measure other people’s private events. You don’t know for sure what they understand, and it’s ableist to presume incompetence. Stop getting defensive about it; practice ability humility!
Staying humble means you will stay open to learning and continue to be aware of your own biases and limitations. That’s a pretty important component to scientific practice, right? When you are able to tact your biases, you are better able to prevent them from affecting your services and harming your clients. We got in this field to help, right? The first step is unlearning the reasons your help is needed in the first place.