#aba therapy

[autism-polls]

Anonymously submitted December 21, 2024

[wheelie-sick]

TW: ABA therapy in detail

me n my best friend were talking about ABA and actually specifically talking about talking

did you know ABA therapists try to act as speech therapists without being speech therapists? in fact most, if not all, ABA centers do not have a speech therapist on their team!

at my ABA center they would attempt to force all the kids to use oral speech. ABA therapy is disproportionately used for higher support needs kids who are more likely to have lower speaking abilities if they have the ability at all.

many of the kids there would only speak in a few words or sentences and one was unable to speak at all. kids were denied AAC if they had any speaking ability because they wanted to "encourage speech" and thought AAC would discourage it (something disproven by studies many times). they were constantly scolded and told to "use their words" when they were upset or wanted something. they would try to teach them to talk by forcing them into it.

the one girl who was allowed AAC was the girl who had no speaking ability. she was treated like a puppy doing tricks whenever she would use her AAC device to talk. most of the time she too was denied AAC. the therapists would talk behind her back about "how smart she is to use that tablet" and "how good she is at it" all while denying it to her. they would put her in bad sensory environments without any way to communicate. as my best friend said, this was essentially torturing her.

even kids who could usually speak were scolded when losing speech. if a person who had more speaking ability shut down and lost that speech they were scolded and "lost points" (<- forgot the actual terminology used) for not "using our words."

we were expected to talk the entire time even if we were tired and wanted a break. (everyone at the center struggled with speech to some degree) I really do mean the entire time. these sessions were multiple hours long. we weren't allowed to do things silently. I don't know how much this standard was applied to the kids with less speaking ability but I imagine their experience was similar.

speaking was mandatory to access food or water. particularly those of us with more significant speech problems were expected to ask for it 2, 3 times using verbal speech if we wanted it. it was withheld if they couldn't.

speech was not just expected it was mandatory and failing meant your time in hell was longer. they did not want to focus on building effective communication (which is honestly something an SLP should be doing) they wanted to force speech. it didn't matter that this would not work for many of the kids, that being nonverbal or losing speech are not choices someone makes or something in our control. they didn't care.

reblogs okay (and encouraged)

[eattingbuggs]

i love guilty gear

More like i love aba 😓

[hello-nichya-here]

Did Sia insult topic of autism somehow?

Oh honey, it's sooooooooo much worse than that.

Sia wanted to make a movie about an autistic girl that manages to connect to people/feel safe and confident through music. So far, nothing outrageous, just a simple concept that would obviously put Sia's music front and center while doing something nice and educating people on autism.

There was controversy about her not casting an autistic actress as it would have been nice representation, but she could have totally gotten away with that since, come on, hollywood hasn't even figured out Rain Man isn't exactly true to life, they're not ready to have an autistic person playing an autistic character. Baby steps.

The real problem started when Sia started promoting the "charity/support group" that was helping "educate" her on the topic to make the movie. The "charity" in question was Autism Speaks - which is absolutely HATED by the autistic community for things like:

1 - Spreading the myth that autism is a mental illness that one can develop/catch like the freaking flue and potentially be cured of, instead of a neurotype, aka something starts in the woomb and cannot be "cured" because to do that you'd need to replace someone's entire nervous system, which is impossible.

2 - Using that myth to get outrageous amounts of money from people so they "search for a cure" - that doesn't exist and will never exist because curing autism is biologically impossible, AND despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of autistic people don't even want to be "cured" (plus, since said "cure" would essentially mean giving the person a new brain, it leads to the question of "Would I even be the same person, or would that just kill and replace me?")

3 - Using the myth of "We don't know what causes autism" (we do, it's genetic) to, of course, get MORE money from people so they can "do research to find the missing puzzle piece" (if you ever see autistic people complaining about a puzzle piece being used to represent the condition, that's why, it was started by Autism Speak's massive disinformation campains).

4 - Falsely "confirming" things like soy milk cause autism with one of the world's most ridiculous "research", losing only to "vaccines totally make kids autistic, buy MY vaccine instead, guys, I am totally not an unbelievably biased person, it's ALL the other doctors/scientists lying to you. GIVE ME MONEY!"

5 - Pushing the narrative of "autism is inherently a tragedy" to distract from the fact that all the money they waste on stupid shit could be used to help autistic people and their families. Instead, they focus on creating more and more panic, making parents in particular despair even more - to the point that one of their "awareness videos" includes a mother talking about how she wants to murder her autistic daughter and then kill herself... while sitting right next to said daughter.

6 - Promoting ABA "therapy" - which was created by the same guy responsible for the attrocity that is gay conversion "therapy." Both have led to unbelievably high rates of confirmed PTSD and suicidal ideation in patients (victims), and ABA in particular has been compared to literal dog training. Very fitting since it was created by a guy who famously did not believe autistic people truly counted as thinking, feeling human beings, and said as much several times. Despite that, it is still praised by some utter bastards because "it makes the patients act less autistic when they're not crying in the corner or trying to jump out a window"

So yeah, working with these guys is a genuinely horrible thing to do since they're basically a scam/hate group pretending to be a charity - and people were STILL willing to give Sia the benefit of the doubt, since Autism Speak uses all their resources to make sure they're the first thing people see when looking up how to help autistic people.

Lots of Sia's fans, both autistic and allistic, warned her repeatedly, politely, that she needed to supporting them IMMEDIATELY as their goal was the exact opposite of the one she claimed to have - aka raise awareness through an accurate portrail of autism. People were even kind enough to name organizations like ASAN as replacements to help her fix any damage done to the project.

And instead of being a decent human being, Sia decided to cry on twitter about how the mean retar-I mean, autistics were bullying her even when she was so kindly using them for her vanity project.

Because yes, that's how the movie turned out. An unwatcheable piece of garbage, with the autistic "character" being so fucking bad even the people who actively use "autistic" as insulted being offended on our behalf - and of course, she was used just a prop to show how awesome Sia's character was.

Seriously, it was so bad the actress playing the autistic girl was sobbing in between scenes because she knew how it was horrible and she didn't want to insult anyone, but Sia is literally her godmother and helped her career by putting her in nearly all her music videos so she felt obligated to go along with it.

So yeah, fuck Sia and fuck Autism Speaks.

[autball]

If your first instinct is to dismiss this on the grounds of “but that would be really messed up,” you’re about halfway to the point.

Keep going.

-

My oldest doesn’t do a lot of eye contact, which was always fine by me because I’m not that into it either. It’s not at all painful for me with my kids, we just never really needed it because we find connection in so many other ways.

Then my youngest came along. They want ALL the eye contact, lol. They really need it for connection. It sometimes takes conscious reminders to myself to meet their gaze because I’m not used to doing it, but I’m happy to make the extra effort to meet my child’s needs in this area.

Can you imagine, though, if I had instead been like, “No one else here needs eye contact, and it’s more work for me, so you’re just gonna have to learn to do things our way to fit in?” Most people would have no trouble seeing how damaging that would be to my child, and they would rightfully want to call me out for it.

Because most people can relate to my child’s need for eye contact.

The only reason non-Autistic ways of being have become the norm is because there are more of them than us. It’s not because they’re actually better, it’s just that NTs have been the ones in charge of making up the rules since forever. 

So what if Autistic people were the majority? What if *we’d* been in charge of making up the social rules and public spaces and developmental timelines all this time? How would Allistic people be treated in this parallel universe? And how do you think Allistic children would handle being forced to live in a world not made for them?

How many people in that universe would actually *encourage* me to deny my youngest child eye contact? 

Y’know, to prepare them for the real world.

(Image description in Alt Text.)

[atlas-valleys]

My favorite couple <3

[pleaseletmeexist]

[devinsturk]

A Manifesto for the Liberated Autistic

(written by one Autistic person!)

Communication is a human right!  We demand access to whatever form of communication we choose, including unconditional access to Augmented and Alternative Communication technologies.

We demand autonomy over our own bodies and rightful decision-making powers over our own lives as we see fit.

We demand freedom from police brutality and all forms of abuse, including seclusion and physical and chemical restraint in schools and hospitals, and we demand freedom from all forms of violence, including filicide.

We demand that the shameful Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts—and all other institutions like it—be shut down.  #StopTheShock

ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) is conversion therapy for autistics.  We demand freedom from all oppressive “interventions” or “treatments” and quack “cures” for Autism which seek to rob us of what—and who—we are.

We demand unsegregated access to an education alongside our peers.

We demand access to our own communities and our own cultures, and we demand access to knowledge of our people’s history!

We demand meaningful employment and an end to sub-minimum wage for all disabled people.

The way we move is political, and we demand freedom from all pressures to “behave” in accordance with neurotypical standards.  Embrace the stim!  

We must commit to cross-disability solidarity and cross-movement solidarity.

#ActuallyAutistic people are the REAL experts on Autism.

[randombrowngirl]

ABA (Christmas) squad

[kickabel]

Engage in Garbage Behavior, 2022

Ole Ivar Løvaas, the creator of ABA (applied behavioral analysis) therapy referred to stimming (self-stimulatory behaviors) as "garbage behavior." ABA went on to be a model for the NIH-funded "Feminine Boy Project"- a prototype of conversion therapy that resulted in suicide.

[blueboldandbright]

More decoration for my battle jacket, someday I’ll actually post a photo of it

[itty-bitty-playhouse]

Oooo yay time to put one of my obsessions into agere stuff cause who's gonna stop me!!! :D Time to show regression in a way I usually don't that's just as helpful!!

I think A.B.A. deserves to regress; she wouldn't admit that or actively try to but she does and I love it.

I know she woke up next to Paracelsus loosely lying on a bed- it's queen-sized cause he's big- and just cuddling with him. They just cuddle while the clingy baby(she says she's still a big girl) babbles about loving Para and how he makes the bad thoughts go away while chewing her nails. Para just lets her babble, occasionally reminding her not to bite them so much, and telling her it's okay.

AND ITS JUST A NORMAL MORNING FOR THEM!! It's not weird and out of the blue; Para definitely doesn't mind or care and A.B.A. would fall asleep again, wake up, make some food, and go out with Para for the day!

[wheelie-sick]

things that are ABA therapy:

✅ Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy done by an ABA therapist

things that are not ABA therapy:

❌ being bullied for being autistic

❌ being abused for being autistic

❌ experiencing trauma because you are autistic

❌ society as a whole encouraging masking

ABA therapy refers to a specific form of therapy. stop commenting on posts about ABA therapy saying you were "basically in ABA therapy because....." no! you weren't! it's bad but not the same! ABA is not a generic term to describe any sort of abuse or treatment for being autistic. when ABA survivors are talking about our specific experiences we are looking to connect or educate about those specific experiences. if you didn't have those experiences then stay quiet! you don't have to add on to every post talking about yourself, sometimes you can just silently reblog!

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

fuck ABA

that’s all thank you for listening

[hello-nichya-here]

What's wrong with ABA therapy? Genuinely asking.

It was literally created by a guy that did not believe autistic people were human - his words, not mine. It's not real therapy, it's just abusing autistic people (mainly children) until they associate doing any autistic thing (stimming, not looking people in the eye, giving only non-verbal answers, not being comfortable with hugs, etc) with stress and pain, so they "fix their behavior".

The entire thing is based on the completely bullshit assumptions that any trait of autism is inherently negative and has no real functionality, both to the person with the condition and to those around them, and that they can just learn how to do things "the right way" - hence the name Aplied BEHAVIOR analysis. It assumes we just "don't know how to act", like a little kid that hasn't learned to spell or how to eat using a knife and fork.

But the thing is autistic people behave the way they do for a reason. "Ordinary" things (like looking people in the eye, or always hugging their relatives and friends, or having to be in a crowded room, with a lot of people talking at once) are PAINFUL to us. Some of us can mask how much it bothers us, but it never stops being a problem. And on the case of stimming (saying the same word over and over, running around, flapping ours hands, biting on a toy, etc) that is what we do to self-sooth when something isn't going right.

ABA is abusive because it forces the patients to behave in a way that causes nothing but pain, just because that's how neurotypicals behave naturally. It's like punching someone in the face over and over, telling them that if they complain they'll just get punched again, and then using the fact that they're not complaining about being punched anymore as "proof" that you made them no longer feel pain - when it's pretty clear they're only not complaining because they'd be punished with more pain if they tried.

Not to mention: training a bunch of vulnerable kids, some of which cannot talk and don't even understand what's going on, that if an adult does something that bothers or hurts them, including touching their body without permission, it's their job to just sit there and take it and that if they turn to their parents for help they'll just get scolded for it because, again, the whole point of ABA is to go "This is all your fault actually, stop crying" is a HORRIBLE idea. It's practically grooming kids to accept that any and all forms of abuse (including sexual) are things that are supposed to happen to them.

That's why one of THE most repeated phrases by autistic people who speak out against ABA and organizations like Autism Speaks, an AWFUL hate-group pretending to be a charity and that adores things like ABA or trying to to blame everything from vaccines to milk for the "rise in autism cases" (which isn't actually real), is "Nothing about us without us."

The overwhelming majority of treatments and charities that claim to help autistic people are only doing things that are either useless or downright harmful to us because they all start from the basic misconception that we don't understand our own condition, that we cannot possibly know what would help us, and that we need someone else to "decode the mystery" that is autism to "save" us.

Entire decades of wasted effort and money, as well as abuse being pushed as a solution, could have been prevented if non-autistic people would fucking LISTEN instead of speaking over us just because we act "weird." It's all based on "Your condition bothers ME, therefore I'm the one who decides what is or is not a problem for YOU." It's the most condescending bullshit ever.

[egolifting]

[ID: An Etsy listing for the shop ShaneIsCreationsLLC with a picture of three badges. The first badge is red and says "stop, planned ignoring in progress, thanks for helping to ignore attention seeking behavior." The second is yellow and says "Need help!" The third is green and says "all clear, OK to approach." The name of the product for sale is "Behavior Support Badge Cards, Communication Cards, Special Education Behavior Management, ABA Therapy Materials, Visual Communication Tools."]

found this on etsy when i was looking for AAC communication cards for myself. i guess the new aba therapy is making autistic people wear badges that tell everyone to ignore them. i wonder how many people would accept a parent or teacher doing this to a neurotypical child? an adult doing this to their partner? a manager doing this to an employee?