World autism awareness day: Autism and ABA therapy
What is ABA?
ABA, short for Applied Behavioural Analysis, is usually defined as an ‘evidence based’ ‘treatment’ for autism to ‘improve’ language, communication skills and to decrease ‘problematic behavior’.
A definition that I am more comfortable with is that ABA is a type of conversion therapy and is abuse. There is no ‘not always’, ‘but’, ‘not the type of ABA that I do’, ‘some people need it’. ABA is abuse.
What is wrong with ABA?
ABA is a behaviour therapy, which means that it focuses on changing certain behaviours that are considered unacceptable. It is not about understanding or supporting, but about modifying behaviour. Desired behaviour is reinforced, while unacceptable behaviour is the one they want to get rid of, by repeating things over and over again until the unwanted behaviour has disappeared.
Behavioural therapists practising ABA are NOT trying to understand autistic people’s experiences, but trying to change them for the comfort of society and to conform to what appears to be ‘normal’.
What is considered unacceptable behaviour?
Autistic traits such as stimming, rocking, not making eye contact, getting ‘too attached’ to things, talking about the same thing too many times over and over again, not eating certain foods, not being able to touch certain textures, repeating sounds, having an intense interest, covering ears…
One of the biggest problems is that these kinds of approaches completely ignore the fact that everyone has a reason for doing something. Just because someone else doesn’t understand why a child doesn’t want to make eye contact, or is flapping their hands, that does not mean there is no valid reason for doing so. More importantly, some of these things like stimming are self-regulatory behaviours, so if you eliminate the behaviour you are teaching the person that they can’t self regulate and you are also teaching them to suppress their needs for the comfort of other people.
ABA neglects the structure of the autistic brain, the overestimulation, the child development and self-regulated tools for autistic people and provides ‘treatment’ to make autistic people appear less autistic and conform to societal expectations. In other words, ABA forces autistic people to communicate in a certain way, socialise, regulate and move in ways that are unnatural and uncomfortable.
ABA exposure has been linked to PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Kupferstein, 2018).
We are not broken: autistic masking.
There should be NO THERAPY for being autistic, just like there is no therapy for being a woman, black or being left handed. Being autistic is not a medical condition, but a specific neurotype. Autistic people have different support needs, which is not the same as saying that they need therapy to change their neurotype or behaviours associated with it.
ABA suggests that the natural way of doing things for autistic people is wrong. That we are broken and must be fixed for non autistic people. ABA teaches autistic people that their needs are less important than making people around them comfortable, making autistic people vulnerable to manipulation and abuse, and teaching them to measure themselves to Neurotypical standards and to mask their autistic traits. Masking has been linked with adverse mental health outcomes such as stress, anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders, loss of identity, and suicidality
History of ABA: Autistic conversion therapy.
The history of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is deeply intertwined with conversion therapy, which has the goal to align a person's behavior with their assigned gender at birth and conforming to traditional gender roles and heterosexuality.
One prominent figure in the history of ABA, Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas, not only participated in conversion therapy but also played a role in its development. Lovaas supported and funded projects like the Feminine Boy Project, led by his student George Rekers. This project, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), aimed to prevent "deviant behavior" in children, including what was then termed "prehomosexual behavior." The goal was to make these children conform to heterosexual and cisgender norms, using techniques of behavior modification pioneered by Lovaas.
The similarities between ABA and conversion therapy are striking. Both want to make individuals conform to societal norms, whether in terms of gender and sexuality or neurotypes. ABA, originally designed to make autistic individuals "indistinguishable from their typically-developing peers," shares the same roots and techniques as conversion therapy. Both seek to make "different" or "abnormal" individuals "normal" through behavioural modification, often employing methods that are now recognized as harmful.
