Seeking insight from #actuallyautistic people: what is the current thinking on "Applied Behavior Analysis" services for kids w/ #autism? And what are the best articles on this approach? (Asking because there's a bill in the Iowa House to cover ABA services under our state's CHIP program.) - ThreadSky

laurarbelin.bsky.social • 55 days ago

Seeking insight from #actuallyautistic people: what is the current thinking on "Applied Behavior Analysis" services for kids w/ #autism? And what are the best articles on this approach?

(Asking because there's a bill in the Iowa House to cover ABA services under our state's CHIP program.)

Comments

isawitcoming.bsky.social•55 days ago

I would say from a positive reinforcement standpoint it’s very helpful, as long as the redirection is not rigid and controlling or makes the child feel pressured or fearful - it needs to be done in a kind way that makes them see they have choices and also based on their level of understanding.

isawitcoming.bsky.social•55 days ago

I’m not on the Spectrum myself, but I am the Aunt of an Autistic child. Reinforced positive behavior can be very helpful. Autism Speaks promotes ABA on their website and I’ve taken a class through MindSpring that promotes this reinforcement for those on the Spectrum and also for ODD.

bobbinewman.bsky.social•54 days ago

AS promoting it shouldn’t be seen as a positive. They are not look favorably on by many autistic people. https://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/AutismSpeaksFlyer2020.pdf

laurarbelin.bsky.social•54 days ago

I've heard many talk about AS as a problematic organization. Thanks for the link.

bobbinewman.bsky.social•54 days ago

The IC autism group would be a great group for you to connect with.

sabbath-schrader.bsky.social•55 days ago

Also - brief aside - the #actuallyautistic hashtag is a bit problematic. Autism diagnosis is a very privileged thing for an adult that was not diagnosed as a child to have - it requires (often) thousands of dollars, years of waiting, and time and ability to test.

sabbath-schrader.bsky.social•55 days ago

Most people in the neurodivergent spaces recognize this and due to the fact that diagnosis is so difficult and expensive to obtain, looking down our noses at people who aren't diagnosed just isn't a good look. No shade, just to point that issue out!

sabbath-schrader.bsky.social•55 days ago

That being said - that is not the original intent of the #actuallyautistic hashtag - it was meant to simply identify that the person commenting was, themselves, actually autistic and not a caretaker of a person who was (ie early days of Moms posting questions re their kids).

francoisdm.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yes, and some say self-identification (no diagnosis) is valid too. https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/comments/lmki2g/comment/ldld5oq/

francoisdm.bsky.social•53 days ago

Also, here, an interesting read on the validity of self-diagnosis. https://bsky.app/profile/ericravenwolf.bsky.social/post/3lhwmr7bap22l

ericravenwolf.bsky.social•53 days ago

Wow thank you!!

francoisdm.bsky.social•53 days ago

Here in Spain we are more lucky. A diagnosis can be obtained after a few months and costs a couple of hundreds. I don't know how widespread ABA therapy is in Europe. But there is an interesting position statement about it from the European Council of Autistic People. https://eucap.eu/2024/04/02/aba-statement/

laurarbelin.bsky.social•53 days ago

I don't know anything about this--I assumed some people using the hashtag were self-identified rather than formally diagnosed.

laurarbelin.bsky.social•54 days ago

Thanks for that background. I have only ever seen autistic adults using the hashtag.

sabbath-schrader.bsky.social•54 days ago

It's just one of those 'things' that is totally cool with some people and totally not with others.

I'll be curious to hear more about this bill; as other people have said - it's one of those 'great in theory and with heavy modifications' approach. I like options, though. So.....there's that!

laurarbelin.bsky.social•54 days ago

I was mainly wanting to hear from autistic people and not from parents/caregivers who may have different ideas about how "great" ABA is.

hooda-fuknose.bsky.social•52 days ago

Briefly, "actually" pertaining to action rather than observation still strikes me as ok. Language seldom has an "everyone always knows exactly what all that means without clarification" effect, and bringing everyone to reading it as "first-person" is harm-free.

sabbath-schrader.bsky.social•55 days ago

On the spectrum myself (yes, diagnosed) and ABA has it's place. The ways that it was originally used were problematic, and included punishments as well as rewards for desired behavior. Another big issue is that it basically CAN focus on eliminating behaviors instead of building on skills.

ambersart.bsky.social•55 days ago

I have AuDHD, My brother has ASD. I have been an RBT going on 3 years now, and I am getting my MA in Behavior. There are definitely those out there who are not ethical. I do my best to practice ethically with a child led approach. I never stop stims, I stim myself. I do redirect SIB.

ambersart.bsky.social•55 days ago

I do think hours should be limited to at most 30 hours a week. 20 for those not school age. The current system is too much for many children.

sabbath-schrader.bsky.social•55 days ago

It really does have so many useful features. I've known a lot of people that positively benefitted.

ambersart.bsky.social•55 days ago

It really does. I hope to see continued positive reform and regulations in the field. I know many that practice ethically, and others I've reported for being unethical.

sabbath-schrader.bsky.social•55 days ago

As with a LOT of things - the person doing the job is of GREAT importance. The framework itself can be adaptable and beneficial for a lot of people. But the ways in which a human being can twist that framework remains an issue.

sabbath-schrader.bsky.social•55 days ago

The most basic criticism is that ABA attempts to make neurodiverse people fit into a neuronormative world, instead of teaching them to be themselves with skills to live in that world. Shoving the round peg in to the square hole. ABA is not the issue per se. The practitioners of ABA CAN be a problem.

hooda-fuknose.bsky.social•52 days ago

ABA is trying to rebrand, but it is still focused on training autistic people to express and behave in a non-native manner, which is inherently stressful and often harmful. Putting some of that energy into training non-autistic people how to express and behave more supportively would be welcomed.

laurarbelin.bsky.social•52 days ago

One thing I'm trying to understand is whether ABA has changed in any meaningful way in the past 10-20 years. In some fields techniques are much improved while in others it's "the way we've always done it."

hooda-fuknose.bsky.social•52 days ago

Whether the stick has become more carrot-like is less important. It's still operates from a flawed premise of training autistic people to emulate, at great personal expense.

neurofucked.bsky.social•55 days ago

Some are working on more neuroaffirming approaches to aba. This is a recent article about that.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40617-024-00918-0?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0ilgBTEdMnhzP4_dSDj2e_OBLAwjUFZvg6AatTdgCg6U1YTBJW-l0EP8Y_aem_9QcAtOIJe5pydyvDl1fPEg

theangryautistics.bsky.social•54 days ago

There will never be anything "thought" about it other than that it's horrible. Find an autistic therapist.

kathiecasey.bsky.social•55 days ago

I dissociated constantly to bear up under all the rules, spoken and unspoken. No stimming, forced interactions with classmates, made to eat food that was icky, team games, stern discipline. It’s Conversion Therapy wrapped up in pseudo-science. Ask any adult autists: many of us developed C-PTSD.

laurarbelin.bsky.social•55 days ago

I’m sorry to hear you had such a traumatic experience.

turnedtofire.bsky.social•55 days ago

A complication in the US is that when therapies must be ABA to be covered by insurance, providers rename non-ABA therapies as such in order to get them covered.

But there's a growing body of evidence on the serious harms of actual ABA, and much good commentary here: https://thinkingautismguide.com/aba

ambersart.bsky.social•55 days ago

As an AuDHD RBT, I've seen this first hand, and it's frustrating. Had a client that did not have ASD, insurance wouldn't cover more than 20 services(or something), the parent had them diagnosed (there were many behaviors they had that were similar to ASD) which ASD had unlimited service coverage.

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