That thing where the left/progressives kind of suck on disability rights? Not just an American problem. #CanPoli
For Americans who are looking at this and going ???, here’s the scoop...
The Conservative Ford government in Ontario wants to cut funding for applied behavior analysis/ABA (and like a ton of other healthcare services. Because they’re conservatives.)
Autistic self advocates who survived ABA have been fighting it for years, inside and outside Ontario.
The movement against ABA is lead by people who went through it and were traumatized by it. They see it as a human rights abuse.
The movement against ABA is lead by people who went through it and were traumatized by it. They see it as a human rights abuse.
.@JMsumba, @InfiniteEcho97, and @UnstrangeMind have written some devastating stuff about their experiences in ABA on and off Twitter.
The actual scientific basis for intensive ABA is poor, according to a Cochran Review. cochrane.org/CD009260/BEHAV…
But the ABA lobby in Ontario has parents convinced that not giving autistic kids 40 hours a week of their intensive and questionable therapy is like denying chemo to kids with cancer.
Parents care about and want what’s best for their kids. And they’ve been told over and over again that ABA is “gold standard” autism therapy, despite a lack of rigorous evidence.
So parents are, completely understandably, angry.
If someone told me my kid was going to be denied “life-saving” therapy, I’d be angry too.
If someone told me my kid was going to be denied “life-saving” therapy, I’d be angry too.
.@A4AOntario, an autistic self-advocate group, agreed to do a media training that was offered for free and what they thought was in good faith.
It’s a nonpartisan grassroots group, and the members are not highly-trained political operatives.
It quickly became clear that the goals of the firm offering training were not compatible with the goals of A4A Ontario.
It quickly became clear that the goals of the firm offering training were not compatible with the goals of A4A Ontario.
Now it’s being spun like disabled people who sincerely and for good reason oppose ABA are being manipulated by Conservatives with a regressive agenda.
They are not. There are valid reasons to oppose ABA. Not everything is a binary left/right issue. This is one of those times.
They are not. There are valid reasons to oppose ABA. Not everything is a binary left/right issue. This is one of those times.
It comes up over and over and over again on the left: People who want to keep their jobs in systems that are abusive fight for labor rights at the expense of other people’s civil rights.
It’s not just ABA practitioners. It’s institution staff. It’s prison guards. It’s even teachers — The NEA in the US is the biggest opponent of laws that would ban or restrict restraint and seclusion of disabled students.
There’s a long history of regressive politicians treating shutting down abusive institutions like an opportunity to cut costs.
People don’t stop needing support. They just need better and different support.
People don’t stop needing support. They just need better and different support.
Anyway, this whole thing is a mess, and my thoughts are with the autistic activists in Ontario who have fought like hell to give autistic kids a better future. I also have sympathy for the parents who think they’re doing the exact same thing.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) is a party that is to the left of the Liberals (the party of Prime Minister Trudeau).
If I still lived in Canada, I’d probably vote NDP.
If I still lived in Canada, I’d probably vote NDP.
I’m just going to go back feeling alienated by the left and the right using disabled people as a cudgel against each other without actually listening to our community’s priorities and values.
