Ontario’s autistic-led advocacy group, Autistics for Autistics, strongly condemns the Government of Ontario for allocating $7.5 million to train provincial teachers in using a bogus autism “therapy” known as Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) 1/6
Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) was founded by O. Ivor Lovaas, a behaviourist who also co-founded gay conversion therapy.
Much like gay conversion therapy, ABA is based on an “aversive” system. Aversives may range from denying play time to electroshocks 2/6
A year of ABA can cost $30,000-$90,000 per child. In contrast, inclusion-based alternatives to ABA are affordable and sustainable.
ABA-based school programs have been sued for human rights abuses in Canada, including high-profile cases in Alberta and Ontario (see statement) 3/6
Autistic people consistently oppose ABA. In a recent survey of 3,431 autistics, just 5.19% supported ABA.
ABA is also rejected by many parents, teachers, autism experts & therapists.
While BCBAs argue that ABA is “the only way,” ABA is rarely used outside of the US & Canada.
Reviews of ABA research show no evidence of benefit for ABA.
Conflicts of interest are pervasive in 70% of ABA research.
ABA research design is flawed, w/small sample sizes, absence of RCTs, detection bias & typically no assessment of risks/adverse events. (See statement)
With no evidence of benefit, clear evidence of harm, community protest & parent demand for alternatives, is there any rational reason to invest in ABA?
Government of Ontario: Do what’s right. De-fund ABA now.
We filed an Access to Information request to see how the Government of Canada allocates funding for "autism" related projects. We learned that there is NO competitive bidding process for the hundreds of millions spent. No one competes for projects. ALL sole-source vendors.
"Our office has been advised that projects funded through the PHAC Autism Spectrum Disorder Strategic Fund are contribution agreements & not contracts. As such, there are no bidding/tendering processes involved."
Read our report about wasteful spending by the federal government in the "autism sector". 80% of housing funds for residential institutions instead of independent living. No federal funds to address poverty, racism, segregation, health access barriers.... a4aontario.com/2020/07/17/the…
Autistics for Autistics, on behalf of autistic children across this province, condemns the Government of Ontario for endorsing a province-wide "ABA education" program for school districts. news.ontario.ca/en/release/599…
Ontario's government is on the wrong side of history. In the future, ABA will be banned, just as "gay conversion therapy" is being banned.
This decision of our government will only be remembered as a terrible mistake.
It was nearly 2 years ago we met with the Ontario govt to present our detailed recommendations for improving autism policy, based on our consultations w/inclusion experts.
None of the recommendations have been implemented.
In case you're tempted to think this is a #FordNation problem only, think again. We met with MPPs from ALL 4 PARTIES. They listened, nodded, thanked us...then did nothing to change the segregation & abuse autistic kids & adults face in this province.
Don't think this was just politicians being lazy or neglectful either.
They actively support segregation & institutionalization bc it brings "jobs" to their ridings & lobby votes in their pocket.
Where is the MPP who champions autistic and IDD Ontarians? NONE have the courage.
Our new FAQ on ABA comes out this week! Some highlights include a summary of recent research & a background into ABA
We also look at how the ABA lobby continues to get funding from provincial governments, identifying 2 factors: political relationships & persuasive marketing 1/4
Political relationships refers to the presence of ABA centres in politicians’ districts, which bring jobs and money into a district, making the politician more likely to support this therapy that they know little about. Lobbying is also a factor... 2/4
An association of ABA providers in Ontario hired one of the nation’s biggest lobbying group to lunch w/provincial reps to sell ABA funding ABA. Same lobby also paid parents to advocate for ABA in the houses of government and engaged in campaign endorsement strategies... 3/4
The rudderless boat know as the National Autism Strategy continues to bob aimlessly, this week developing a "community consultation" committee that will be comprised of 3 autistic people & 2 moms. That's our "community voice" in the proposed future mismanagement of $billions....
We're not going to allow $billions more wasted in handouts to charities like A$ that contribute directly to our segregation, to eugenics, to hate. Take action to STOP the NAS. a4aontario.com/2020/05/16/act…
The $10 million website: How Canada's sole-source contracting betrays the autistic community a4aontario.com/2020/07/17/the…
A search of all publicly-available databases of government contracts shows that the majority of federal autism-related projects have not been put to tender in years, and the largest projects of all did not even have RFPs or any record of tender, bidding or assessments.
When autistic people—the population the government is claiming to serve—raised concerns about this, the government cut all autistic self-advocacy groups out completely from the policy discussion and refused to respond to our messages.