The founder of ABA said the following about Autistic kids:

“You see, you start pretty much from scratch when you work with an autistic child. You have a person in the physical sense – they have hair, a nose and a mouth – but they are not people in the psychological sense...."
"One way to look at the job of helping autistic kids is to see it as a matter of constructing a person. You have the raw materials, but you have to build the person.”
Lovaas strongly believed in intense behavioral modification interventions, that included harsh aversive techniques such as withholding touch and attention, isolation, and even giving electric shock "therapy"...
He was also using the same methods on gay and trans youths at the same time - you may have heard of “gay conversion therapy”.... he saw LGBTQIA+ people in much the same way.
In 1976 the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health took away his funding “due to complaints of excessive use of corporal punishment against children.
So... when people say "modern ABA is better" or "not my ABA" - I ask HOW can something founded on these HORRIBLE principals be anything but harmful to Autistic people?

#YesAllAba #BanABA #AutisticConversionTherapy
#ActuallyAutistic #AskingAutistics & Allies to send public comments about ABA / Autistic Conversion Therapy & why it is harmful to:

IACCPublicInquiries@mail.nih.gov

#IACCForAutistics #IACC #Urgent #BanABA #YesAllABA #ABA #Autistic

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More from @NeuroRebel

Apr 2
Today (April 2nd, 2024) is the 17th Annual World Autism Day. This is my 7th World Autism Day, knowing that I am Autistic.

I have many feelings about April, watching it come and go since I first learned I am Autistic a few months before my twenty-ninth birthday. A blue puzzle piece appears on a rainbow background with the words Autism Awareness floating on it in off-white. In front of that is a red mark, crossed through, symbolizing NO Autism Awareness.
For many Autistic people, April can be a source of frustration and pain (because instead of promoting acceptance and understanding, traditional awareness campaigns often perpetuate harmful stereotypes, contributing to our continued stigmatization).
Years ago, on my first April, knowing my Autistic brain, I was naively excited about having a month to talk about Autism.

Unfortunately, that excitement quickly turned to frustration and dread once the reality of this month became apparent.
Read 8 tweets
Sep 30, 2023
Something my international readers don’t always understand about ABA in the US:

ABA is “standard of care” for Autistic kids here.
People (school, doctors, family members, court systems) can all report you to CPS for “medical neglect” if they hear you’re “withholding ABA” from an Autistic child… and then it may become court ordered.

I’ve known families this has happened to.
It’s one reason I fight so hard/am so loud about ABA, because I’ve seen what happens when choices are removed and Autistic Conversion Therapy is made mandatory.

It can happen during a divorce especially if one parent wants it (but even if neither does).
Read 6 tweets
Jul 13, 2023
Did you know the police have NO authority over you UNLESS you have committed a crime or they suspect you have committed a crime or are about to commit a crime based on 2 things:
RAS (reasonable articulable suspicion) & SAF (single articulable FACT) that points to you committing or attempting to commit a crime.

Despite this, police will often abuse their power, giving unlawful orders to members of the public who don’t technically have to obey them.
Unfortunately, police officers often believe they have the authority to bark orders at the general public, and will react violently when people disobey their unlawful demands.
Read 9 tweets
Jun 5, 2023
With the recent attempt at anti-Autistic, anti-trans legislation in Missouri, to exclude trans adults from accessing trans-affirming care if they are Autistic, or have a mental health condition (such as anxiety or depression) to be remedied before one can access care.
Something our cis allies may not understand is that the feeling of gender incongruence (or gender dysphoria) causes anxiety and depression. Additionally, the cure that medical professionals agree on for the anxiety and depression from gender dysphoria is...
Being able to access transition.

Being unable to access care would cause anxiety and depression for most trans people).
Read 7 tweets
Jun 5, 2023
Coming out nonbinary has been like coming out Autistic in many ways.

Many people don't believe nonbinary people exist. Some people also don't believe Autism and Autistic People exist.
If they believe in Autism (or nonbinary people), they tell me they don't believe me, insinuating (or outright saying) I am "faking" being Autistic, nonbinary, or both for attention.
Unfortunately, too many people today will see a NeuroDivergent (or Queer) Person happy and thriving (without understanding the support and history that went into making that person who they are today).
Read 6 tweets
Jun 5, 2023
The people who hate Queer People want us to go back into the closets, back into hiding, back to denying who we are to make the cis-het people more comfortable, but I can't return to the closet because I transitioned publicly... I can't hide even if I wanted to.
The last time I tried to hide, I became so burned out and depressed I almost ended it.

I refuse to do it again.
That mental health crisis led to my Autism diagnosis nearly seven years ago. That crisis let me know I had to "come out" even when I didn't know (at the time) how much coming out I would be doing.
Read 4 tweets

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