Hey #BehaviorTwitter as we start Autism Awareness month (thank you @autismspeaks) I wanted to share some thoughts. We will see many people posting something along the line of "we don't want awareness, we want acceptance and accommodation."
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Well, without awareness of the disorder there would be no possibility of acceptance and accommodation (A&A). A&A are critically important and as practicing behavior analysts we should all be striving for, promoting, and fostering A&A. Not just with respect to autism.
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When @autismspeaks (AS) started, there was not much awareness in the lay public of autism. AS changed that and we, as a profession and as a society, owe a debt of gratitude to AS for that campaign. There are many aims that AS has and another one has been advocacy.
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@autismvotes has successfully advocated for autistics to access medically necessary care. Not just applied behavior analysis (ABA) but other necessary therapies like speech and occupational therapy among other medically necessary health and mental health services.
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This advocacy led to insurance reform for autism treatment in all 50 of the states in the US. So professionally practicing behavior analysts, like you, would not have the ability to provide treatment without AS.
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So before you endorse or passively ignore disparaging comments about AS, please think about this thread.
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