Thread by @ekverstania

In contexts other than ABA, the process which behaviour analysts call 'pairing and/or developing rapport' is called 'grooming'.

Does anyone perhaps have a terminology map that explains ABA terms (such as "creating a positive reinforcement inventory") in a way that would help someone familiar with grooming better understand the rationale behind the steps in ABA?
inhope.org/EN/articles/th…

What I have so far is some rough notes. Please feel free to point out mistakes.

Stage 1: Target Selection and Identification

In the grooming process, the perpetrator identifies a potential target and evaluates their vulnerability and accessibility.

Similarly, in ABA therapy, the process identifies a child who can 'benefit' from intervention and conducts a comprehensive assessment, including a reinforcement inventory, to determine the child's preferences for specific reinforcers.

Reinforcers=Things the child likes that can be given to the child when the child complies (the classic example being gummi bears, but it could also be access to a 'preferred activity' such as a specific game).

Stage 2: Establishing Trust and Rapport

Building trust is a critical component of both grooming and ABA therapy. Groomers often engage in friendly conversations, offer praise, and demonstrate empathy to create emotional bonds with the child.

Similarly, in ABA therapy, the therapist focuses on building rapport, establishing a positive relationship, and gaining the child's trust by providing reinforcing experiences tailored to their preferences.

This could involve using preferred activities or items as reinforcers to strengthen the therapist-child bond (as per the reinforcement inventory).

Stage 3: Creating a Special Connection

This stage involves creating a sense of exclusivity or special connection. Groomers outside therapeutic ABA may offer special attention, gifts, or privileges to make the child feel unique and valued.

Similarly, in ABA therapy, the therapist grooms the child to establish a strong connection through positive interactions and the consistent delivery of reinforcers, fostering a sense of trust and cooperation.

Stage 4: Testing Boundaries

To gauge the child's response and level of compliance, the groomer may test boundaries.

Sexual groomers may use subtle forms of touch or introduce inappropriate discussions or activities.

In ABA, the therapist-groomer may gradually introduce new tasks, behavioural expectations, or social situations, utilising the principles of operant conditioning.

This allows the therapist to assess the child's responses and tailor the intervention based on those responses.

At all times, the groomer/therapist must assess whether to hold back a bit and build more of a connection first, or start showing more power, e.g., by introducing negative reinforcement for undesired responses.

Stage 5: Isolation and Secrecy

I'm going to pause here, because I need to explain how caregivers are sometimes involved in enabling the abuse, either due to naivety or sometimes as the primary abusers. That will contextualise Stage 5 better.

In ABA, a lot of the abuse is hidden in plain sight, and this is sometimes true of other types of child abuse as well.

Also, there's a lot of ABA terminology missing in the explanation of the steps above, and what I am actually looking for is a REVERSE mapping, with the ABA jargon first, and the grooming explanation second. Perhaps this already exists, and I'm reinventing the wheel here.

Meanwhile, a few quotes from a survivor account. I didn't add a content warning to the thread, because I already made it clear that I was going to be talking about grooming. I need to add content warnings now, though, because things get more descriptive from here onwards.

CW: Child abuse, other abuse

"ABA groomed me for every trauma I endured later in my life, from abusive relationships in my adult years where I was physically and mentally injured by partners, to being molested for seven years, starting at six years old, by my uncle."

CW: Child abuse

"By the time my uncle began molesting me, ABA had taught me, through the way it forced me to endure pain for the comfort of others, that my body was not my own."

CW: Child abuse

"When my uncle came to my room at night to molest me, the first thought in my child-mind was that this was the same thing as therapy, that if I was quiet and kept my body still, it will be over quicker than if I fought—because I learned that in ABA as well."

CW: Partner abuse

"When my first partner began hitting me when I was 18 through 20-something, I was convinced it was something to do with me, as if I was a bad or broken person who deserved it."

"ABA had taught me that the people who purport to love you will hurt you, and with the same breath, say they have your best interests at heart."

Full account here:

(CW: child abuse, food deprivation, partner abuse, denial of communication rights)

neurodiversitynews.net/interview-jayj…

By the way, I did ask a bunch of BCBAs whether they do anything to ringfence the abuse, i.e., to teach their clients something like, "Remember, I am allowed to groom you and demand your compliance, but you should say no to other people who abuse their power to mak you do things."

Obviously, that's not therapy language, but basically, the answer was no: there is nothing in standard ABA therapy to prevent a child from learning that ABA-type relationships and behaviour patterns are supposed to be limited to the ABA therapy environment, and...

...since parents are often encouraged to seamlessly continue ABA-type interactions at home (this is in keeping with Lovaas' 1987 paper), there is no explicit way for a child to learn that what they're experiencing is considered unnatural and abusive in other contexts.

The codes of ethics and the training standards which underlie mainstream ABA were created and are maintained by people who espouse violence as part of therapy, so...

...if these codes had to be revised to come even a few steps closer to human rights compliance, the custodians, researchers and practitioners (the Leafs, the Mallots, Pritchard, etc.) would be incriminating themselves.

I've never heard of any ABA specialists writing themselves out of a job and into prison, so do not expect the reformists to achieve great successes in unseating the people in power. It was enough of a schlepp to get ABAI's members to vote against skin shock.

Note: I am not an ABA expert; I learned what I know over 13 years from research papers, talking to survivors and reading their accounts, and from lengthy discussions with ex-therapists and people still working in ABA, from ABA marketers, from watching videos, etc. So...

Feel free to correct me if I am using any ABA terminology incorrectly, #BehaviorTwitter, or if I have the incorrect steps, etc. I have a hunch this may be incorrect usage for 'negative reinforcement':

https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1665718032121905153