Social Care Worker | Working in adult Disability Services | Autism Advocate | (he/him) #actuallyautistic #BetterwaysthanABA | AuDHD |
Sep 20 • 18 tweets • 3 min read
1/ I’m doing a MA in Social Work because I want to improve how disabled people are treated in Ireland.
I never realised how difficult it would be to be in a course where students and lecturers constantly and confidently say awful things about disability as if it’s common sense.
2/ In a lecture on ‘social work in practice’ today ABA was put forward as a good theory for social work with disabled people. When I raised how insulting that was my comments were disregarded.
Apr 16 • 13 tweets • 2 min read
1/12 I’m in a FB group for social care, rarely use it, but every time I log on there’s a post on disability and all the comments are SCW’s promoting behaviour support.
Why?
Because all the education you get on how to support disabled people in Ireland is from PBS teams.
2/12 If you comment anything different you’ll get at least one reply defending PBS.
Everyone in the group seems to believe,
ABA = bad
PBS = good
None of them realise,
ABA + PBS are the same thing in Ireland
Nov 14, 2023 • 21 tweets • 3 min read
1/19 Completed CPI training today. This is a training in disability support services that is often thought alongside PBS that a lot of people aren’t aware of.
It’s equally if not more problematic than PBS.
I’ll give a synopsis of what I learned in the training: 🧵
2/19 CPI training teaches staff that a person is seen as defensive if they have any of the following traits:
Wringing hands (stimming), bad posture, not making eye contact, fake smiling (masking)
You’re to assume the disabled person is defensive at this point.
May 30, 2023 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
1/4 We need to be banning ALL conversion type therapies
That includes ABA & PBS, the main interventions used on autistic people in Ireland.
2/4 Most in the BA community have been steadily distancing themselves from ABA and switching over to PBS, which is the same thing but with more manipulative language.
PBS are currently trying to reform (again) in Ireland into ‘neuro-affirmative Positive Behaviour Support’.
May 20, 2023 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
1/11 I’m assuming this is referring to experimental behaviour analysis and not ABA?
I’ve watched the meeting between Irish ABA/PBS lobbies and the Disability matters committee.
The meeting occurred as a response to the committee’s stance against ABA/PBS.
Here’s a summary and my thoughts🪡
#BetterWaysThanABA1) At 2:14 into the meeting the first practitioner states that “Behavioural analysis is not a therapeutic intervention for autism”.
For the next 90 minutes they spend most of the time talking about behavioural analysis for autism.
Jun 22, 2022 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
1/10 I’ve heard the ABA community aren’t happy with @AsIAmIreland over their recent stance on ABA “and related therapies” but that the PBS community are happy.
2/10 ABA and PBS are the same thing. This is why releasing a statement taking a stance on “other related therapies” but not actually naming PBS/social skills training is completely pointless and @AsIAmIreland are aware of this.
Jun 20, 2022 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
1/ This isn’t a well thought out thread, it’s more of a burnt out rant and a few thoughts about having a career in adult disability services and supporting autistic people, context as always is Ireland:
#ActuallyAutistic2/ I was speaking to a person with 15 years exp in adult disability services, we’re both interested in working in advocacy. Before talking to me they thought autism was a conspiracy because it wasn’t around when they were growing up, they knew nothing about autism at all.
Apr 29, 2022 • 19 tweets • 5 min read
1/ I’m very critical of ABA, it’s an abusive conversion therapy used on autistic people.
But when I started out working with autistic people I was pro ABA.
This is in Ireland but I’d imagine this is similar in other countries
Thread of my experiences: 1/18
#ActuallyAutistic2/ I knew nothing about autism (I had been diagnosed with severe anxiety, agoraphobia and depression) and I learned about autism through an ABA lens. The moment you start working with autistic people ABA (or PBS) is shoved down your throat as being the only thing that works.
Apr 27, 2022 • 12 tweets • 7 min read
1/ ABA hasn’t been mentioned a lot in the Oireachtas. A few TD’s mentioned it last year in support of behavioural therapists.
How many of the TD’s that raised ABA or behavioural analysis in the Oireachtas actually knew what it was?
#AutismAcceptance #ActuallyAustistic2/ @RBoydBarrett on 19 May 2021 raised whether behaviour analysis professionals could secure permanent positions so they may continue “supporting the education in special schools of children with autism”.
