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Тania Melnyczuk Profile picture
Тania Melnyczuk
@ekverstania
Disability rights activist, artist & lifelong learner. 😷 #NAFO #SaveGaza #ListenToNonspeakers #HatOfTheDay Visit https://t.co/jlCNiy321g
10 subscribers
Jul 7 • 58 tweets • 9 min read
Hey, it's 1985 and I have an idea for a movie! In 2020, a virus hits the world and by 2025 nearly half a billion of the survivors have brain damage so severe that they don't even remember to protect themselves against further infections. They start using robots to think for them. The virus also affects the empathy centre of the brain, so wars break out, and by the time depicted in the movie, there are at least three major genocides on the go.
Apr 6 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
"What do you think they [the protesters] want?" Harris Faulkner of Fox News asked Trump. "What do you think they need right now from you?"

Trump's answer, verbatim:

1/ "Protesters for different reasons. You're protesting
also because, you know, they just didn't know. l've
watch... I watched very closely. Why are you here?
They really weren't able to say, but they were there
for a reason, perhaps."

2/cont'd
Mar 10 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Dit lyk my ek gaan op 'n stadium my familiegeskienis moet begin uitpak hier... ...van die eerste 17e-eeuse Hugenoot af, deur die slavinne wat later grondbesitters geword het, tot die Boererepublieke, konsentrasiekampe, die verbanning van manne na St. Helena, die uittog van Afrikaners na Argentinië,...
Feb 14 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Americans, if you're devastated by the news that RFK has been confirmed as health secretary, if you're afraid that this will result in the death of millions of people, then I have bad news and good news for you from history:

🧵 The bad news is, yes, it is likely that millions will die.

But you can also save millions by learning from the past and being inspired by it.

See, we went through this in South Africa with AIDS-denialist as Minister of Health from 1999 to 2008.

🧵
Feb 9 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
Dear 🇿🇦 South Africans dreaming of a better life in the 🇺🇸 US

I want to share something with you that appeared on my Facebook timeline today.

It was written by a happily married American mother whom I have known online for years via autistic self-advocacy networks.

🧵 Wendy shared it publicly, so I am going to post it verbatim and link to her original post at the end of the thread.

For now, I'm posting it as-is without comment; perhaps I'll add something later.

🧵
Dec 6, 2024 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
To all these UK people who are puzzled about why there's sooo much pneumonia going around in your country, lemme tell you a short story about TB (tuberculosis) in South Africa to help you understand what's going on.

🧵 Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases were a problem we needed to prevent anyway.
Oct 25, 2024 • 57 tweets • 9 min read
Man, this is an interesting exchange. Many people are disadvantaged in this kind of situation: most of us don't have the full set of weapons and skills—body language, posture, tone, eye contact, reading the other guy's responses, quick thinking. This guy has… a lot. The argument wasn't won entirely on logic and words. The squeaky guy was discombobulated and allowed himself to be overpowered. The use of the chair was masterful. This whole scene could be analysed by students in a drama class.
Jul 20, 2024 • 45 tweets • 8 min read
The whole human race is rapidly changing—biologically—for the worse. Is disability the New Normal?

Apr 20, 2024 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
What these people are advocating is child abuse. I know the way they put it doesn't sound bad, but this is about a very controlled, clinically callous form of manipulation. I'll drop some more links below so you can understand the context. What they're advocating is based on the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). Here's what that's about:

autisticstrategies.net/nonspeaking-au…
Feb 17, 2024 • 57 tweets • 8 min read
[THREAD]
Why is it so hard for people in the field of ABA to improve the field, even with the support of autistic activists? One of the reasons is this: Powerful people in the industry will try to destroy you for listening to autistic people, for trying to do a job compassionately, and for calling out the abuse.
Nov 17, 2023 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
Vladimir Putin's standard modus operandi is to make agreements and then demonstrate his power by breaking them with impunity. Any suggestion that Ukraine should negotiate a settlement with Russia is borne either out of ignorance of this long track record, or out of ill logic, naïvete and stupidity (like, "I know, but I'm sure it won't happen again") or straight-up support for Russia.
Jul 13, 2023 • 8 tweets • 1 min read
[THREAD] Request to
#BCBA
#BehaviorTwitter #BehaviorAnalyst #BehaviorAnalysis

Content warning: ABA, child abuse

The following account was posted in an ABA survivor group. I have permission to share it to ask what this person can do to stop the abuse.

1/x "I have step kids that are currently in the custody of their maternal grandparents. Dcf is involved and put the youngest in ABA (I have no say in her care as of now, and neither do her parents)."

2/x
Jul 11, 2023 • 68 tweets • 8 min read
LOOOOK! #BanABA #ABAisAbuse

I downloaded the draft resolution. If I get the final one, I'll tweet the contents. It's just three pages. https://t.co/KwFH0eiyps
They're withdrawing support for ABA, did you see that? The American Medical Association are withdrawing support for Applied Behaviour Analysis!
Jun 5, 2023 • 38 tweets • 5 min read
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…
Jun 3, 2023 • 13 tweets • 2 min read
[THREAD]

IMPORTANT THINGS YOU LEARN ABOUT AUTISM WHEN YOU LISTEN TO AS MANY AUTISTIC PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE

(FIRST DRAFT) This thread is not only for parents and professionals, but also for autistic people who don't usually explore autism very far beyond their own experiences. I'll keep appending things to it, so don't consider it complete until I say so.
Jun 2, 2023 • 38 tweets • 7 min read
[THREAD]

ABA is supposed to be 'evidence-based' therapy for autism, right?

So... I have a few questions. As I understand it, the 5 steps in developing an evidence-based therapy are:

1. Generate the clinical question.

2. Find the best evidence.

3. Appraise the evidence for validity and usefulness.

4. Apply the results in clinical practice.

5. Evaluate.

Is this correct?
May 31, 2023 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
Now that the musician Sia has revealed that she too is autistic, let's remind everyone of why her movie, Music, was a problem: it was NOT primarily because she hired a non-autistic actress, but because NONSPEAKING AUTISTIC PEOPLE were misrepresented. #ListenToNonspeakers This page, created by @Communica1st and its partners at the time, is full of resources about how best to represent nonspeaking autistic people in media.

communicationfirst.org/listen/
May 18, 2023 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
I'm updating my article quoting nonspeaking autists on ABA. I have a few questions which I'll add over the next few days in the thread below. Once everything is answered, I'll turn off replies, because I will have made changes based on the replies.

autisticstrategies.net/nonspeaking-au… Nonspeakers are welcome to contacting me directly even after I turn off replies if there are problems with the content (or anything else).
May 12, 2023 • 98 tweets • 14 min read
[THREAD] Numerous providers of ABA-based therapies and ABA academics recommend the work of Ivar Lovaas, and a lot of ABA studies reference his work. We often talk about what he purportedly said, without direct references, so I thought I would drop some extracts of his work here. "A detailed presentation of the treatment procedure has been presented in a teaching manual (Lovaas et al., 1980). The conceptual basis of the treatment was reinforcement (operant) theory; treatment relied heavily on discrimination learning data and methods."
May 8, 2023 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
When we talk about hypokalaemia (e.g., from a channelopathy) as a cause of #SensoryOverload, many people think that a lab test will reliably reveal whether you lack potassium. So: no, lab tests are often unreliable for this. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… To add to the confusion, hyperkalaemic sensory overstimulation (sensory overload from too much potassium) can externally look similar to hypokalaemic sensory overstimulation (sensory overload from too little potassium).
May 7, 2023 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
The movie 'Spellers' (featuring nonspeaking autistic people who communicate with letterboards and by typing) is available to watch for free online right now. I've been told that it's free until the end of the weekend. I'm going to watch it and review it.

thehighwire.com/watch/ OK, raw initial response:

1. Yay for the people who are communicating. Spread their words!

2. This documentary was made by autism parents, and

3. I wish that nonspeaking autists who use a variety of types of AAC had directed it instead, and

4. I'm still upset with JB Handley.