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Tania Melnyczuk Profile picture
Tania Melnyczuk
@ekverstania
Disability rights activist, artist & lifelong learner. Mostly at https://t.co/jlCNiy321g My handle is @alphabetania on Bluesky and Post. 😷
François-Régis Dupond Muzart (frdm.fr) Profile picture dmnsqrl Profile picture Alex Kronstein Profile picture Jeannette King OG (Jett, ChillZ,Flo,Jill) Profile picture Feral Decorator Crab Profile picture 10 subscribed
Apr 20 • 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 • 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.
May 6, 2023 • 57 tweets • 11 min read
Imagine that, starting in the 1970s, researchers came up with the idea that the solution to autistic people's problems was to surround them with neon yellow.

They do gazillions of experiments subjecting autistic children to neon yellow and congratulate themselves on the results. And then, about 20 years later, the children are grown up, and in large numbers they start saying how much they hate neon yellow.
May 4, 2023 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
ABA alert, possible #CRPD/#DisabilityRights violation: Just saw mail from Dr Anchen Laubscher, Medical Director of @Netcare_Limited (well-known hospital group in South Africa). They're having a briefing by ABA providers for clinical staff on 10 May. #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs @Netcare_Limited Given that I've only heard about this now, I'm guessing that the @Netcare_Limited leadership team have not yet received #DisabilityRights training, and that they may be unaware of the implications of what they have agreed to. Disability activists are contacting them right now.
May 3, 2023 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Bing has been encouraging me to try out its latest AI features. So, inter alia, I asked which organisations have the biggest financial stake in the so-called 'behavioural health' industry. Although it admitted that it couldn't answer that question exactly, and it switched the topic to mental health rather than 'behavioural health', the names it listed in its response tells me that there is a massive shift away from offering supportive mental health services.
May 2, 2023 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Poor sleep costs the US economy up to $411 billion a year, according to a 2017 study by the RAND Corporation. The costs are linked to absenteeism, presenteeism, and outright mortality from sleep deprivation. The relative loss for Japan is worse. Those are only the top two countries in the study. It doesn't mean that people in the rest of the world are all having sound and refreshing sleep.
Nov 16, 2022 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
For those who have been following the story about the torture of autistic people at the Judge Rotenberg Center: ABAI members just voted AGAINST Contingent Electric Skin Shock, and that is now therefore the official ABAI position! This step forward is a victory for disability rights activists!

What happens next to #StopTheShock? We don't know yet. There are laws before Congress at the moment, but that is a separate process.

This news via @NeuroClastic, one of the main lobbyists against the torture.
Nov 9, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Two of my close relatives just had COVID-19 for a few days last week, and are now pretty much recovered, they believe.

THEY ARE BOTH GENETICALLY AT HIGH RISK FOR HORRIBLE EFFECTS MONTHS DOWN THE LINE.

They wore masks in April when they visited us merely because I insisted. I am annoyed that I have to stay up to date with the latest on Long Covid testing and treatment because you can't just go to any doctor to get it if you happen to need it.
Nov 7, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Anyone else planning to unfollow everyone who buys themselves a blue tick? I searched. Yep, it's a thing. And one person even made a hashtag for it.
Nov 6, 2022 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
[THREAD] I'm looking for advice and action for a chronically ill wheelchair user in Greater Seattle (currently without a caregiver, but in need of one—they're in short supply).

I'm NOT asking for money. I just need people in US to reach out, because I don't know your systems. They can see replies to this thread.

I'm posting their requests with permission:

“Would someone please research patient dumping and continuity of care laws in USA and Washington State? I need to arm myself, but I'm very vulnerable to overwhelm right now.”

There's more: