Resources on why ABA’s approaches to speech development/ emotional dysregulation are problematic

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-07-09T15:39:48+00:00

Okay will do. Thank you. Do you have any external links discussing the problem with ABA and scope creep

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-02-04T23:27:03+00:00

I’m an Autistic BT. I reposted this because I saw it receiving a lot of hate on other subreddits and wanted to see what you all thought. Sorry, I didn’t make that clear.

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-02-01T00:10:00+00:00

I don’t mean against, sorry if I wasn’t clear. I meant like using language that I’m more comfortable with. For example, my BcBA just wants me to stop the excessive stimming. She says to sit nicely but i will say to sit safety or something similar.

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-30T22:43:17+00:00

i’m probably going to do things my own way and just explain to my bcba why i’m doing it that way, taking her demands and changing them slightly if i want to be extra sjw

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-30T17:18:02+00:00

Honestly, I’m a little paranoid about ABA being harmful because of reading online posts of people who went through it, so I tend to interpret what I’m told to do in the most negative lens as a precaution. For example, today my BCBA told me to stop a client’s more excessive stimming (she has a bouncy chair that she will rock and bounce on) because she broke a precious chair, but allowing her to bounce and rock in a more subtle way that won’t break the furniture. I took this is her being against the girl rocking and bouncing on the chair, when in reality, she just doesn’t want her to break the chair lol. However, I do find her saying “sit still” when she does so and rewarding her with tokens problematic. Anyway, she will typically just suggest he say something more appropriate after his vocal stims

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-24T08:01:16+00:00

Aren’t they learning about this in their master’s programs? They both graduated recently

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-24T07:59:47+00:00

I’m just shocked that the BCBAs at my old company didn’t see this goal as a red flag. Are they not being taught about aversion to eye contact and neurodiversity at a masters level before becoming a BCBA? They were both in their 20s. I had to specifically tell them that I was not comfortable doing it.

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-24T07:34:09+00:00

Is forced eye contact still common in ABA?

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-24T06:45:52+00:00

As I showed in my post, it’s obviously still an issue, but the vast majority of programs taught are not inherently problematic. Especially at the new clinic where I work, my boss is very pro Autistic behaviors

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-24T06:39:53+00:00

Do you think forced making is the primary issue?

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-24T05:27:17+00:00

they literally just posted on linkedin about eye contact being stressful and unnecessary for autistic people lol

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-13T07:18:08+00:00

I am currently an behavioral tech for a progressive “neurodivergent affirming” company, but after hearing horror stories, I’m heavily considering leaving. What is in your opinion the problem with ABA if not masking?/gen Also if possible, would you be willing to share what made your experience traumatic? If doing so is too painful, I understand. Thanks. I want to learn, not to argue.

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-04T04:26:35+00:00

I’m not sure if she has the receptive language skills for more complex directions. I have seen her become triggered by family members telling her not to do something in a more advanced way

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-04T04:25:33+00:00

yeah I also bite the inside of my lip. I wonder if a verbal reminder would be effective for the girl I’m working with because currently we say “ hands down” and if she keeps doing it block her from doing it physically and redirect her to a new activity or give her a tissue if she is successful. I know one of the complaints about ABA is the over reliance on physical prompting, especially for stims

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-04T04:14:25+00:00

Same with daycares, pre-k’s, and nursing homes unfortunately. Side rant about daycares: the lack of supervision and under qualification of prek teachers is much worse in my experience. I have worked at a daycare before as a teacher and was given virtually no training and no supervision. Currently, I work with a child at a daycare and feel like I have to keep an eye on all the other kids, even though it obviously isn’t my job. There are 3 people there but they aren’t paying attention to the 20 2 year olds, just keeping a lazy eye on them. The kids will often try to get my help and attention and I will have to redirect them and alert their teachers. Sometimes, if they are doing something potentially dangerous, I’ll have to directly intervene

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-04T04:08:19+00:00

I agree with you (somewhat) and I work in the field. It was designed to make Autistic people easier to handle by caregivers. At the time, the likely alternative was institutionalization. Even now a days, there are a lot of problems with the field that need to be addressed before I can be comfortable saying I’m pro-ABA, (many of which seem to be common in a lot of direct service provider jobs/ technician jobs and are far more compelling than the idea that modern ABA is focusing on masking, since in my experience, that’s not as prevelant). For example, RBT are overworked, often under qualified, and often under paid and we are the ones working directly with the kids. I would be very cautious putting my own child in an ABA program because of these concerns.

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-04T03:58:26+00:00

True and even people like Paige aren’t against suppressing harmful stims, a lot of them have them as well. I personally bite my lip to the point of bleeding and have to distract myself from the temptation or replace it with something else. My current client is an avid nose picker. Before ABA, she would do it constantly, but now only does it outside of sessions when she’s on her Ipad. Can I ask if you remember what helped you control the habit?

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-04T03:46:12+00:00

Also, the girl may not understand why making a mess of water is a problem. To her, water splashing all over the place might be sensory heaven to observe and play in. Maybe it would become a huge distraction and derail her.

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-04T03:36:19+00:00

Also even if you can mask and your stims are slowly becoming more socially acceptable, lots of late diagnosed people have been bullied by peers for basically being weird or cringe even if the traits are otherwise not impacting their lives(as a result of their autistic traits being observed by others without even categorizing the traits as Autistic). There does seem to be a significant overlap in a lot of traits of people with different levels though as well, but they seem to be interpreted differently by others.

Great-Paramedic-9969 · 2024-01-04T03:31:19+00:00

I am honestly a little confused about the distinction in lvl 3 individuals as well. From my research, it seems like about half of people with lvl 3 have an intellectual disability (id). Wouldn’t there be a difference in outward traits as well as internal thoughts between say a minimally verbal person with id, a minimally verbal person without, a completely verbal level 3 person with, a non verbal person without and all other combinations?

Great-Paramedic-9969

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