Did you know ABA is widely considered abuse?

[PennyRa]

I may be trying to kite a derailment a little bit but I also feel like it deserves its own thread?

Teaching a child to copy a simple action is not abuse. My daughter was completely in her own world. She learnt the difference between words using aba. It opened up her world. She is still of course autistic and lovely but she can ask for the things she needs and can write simple words. She can point to things and can understand simple language. Being severely autistic is a problem. I am fed up of hearing people talk about Chris Psckham and how being autistic is just being different. Not being able to function or communicate is a disability. Children need evidence based therapy to help them communicate and function in the world

ABA is very expensive to do well

Is that why LAs dont like it?

THIS, with bells on !!

Chris Packham has no relation to children undertaking ABA

Surely you can just look it up yourself?

I’ve tried but can’t find any evidence of abuse.

Some people describe trying to help children with autism learning skills o denying autism. They talk about celebrating autism and point to documentaries like those by Chris Packham. They do not acknowledge that autism is a disability.

In an old documentary, Chris Packham expressed his dislike of ABA and called it abusive!! Caused outrage in my ABA community.

It is interesting to read the experiences of autistic adults who were given ABA as children, and how they feel about it as an approach. Some did not find it a positive experience at all (to put it mildly), although they were aware that adults in their lives could be very happy with the results.

It absolutely does have it's place. A particular late teen male service user really likes to masturbate. Like a lot of teenage lads. He is just as happy to do it in public as in private. No boundaries on that score at all. He has been taken into police custody many times because of this. As yet he has not been prosecuted because ld practitioners ride to the rescue and sweet talk the police out of it. He will not get away with this for much longer. He has upset many members of the public. No one really cares that he has autism, certainly not the public or the police. He just needs to stop. Because the alternative of a prison sentence is much much worse for him. He won't like being 'made' to stop. But he must stop anyway. Yes it is making him suppress his inherent behaviours. But even so he must stop.

I agree and its highly disingenuous for some posters to talk about letting people be their true selves and be who they are etc when some of that is children and adults who self harm, attack others, behave in sexually inappropriate and harmful ways to themselves and others, present risk to themselves and others.

This isnt about people moving their hands around or having harmless repetitive habits or obesessions, its about dangerous and criminal behaviour that needs to be changed.

I have an autistic son and daughter. Some young American adults with Asperger's on autism Facebook groups I used to be on said the same. They felt like they are being made to be someone they are not. ABA isn't really a thing in the UK.

They also hate autism speaks and anything autism related with a jigsaw puzzle.

I did the earlybird early intervention programme with my son. Run by the national autistics society. It's less intense and they work with families in they're home and gave feedback each week to show progress etc.

I think that those who are high functioning may well have difficulty with a therapy that tries to tech skills that are perceived to be lacking. These individuals are a able to advocate for themselves and are able to declare themselves to be neurodiverse. My daughter is aged 18 but still requires 24 hour care. She will always need support. Being able to ask for what she needs and copy language and actions makes her life better.

Here's a link to one of the many research papers on ABA if you want to read

rdcu.be/c6PD0

Teaching a child to copy a simple action is not abuse.

It can be though. If you are teaching an autistic child to copy something that makes them uncomfortable or distressed rather then allowing them the feeling of safety and comfort then it is abuse.

My daughter was completely in her own world. She learnt the difference between words using aba.

I don't think this is conclusive tbh. If she was able to learn words she was always able to learn words.

@bellac11

ABA surely isn't the only way to prevent criminal behaviour though?

I have never heard of this ABA. I just wanted to add that while I totally wish that autistic people could be themselves and we could change environments, learn triggers etc it’s just not real life is it. No matter how much we have progressed and how much I’d like to believe society accepts ND there is a big real world out there and sometimes people who are ND have to function in it. So if there is anything that teaches autistic people to fit in a little bit more or cope better than that to me is a good thing. Unfortunately the world will not bend for anyone, disability or not so we have to learn to survive the best we can.
For those who are non speaking if there is something that can give them a voice then that is amazing.

This isnt about people moving their hands around or having harmless repetitive habits or obesessions, its about dangerous and criminal behaviour that needs to be changed.

But ABA does involve trying to prevent completely harmless stimming or playing in the ‘wrong’ way or making people hold eye contact. Those behaviours do not need fixing, they are not harmful. Some parents want their children’s natural behaviour erased.

No she wasn't. I spent hours teaching her the difference between two receptive labels using aba. When she got this it was like a light bulb had gone on. She learnt hundreds of words. No standard therapy would have achieved this. A weekly salt session blowing bubbles would have achieved nothing and did in fact achieve nothing. I have two kids with asd. With ds I did everything I was told to do including early bird and Hanen More than words. He learnt nothing. With dd I took matters into my own hands. She has much more language and much better skills. She can read simple words, write, use words and can FUNCTION.

I don't see this as abuse. Suggesting behaviors that promote societal norms benefits the individual. Assimilation into employment eventually is the goal isn't it.

From a Mum with two DS on the spectrum, I’d like to say thank you.

ABA was life changing for us, for our home life, improving their very limited diets, speech and language, school and friendships, really across the board.

I’m in the US, and this was provided at school, as part of a special ed setting. I spent loTs of time in their classrooms, and never saw anything that I’d describe as abuse. The therapists were kind and patient, and always put the children’s happiness first.

My oldest is now in college and works part time, and is a happy and fulfilled young adult with social groups and hobbies. He’s also a fab big brother.

Its one of many tools but the point Im making is that I see this all the time, the concept that the world needs to fit around ASD and people on the spectrum (or anyone) needs to be their true selve etc etc. I think its spoken from the point of view of people that are either or do have relatives with ASD who dont engage in dangerous or criminal/anti social behaviours. AS someone mentions above about the service user, there are extremely distressing behaviours which cannot be allowed to continue or the person will enter the criminal justice system, again and again. Not to mention the victims of those people.

I have never attempted to prevent stimming. It was never part of her programme. She flaps and makes vocalisations. This is part of her. I used a consultant and this was never discussed.

All ABA involves this does it? Not that I have seen.

Our LA Ed psychology has came to see our dd. She was a prepared to say the programme was terrible. She left saying it was good. She spoke up at our tribunal asking for it to be funded.

Unless I’ve missed it, what is ABA?