Autism Speaks Continues to Misrepresent Itself
While also denying the proven harms of ABA and behaviourism
Not only does Autism Speaks continue to ignore and dismiss the concerns of the Autistic community, they also continue to lie about the harms caused by their organization and the out-dated “treatments” they recommend.
On their website, Autism Speaks makes the following claims:
Myth #1: ABA therapy is no longer about curing or reducing autism symptoms.
“The goal of ABA is to help people with autism and other developmental disorders learn skills and behaviors that help them live safer and more fulfilling lives. ABA is not focused on preventing self-stimulatory behavior (stims). Behavior analysts work with autistic people to improve skills like communication and social skills.”
Teaching Autistic people “social skills” through manipulation (i.e. rewarding neurotypical-approximate behaviour) is indeed attempting to “reduce autism symptoms”
Myth #2: ABA does not rely on punishment or negative reinforcement to change behavior.
“Instead, it focuses on using positive reinforcement to teach necessary skills that improve…
