(Inside: When autistics speak out against ABA, many people say that “new ABA” is different, but here are 5 important reasons even “New ABA” is problematic…)
Every time I speak out against ABA therapy, without fail, a well-meaning parent or therapist chimes in with the same thing…
“New ABA is different!”
“ABA therapists haven’t done that in YEARS.”
“You’re talking about OLD ABA. We do NEW ABA, and it’s the best thing ever.”
And I get it, I really do.
When your child is in therapy, or when you are a therapist doing a specific therapy, and someone says that your therapy is harmful or problematic, it can be your first instinct to defend yourself and explain why that criticism doesn’t apply to you.
But if that’s you, I encourage you to step through that defensiveness just for a little while to see why many autistics are against ABA in all forms… Even “New ABA”.
With all of that said, I’m going to share 5 important reasons that even “New ABA” is problematic.
(Image description: Young boy sits at a table with letters and other manipulatives next to an older woman. Teal and coral text on a white background reads: “Yes, Even “New ABA” is Problematic” at the bottom of the image. White Autistic Mama infinity logo in the top left corner.)
5 Important Reasons Even “New ABA” is Problematic
Now, if this is the first you’re hearing about ABA and why it may be harmful, I highly recommend you check out my previous post: What’s the big deal with ABA therapy?
That post outlines the history of ABA and includes several reasons why autistics advocate against ABA therapy for autistic children.
You can also learn a lot from this post: Autism Therapy Red Flags All Parents Should Know and Watch For.
It outlines tons of red flags that will help you determine if your autistic child’s therapy is harmful, whether it’s ABA or not.
And with all of that out of the way, let’s dive into why even “New ABA” is problematic.
#1 Changing Behavior as the Primary Goal
Whether you’re talking about old ABA or new ABA, the primary goal of the therapy is to change the autistic person’s behavior.
But behavior is communication, and when the primary goal is to change that behavior, there’s a LOT of communication that gets missed.
In fact, I’ve written before about the three vital steps to take BEFORE you address your autistic child’s behaviors, and ABA therapy, in the majority of cases, skips over those steps.
Beyond that, when therapy is focused on changing autistic behaviors, it implies that autistic behaviors are bad.
Autistic children should not have their behavior changed simply because it isn’t the way a neurotypical child behaves.
And training a child to sit still instead of wiggling while at the table or forcing them to practice scripts so that they communicate like a neurotypical child, isn’t fair to the autistic child at all.
#2 Compliance-Based Therapies & Issues of Consent
Another major reason that even new ABA is problematic is that it is a compliance-based therapy.
That means that it’s considered a success when autistic children comply with what the therapist says to do.
In many cases, autistic children have their favorite toys or snacks withheld until they comply with the therapist’s demands.
People think that because most new ABA therapists aren’t actively punishing children who refuse to comply it isn’t harmful, but withholding something the autistic child needs or wants, whether it’s food, an object, or even attention is really problematic.
Imagine for a moment if your spouse wanted you to change one of your behaviors… Maybe you forget to do the dishes or you talk during movies without pausing.
Now imagine that your spouse refused to acknowledge you if you didn’t do the behavior they wanted you to do. Or if they refused to hug you, or talk with you, or stopped you from watching tv until you followed through with their “target behavior”.
Wouldn’t that just be awful? Wouldn’t it make you feel like you were being manipulated? Like you didn’t matter, all that mattered was complying with whatever someone else wanted?
And beyond that, focusing heavily on compliance for children, especially autistic children, is actually really dangerous.
Because when autistic children are forced into hours and hours of compliance-based therapies from a young age, they are taught that their body doesn’t belong to them.
They are taught that when someone tells them to do something with their body, they need to comply.
And what do you think happens when it isn’t a therapist telling them they need to sit at the table, but a peer pressuring them to have sex?
Bottom line: compliance-based therapies are extremely problematic, and even New ABA is a compliance-based therapy.
#3 Focusing on Positive Rewards Instead of Intrinsic Motivation
Okay, after the last point this might seem minor, but it’s still worth noting.
New ABA focuses heavily on giving positive rewards for target behavior.
And while most people agree that’s better than focusing on punishments, it’s still actually a negative thing.
Basically, if you reward a child for a specific behavior, that behavior may increase in the short term.
But if you stop rewarding that behavior, or if you expect the child to do that behavior in a different setting than they originally were rewarded, it isn’t very effective.
This is especially true for autistic children who tend to cling to routines and rules.
In their mind, if you give them an m&m for sitting at the table, you should always give them an m&m for sitting at the table.
And if you stop giving them m&ms to sit at the table, why in the world would they continue sitting at the table?
It’s so much better if you help the autistic child understand the reason you want to change their behavior and get them involved in creating a plan to change that behavior.
But in order to do that, you first need to understand why you want to change the behavior and why the behavior is happening.
#4 Extreme Hours of Therapy Limits Autistic Children’s Free Time
Okay, so this is true with both old and new ABA.
The fact is most ABA therapists recommend between 20-40 hours of therapy a week for autistic children as young as toddlerhood.
Put another way, autistic children as young as two years old are expected to keep a part time to full time job being trained to comply with therapists and act neurotypical.
In an age when children are being encouraged to spend more time in unstructured play, autistic children aren’t given that same luxury.
In fact, even outside of therapy hours, parents are encouraged to continue therapy activities and strategies almost all the time.
When does that leave autistic children a chance to play in their own autistic way?
When does that allow for downtime that is so needed by autistic kids?
Why should autistic children have to be “on” for so many hours?
I don’t think any child should have to work 20-40 hours at changing who they are, period.
#5 Promoting the Idea That Autistic Children Must Change to Fit In
And the final reason why even new ABA is problematic is that it promotes the idea that autistic children are broken and need to change in order to fit in.
As long as we subject autistic children to intensive therapies that train them out of their autistic behaviors, we are telling those children and society as a whole that autistic behaviors must be changed.
I would much rather see a world where stimming and meltdowns were understood and accommodated instead of trained away and shamed.
But that won’t happen as long as autistic children are spending hours and hours being made to feel like they have to change who they are in order to be accepted by their peers, their teachers, and pretty much everyone in their life.
And there you have it. 5 important reasons that even new ABA is problematic.
So before you dismiss the concerns of autistics who are speaking out against ABA, remember the points in this post.
Remember that even if your experience with ABA wasn’t the torturous punishment-based therapy that you’ve heard about in other articles, that doesn’t mean that it’s a safe or respectful therapy option.
If you loved this post, you might also enjoy…
What’s the Big Deal With ABA Therapy?
Autism Therapy Red Flags All Parents Should Know & Watch For
My only qualm: I think 3 can be misleading particularly as autism and adhd are frequently comorbid, but adhd has a legit impaired intrinsic reward system, and so external rewards are actually very important to adhd kids and makes up for a legit deficit. However, even there the goal is to enforce behaviors that will become habits and otherwise become internalized, so the rewards are not meant to last forever, but be eased off. But, they are a legit important step for many folks, kids and adults.
I’m adhd and autistic and disagree completely. External unrelated rewards always decrease internal motivations to do the behavior or task independently, regardless of neurology
ADHD here as well, and my intrinsic reward system is just fine. I don’t care nearly as much about my boss’s opinion of me and my work as I do about whether I’ve met my own standards.
We have tons of interests that we pursue passionately (until the excitement wears off or we lose That Thing We Need or we realize how over-extended we’ve become and drop everything at once).
I suppose some people may be intrinsically motivated to wash the dishes? I have trouble drumming up fake motivation on cue, but I’m not sure that’s a failure of intrinsic motivation.
Thank you for your argument. As a practitioner of ABA with the credentials. Unfortunately, I would disagree with what is stated. However, my disagreement isn’t about what you have stated as much as it is about what you have stated as written. What you have written I agree with…this can be harmful if done exactly as written. And there are situations where these things have occurred as you stated from companies offering ABA therapy.
As your 5 reasons, do not include the additional components that is the foundation of ABA therapy, this is where I disagree. The main being ABA focuses on addressing social significant behaviors as one of the foundational principles. Socially significant may look like behaviors that interfere with learning of the learner or others or are dangerous to the child. Unfortunately, where New ABA and Old ABA start and end…is irrelevant the guiding principles are the same. Additionally alot of what you describe and may have experienced as well as people close to me who have children with an ASD diagnosis have also, is true and has happened. But all ABA therapy providers are not created equal. And it is the fight that those of us who do understand and have the knowledge, degrees, supervision hours and credentialing as field practitioner continue to fight…when speaking about ABA and its value and need…not only in Autism but any area where behavior is impacting learners and not allowing them to flourish. Our work is to help teach functional skills to better support learners in living as independent of life as possible.
Also, Behaviors taught are taught to be generalized and maintained. While some behaviors may initially be taught with tangible things such as snacks, game time, play etc. this is just to teach the skill…next phases would include gradually removing those specific reinforcers and switching to more naturally occurring reinforcers i.e. verbal praise that learners would come into contact with in everyday day to day interactions and it is taught using simple procedures that practitioners with the educational and certified credentials are trained to implement that arent punishment based.
There is a shift in thinking of stereotype as well and how it is handled again based on specific criteria. And there are methods to helping learners learn when it may be more appropriate and when it may not be…not based on the ABA therapists thoughts about the behavior but rather based on the parents feelings and thoughts on what may be socially isolating for their child or young adult whom they want to be accepted without hardships. Eventually, a world where everyone is accepted for their uniqueness and brightness they bring is hopefully in the horizon..but until then there are many AbA therapist who are also advocating this same type of inclusion for there clients as you are. We as a world will get there.
I am sorry that you or others you know have had such bad experiences. It is not the goal, practice or intent if the field of ABA or the many practitioners. I respect your arguments and believe them with respect to those who have experienced the type of ABA you have described. By I do strongly Advocate on behalf of ABA and what it should be and how it is helpful and can help many. I hope that through more dialogues such as this…which you have opened can help both sides comes to understandings and help to push ABA into a place where it is always a positive and beneficial experience for all, clients, families and practitioners. Thank you for sharing.
I agree wholeheartedly with you. This article is quite misleading. ABA is not intended to erase the person’s identity or torture them. My twins have benefited greatly from ABA. Our clinic has a school feeling to it and all therapy is through naturalistic play. My kids direct their own therapy. Our therapist and techs work hand in hand with our amazing SLPs with the ultimate goal of them no longer needing therapy in the near future (they began at age 2 and our goal and belief is they will be ready for school at age 5 without the need for further ABA). Without ABA, we would still have communication problems, they wouldn’t have the tools needed to help them process the world around them, and they wouldn’t be as independent as they now are. I realize there are people who have been victims of ABA being used incorrectly, and I feel terrible for them. I wish everyone had a chance to participate in the ABA therapy my children have been receiving. I love being able to come observe them any time I like. They are always laughing and playing, and are excited to come to therapy.
Your comment that the article doesn’t “include the additional components that is the foundation of ABA therapy” is confusing to me, in the sense that it seems like you feel that including it would help to support ABA. The foundation of ABA therapy as it pertains to Autism is a therapy developed by Ivar Lovaas, who described the reason for it and his views of Autistic people in an interview published in Psychology Today, in 1974 as, “you start pretty much from scratch when you work with an autistic child. You have a person in the physical sense — they have hair, a nose and a mouth — but they are not people in the psychological sense. One way to look at the job of helping autistic kids is to see it as a matter of constructing a person. You have the raw materials, but … you have to build the person.” His ultimate goal was to cure Autism, by any means in which he could, including shock therapy. At the same time he was developing ABA therapy for Autistic children, he was heavily involved with creating Gay Conversion Therapy, a practice now banned in 19 states, including DC. The main difference? He didn’t use shock therapy on gay children.
Frankly any therapy whose foundation is one in which a person isn’t considered a person, that aims to “cure” something that doesn’t need to be cured, and which uses harsh forms of punishment (as well as less “harsh” like withholding), should give off considerable red flags. When a similar practice is banned (gay conversion therapy), you should really take a step back and think long and hard about what you’re doing to your children.
Please Gennisha… keep your empty excuses devoided of real caring to yourself.
If ABAers really cared they’reco,sider what they do and would think about ceasing their activity.
Again what is writen in theory about ABA is useless and does not make a difference;
What counts is the result of it on autistic people. A result that is again driven by ABA’s un-dissociated deep core philosophy: Addressing Autistic behavior as the wrong , as the problem, when the problem is actually what would trigger such behavior which intervene here as a communication mean when no one listen nor understand you or simply deprives you from alternative communication means.
Big affirmations from ABAers….which are contradicted by Autistic people experiences which are far from being anedoctical.
ABA has its deserved place in a courtroom not near a child.
#BanABA
#YesAllABA
#ActuallyAutistic
What would you recommend instead of ABA? My family is going through a crisis of conscious regarding ABA. If you can point out why ABA is bad what can you point to for therapies?
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are trained to appropriately to evaluate and treat communication and social skills. We use play-based therapy and do not attempt to “train” the autism out of children. In our master’s programs, our training includes: linguistics, phonetics and phonology, neurology, child development, language development (including pragmatic language/social skills development), speech development, voice development, developmental disorders, voice and resonance disorders, auditory processing disorders, stuttering, autism, neurogenic/neurodegenerative disorders including stroke rehabilitation, cognitive disorders, augmentative-alternative communication, brain injuries, and feeding/swallowing. ABA people do not have any such background. SLPs are specifically trained to help people with autism communicate better without trying to erase their individuality. I would highly recommend contacting an SLP, as well as an OT to determine if your child could benefit from support for their sensory regulation.
ABA teaches kids how to deal with their emotions and how to deal with various stimulation and proper behavioral management in the world in general. For instance, “when you are mad it is not OK to throw things and hit people. Here are some techniques that will help you cope with your anger. ” ABA is supposed to be tailored to the individual, it’s NOT a one size fits all. It definitely should be addressing things like fidgeting because that it more related to OT. If a child or person is traumatized then unfortunately they received the wrong type of treatment.
Our Experience has been that the therapist MUST be able to work closely with parents. The sessions have to be very flexible and play integrated into therapy. There should absolutely be no shaming or negative consequences with ABA. Positive reinforcement, parent/family involvement and communication are all essential to successful treatment.
Our child responded amazingly and we will be forever grateful for our ABA therapist.
“when you are mad it is not OK to throw things and hit people. Here are some techniques that will help you cope with your anger. ” isnt that just parenting?
I am grateful for your insight and perspective. As a mostly NT momma, I am always looking for wisdom from women on the spectrum. My sweet girl w ASD has taught me so much and my mission is to allow her to thrive as the person God has called her to be. I’m so grateful for the perspective of ASD women who can educate me through their own experiences. Thanks so much. 😀
Lindsay Leiviska recently posted…Do You Have Parenting Figured Out?
I received formal training toward both, speech therapy and ABA. I would recommend considering working with both an ABA provider and a SLP. Both fields can offer services and background that could be beneficial. While taking coursework for speech, many of the teaching strategies are ABA strategies; however, it’s not called by that name. While a SLP would have a better understanding/working knowledge of how to help with communication challenges, an ABA professional specializes in the strategies and making data-based decisions that will promote efficient and effective treatment.
It is within the ethics of both fields to approach autism as the family and client want them to. So if a client says ‘fix this,’ the language around therapy will be about ‘fixing it.’ It the client says ‘he’s a great kid we just need a little help when there’s a breakdown in communication,’ the language around therapy will be to ‘support’ the client, rather than ‘fixing.’ We are to match the client’s attitudes toward the ‘disorder.’
SLPs will typically work directly with the child during service provision. BCBAs will often want to work with anyone/everyone in the client’s environment because the ENVIRONMENT is what needs to change, not the child, in order for the child to be successful.
Not all BCBAs are created equal. ABA is a powerful science that can be/has been abused. You want to be involved if your child is receiving ABA services. If something is not right for your child, advocate. You should be selective when choosing an ABA provider. There are many resources online that can outline what to look for.
It is my position as a professional and parent of two autistic children that both types of therapy can be very useful and provide great benefit for autistics and their families. Some children may not be able to access speech or OT services due to severity of aggression or self injurious behavior. Definitely seek out a quality BCBA to assist with this. If it’s because of difficulty communicating and advocating for oneself, that should likely be part of the behavior plan to teach them how to do these things first and foremost because that is the FUNCTION [why] OF THEIR BEHAVIOR.
Not all children have the same needs. Some may benefit from ABA; some from ST/OT; Some from any combination of therapies. And for those whom autism is not a ‘disability,’ meaning your quality of life is not impacted by the ‘disorder,’ don’t do therapy and just advocate for the supports you need. There is no one size fits all because autism looks different for everyone.
Best wishes for anyone reading this. I hope you find what’s right for your situation.
Please Gennisha… keep your empty excuses devoided of real caring to yourself.
If ABAers really cared they’reco,sider what they do and would think about ceasing their activity.
Again what is writen in theory about ABA is useless and does not make a difference;
What counts is the result of it on autistic people. A result that is again driven by ABA’s un-dissociated deep core philosophy: Addressing Autistic behavior as the wrong , as the problem, when the problem is actually what would trigger such behavior which intervene here as a communication mean when no one listen nor understand you or simply deprives you from alternative communication means.
Big affirmations from ABAers….which are contradicted by Autistic people experiences which are far from being anedoctical.
ABA has its deserved place in a courtroom not near a child.
#BanABA
#YesAllABA
#ActuallyAutistic
I have worked in a school setting where “ABA therapy” was utilized. I didn’t agree with it at all, and subsequently left the district because of their use. However, I didn’t find it disturbing for all the reasons you do, i think the use of treats as a motivator was grossly overused, and contributed to weight and dental issues in the class aside from attempting to train the kids to essentially do tricks like sitting with their legs crossed, or sitting without fidgeting in exchange for candy. My issue with this article and the one suggested to read first “What’s the Big Deal about ABA therapy?”, is that neither address what parents should be using instead. Furthermore, I can’t understand why certain behaviors (self injurious or outwardly aggressive) shouldn’t be corrected despite being a manifestation of frustration through communication, or an unscheduled change. I don’t really believe that the in a class of 25 every student and the teacher should be accommodating to the 1 because a meltdown would result in someone being seriously harmed. I had a student whose parents were TERRIFIED of him, they admitted to allowing him to do what ever he wanted at home because when he was told no, he would harm the mother, and when his baby sister cried, the sound of her crying escalated the situation to where he attacked her on more than one occasion. Is this sort of behavior supposed to be acceptable because the child is neuroatypical? I don’t believe the parents should be accommodating to this sort of behavior, or any other adult. What would be proposed in place of this?
Furthermore, in the same district I worked with an SLP who would withhold food from students during lunch to motivate them to use sign language, or force them to properly pronounce all the sounds in the sentence “May I have my apple (or what ever food it was), please?”. Completely inappropriate, and I believe this is abuse. And the children’s next action was to have a meltdown, because of this abuse they suffered, and it resulted in themselves as well as their classmates being harmed because they weren’t equipped to handle their emotions in an appropriate way. So what would you propose for autistic children when their behaviors result in harm?
The use of food as a reinforcer is definitely a concern. The author does talk about some othe many alternatives elsewhere on her site, but I thought I could answer the question about self-injurious behavior: we do not simply allow it, any more than we would allow that behavior in any other child. People who reject ABA don’t reject *every* effort to change kids’ behavior, because teaching kids good manners and independence and self-care is just normal parenting!
The center of the ABA issue for me is this: Autism is not a behavioral disorder but a neurological one – like migraines. If your child had frequent, debilitating migraines such that light was physically painful and certain smells made her vomit, what would you do? Would you try to identify her triggers and care for her when she was in pain? Or would you train her, using prizes and verbal praise, to behave like a child who does not experience migraines – to tolerate pain and discomfort for longer and longer periods of time until she looked perfectly functional no matter how she was feeling?
A child in pain or distress will naturally try to escape, fight, refuse to cooperate. We don’t fix that by teaching her that escape is impossible so she’d better give up! When an autistic child is comfortable, safe, respected, and not in pain, learning and playing become a lot easier.
As someone in ABA who is always open to the criticism of ABA and actively looks for it online, I found you displayed a fundamental misunderstanding of ABA. You boldened: “Behavior is communication.” Like as if ABA doesn’t subscribe to that. The central principle of the theory behind behaviorism is that it’s a form of communication. BF Skinner wrote a book called ‘Verbal Behavior’. ABA doesn’t try to simply ‘change behavior’. It attempts to identify the function of the behavior and then replace the problem behavior with a more appropriate behavior in order to gain access to what the person wants in the first place. Is that not a good thing? ie a kid that throws objects in order to get a snack is trained to ask for a snack nicely. Any attempts to throw anything mean snack is not obtained. This is how we should approach all kids. I don’t see what the problem with that is? Any kid, whether typical or atypical is capable of achieving expectations. You seem to imply that to apply the same standards to a kid in ABA ( is some form of abuse
Secondly, you show misunderstanding in your example of refusing attention to a partner if they do not engage in a target behavior. This is 100% completely wrong. Where a person engages in problem behaviors specifically to gain attention, then you deny attention and they receive attention when they are engaging appropriately. EG A kid screams in order to get attention, then you ignore the screaming. The kid learns screaming doesn’t work. The kid comes up to you a minute later and asks if you will play with them. You say: “Sure!” because they did it appropriately. Do this consistently, they learn that asking appropriately that they get something they want. You asserted that a person is ignored to punish or manipulate. I can’t state it strongly enough, you are completely wrong on this count. This isn’t my interpretation, you demonstrate lack of understanding of the contexts within which certain programmes are used.
As someone who wants to make ABA better and knows it has its shortcomings, I’ll always engage with constructive criticism of the field. But these are examples of just not having a grasp of what ABA is.
This might be of interest, Ross Greene’s
https://www.livesinthebalance.org/walking-tour-parents
Non-coercive, collaborative proactive problem solving for children (anyone, really) and their adults, teachers…