Applied Behavior Analysis and Occupational Therapy

Why are these two therapy disciplines in a turf war? There has been a huge debate over the years especially with the explosion of corporate Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) clinics popping up. They are franchises just like in the therapy world. Think of the rehab companies that contract in skilled nursing facilities. This is no different.

My early experiences with ABA were horrible. I was was working in home health pediatrics in 2005 and would get put on autism teams where the family’s would choose ABA as their preferred treatment method. I refused and would not do click and pay. One example I will never forget is a therapist was putting a Cherio on her nose and would state “look at me” and if the child did it, they would get the Cherio.

Um no. I refused to do any of this regardless of what team I was on. I hope the forced eye contact is something of the past. Then more recently, I have seen ABA go totally wrong to the point of me calling in an abuse report. What in the world are these people doing? Children are children and should be treated as children like they are your own. (Some teachers/therapists need to read that again.)

No wonder autistic adults have a problem with ABA. Trying to stay in a place of curiosity, I reached out to local ABA professionals and even joined the local ABA association. They introduced me to Dr. Bailey and his ethics guidelines. Most of what I was seeing, was not ethical. I was also introduced to The Global Autism Project. This is another ethical program on a global scale. I am currently in their leadership program as well as SkillCorp. All for a later post and in the mean time, listen to my podcast interviews on Autism Knows No Borders.

There is so much controversy with ABA. Much of which I have written about above. Many autistic adults have stated it should be banned. They believe it is abuse, causes trauma, and encourages masking. Neuroclastic is an online community having these difficult discussions. Here is a podcast episodes from the curators.

143. Assent Based Treatment, with Liz Lefebre and Amy Evans – Autism Knows No Borders

Discover what’s possible when you listen before you practice. Both Liz Lefebre and Amy Evans are Board Certified Behavior Analysts with specializations in Precision Teaching, Fluency Based Instruction, Instructional Design, and Assent Based Treatment, as well as the Co-Founders of Octave, an organization dedicated to improving skill sets of behavior analysts, teachers, and instructional designers.  In today’s conversation, we discuss: Why Liz and Amy decided to start Octave What are Octave’s values and mission What Precision Teaching, Instructional Design, and Assent Based Treatment are  What Liz and Amy have learned from listening to autistic voices and how that has affected their programming  Why practitioners should move away from “traditional ABA and undo the training that they might have undergone What some of the potential barriers to ethical practices in ABA are How to increase a client’s appetite for learning Advice for other practitioners To learn more about Liz Lefebre and Amy Evans, please visit octavetraining.com.  Related episode: 139. Responsive Skills Training: An Autistic-Informed Curriculum, with Molly Ola Pinney and Ann Beirne —-more—- We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too. Follow us on Instagram: @autismpodcast Join our community on Mighty Networks: Global Autism Community Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Global Autism Project We would love to hear your feedback about the show. Please fill out this short survey to let us know your thoughts: Listener Survey 

1. 143. Assent Based Treatment, with Liz Lefebre and Amy Evans 01:00:54
2. TBT | 17. Growth, Diversity, and Cultural Humility, with Brandy Collins and Crystal Thompson 01:13:03
3. 142. Finding Joy in the Journey, with Ben & Sandy Hartranft 46:16
4. 141. RTD | From Awareness to Acceptance, with the Global Autism Community 01:00:44
5. TBT | 38. Auticon UK: Another Perspective on IT Consultancy, with Stephanie De Kremer and Russell Botting 44:36

This is why I have decided to come together with the local ABA association to put on a CEU event. 2 CEUs and a beer is back. We will be discussing what occupational therapy is, what ABA should look like, and using case studies to come together for the best outcomes for the children in our community in an ethical and humane way. Let me buy you a beer (or cider or non alcoholic beverage).

If you are interested, please click the image above or here to register: https://www.schedulicity.com/scheduling/STSX9BY

Please leave your thoughts and comments. I know this is a sensitive topic.