Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) From an Autistic-Community Perspective: What Would It Take to Reform?

Authors

Abstract

Autistic community perspectives on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) based interventions, of which autistic children are the largest client base, have long been ignored by the mainstream ABA industry. Pitting the voices of autistic people, academics and researchers, and allied professionals against a multi-billion-dollar industry, which holds a strong virtual monopoly on autism support in North America, has led to limited progress. More widespread acceptance of the tenets of the neurodiversity paradigm, alongside increased spaces for autistic people to be heard, can be seen as contributing to a notable shift. Concurrent with continued calls to ban ABA, there is emergent realisation from within sections of the ABA industry of a need to listen and evolve. This raises the question of whether there is scope to work together to drive change. In querying this, it is vital to recognise that there is a difference in reforming ABA as an industry and reforming ABA as a discipline. We highlight the need to be cautious of instances where ABA has sought to remarket itself without undergoing more substantial change. As such, we join voices calling for more radical evolution and query what, from an autism-centred perspective, it would take to reform?

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