The Reality of ABA
In recent years, there has been increased attention on the practices of applied behavior analysis (ABA). At the forefront of concerns, the question of ethical practice has surfaced.
Many Autistic adults and their families have walked away from ABA due to negative experiences.
The reality is that behavior analysis has a history of some alarming practices.
But all is not lost. And it is possible to reconcile the tension between science and humanity. Since its beginning, ABA has come a long way.
We’re moving forward, acknowledging the past errors of our field and learning how to do better, compassionate work for our clients and their communities.
At Allgood & Tehrani LBA (AT LBA), we want our therapeutic services to be a meaningful, enjoyable experience for the clients and their families.
Here are some ways we are continuing our mission to provide quality care for your child’s individual needs.
We are learning. We work with Autistic consultants to better understand the Autistic experience and break down our biases.
We are noticing. We believe that all behaviors communicate something. We proactively respond with patience and compassion, starting at the subtle precursor behaviors.
We are implementing trauma-informed ABA. While we maintain the foundations of ABA, we also acknowledge the reality that over 50% of Autistic individuals have experienced a traumatic life event (Brenner et al., 2017).
Therefore, we train our entire staff to identify risk factors and indicators of trauma and allow that to inform our practices. For example, we do not implement traditional escape extinction to force compliance.
4. We are collaborating with our clients. We respect their values and determine ways to foster skills that empower each person towards a fulfilling, autonomous life.
We offer clients ample choices throughout our sessions and allow them to be active participants with their behavior plans, goals, and activities.
5. We are seeing the individual as an individual. Every client comes with their unique histories, challenges, and strengths. We acknowledge that the whole learner includes internal processes.
We train our entire staff in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a behavior-analytic approach that addresses inflexible thoughts and promotes productive committed action (Tarbox, 2020).
6. We are looking ahead. We believe that it is never too early to teach skills for the future. Starting with our young learners, we incorporate executive functioning, self-advocacy, and self-management skills to establish strong foundational skills for the future.
… and so much more! We hope you join us in our vision to reconcile the science of behavior analysis and the humanity of our learners.
