On Tuesday, Sept. 26, the Student Psychology Association held a meeting over Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy with guest speaker Sarah Powell. Powell is a behavior analyst who works with Little Spurs Autism Center, a clinic in San Antonio, Texas, that provides ABA therapy to children on the autism spectrum. What Powell did not mention, however, is the harm that ABA therapy does to autistic children.
ABA is a form of psychological intervention that aims to diminish or change behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder. The therapy is commonly practiced in the early years of an autistic child’s life. There is extreme controversy surrounding ABA therapy, especially among members of the autism rights movement, as there is a history of the use of electric shocks, as well as aversive, in some forms of ABA. In addition, individuals exposed to ABA therapy are more likely to show increased post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology.
ABA therapy’s purpose is to eliminate and suppress behaviors that are natural to people on the autism spectrum, such as lack of eye contact, self-stimulation, et cetera. It is callous to expect and force autistic children to fit the standards of and act like a child who is not autistic. More than often, non-speaking autistic individuals report horror stories of ABA therapy.
The guest speaker of the aforementioned event, Sarah Powell, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). It is important to note that the BCBA certification does not require any autism training. Furthermore, on the Instagram page of the Student Psychology Association, an individual commented the following: “This is so sad, and I say this as someone on the autism spectrum, and as someone who was in ABA therapy. The general consensus in the autistic community, which is backed by updated research, is that Applied Behavioral Analysis has been linked to trauma and negative psychological effects due to the use of punishment and the suppression of behaviors that come naturally to autistic people, such as self-stimulation. Perhaps instead of teaching and promoting a harmful type of therapy, actually listen to the autistic community and promote their voices on matters such as these.”
The comment has since been deleted by SPA. Afterwards, another individual posted a comment saying that it is “not a good look” for the organization to delete comments that disagree with the narrative that they attempt to project, prompting a reply from the president of SPA, Grace Johnson, who stated that SPA will continue to delete any comments that claim that they platform misinformation, making it clear that they would rather encourage the use of a damaging therapy instead of listening to the voices of the autistic community.
ABA therapy has a dark past and is paved with bad intentions and new research shows just how harmful it can be. Instead of endorsing such a detrimental therapy when other alternative therapies for autistic people exist, organizations such as the Student Psychology Association should platform individuals with autism and have their voices be heard on such controversial matters, instead of silencing them and speaking over them, as should be done with any marginalized group.
