xiggaroo has to do a presentation for school.

[conuly]

Trying to convine 60% of her class (I say a good bribe never goes amiss...) of some controversial subject. She gets a better grade if she tries to convince them of something she disagrees with. So, naturally, she's trying to convince them that ABA is wonderful and necessary and I'm not sure if she means in general or the way it's done today, but...

I'm not too thrilled with this myself, but eh. Does anybody have any references that compliment ABA that she might not have gotten? Or, can anybody mention the good things about it in a simple list?

Comments

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

I know, it's going to be really hard for me to get up there and praise ABA therapy, but eh. I feel really strongly about it, so I thought it was a good topic and it's too late to change it... I'm also making a visual aid (poster) which I'm going to burn after the presentation.

Anyway. Yeah, I'm basically going from the 'Autism is a child robbing parasite that MUST BE SOLVED!' standpoint. Not that I'm going to talk about curing autism, these kids are smart enough to know better, but that'll be the general standpoint.

Yay for classes of 10 kids, I only have to convince six.

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

I'm feeling dumb but, what does ABA stand for?

[conuly]

Applied Behavioural something.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

Analysis.

[conuly]

Thank you.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

Keine problem. :)


Yeah, this project is making me feel dirty. More than a shower can cure.

[staircase-wit.livejournal.com]

"Abusive Behavioral Ajustment."

If you haven't thought of it yet, check out the works of Skinner, especially "Beyond Freedom and Dignity." With behaviorism, the only thing that matters is stimulus and response. The mind is a "black box." The question isn't *why* these kids are acting weird, but *how* to make them stop and act more normal. If you can find statistics for how good A.B.A. is at that, you can use them to prove behaviorism's central thesis, and use behaviorism to prove ABA's need.

It may be more difficult to convince others that there is a *need* for the child to act normal, rather than act natural. ABA proponents place the burden on the deviant, and part of it is the whole reductionistic meme. Because only the *stimulus and response* of the bully beating (or murdering) the autistic person matters, the best way to ensure the child's safety is to make sure he doesn't provide stimulus for the bully.

In essence, the behaviorist answer to the mind-body problem is that the mind is unknowable, and anything unknowable is outside of the realm of science, and therefore *only* behavior is the true realm of psychology. Everything else is mysticism.

The counter argument is that autism is neurological, and that this can be known, can be mapped out. If possible, try to find as many resources as possible that either show there is no difference within the brain structures of autistic and neurotypical people, or do what you can to minimize them. Fortunately, there are some pages on "neurodiversity" by autistic people which show just how much variation there is within the human brain. You can use this to minimize autism as "natural," and/or show that A.B.A. is the ONLY therapy that can make the young autist into a real human being.

The important thing, of course, is to make sure to communicate the message that autism is something a person *has* and can be *trained out of,* without actually going so far as to state it. The belief that autism is *inherent* to a person, the way hand-preference is, is something that you'll need to avoid allowing people to consider.

[takaal.livejournal.com]

(I was pretty sure it wasn't the American Bar Association, but I didn't know either.)

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

HAHA, yeah, that was what popped into my head first, but I was failing to see the connection with lawyers and autism. But then, I know next to nothing about autism so I suppose their could be a connection there after all!

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

I know, it's going to be really hard for me to get up there and praise ABA therapy, but eh. I feel really strongly about it, so I thought it was a good topic and it's too late to change it... I'm also making a visual aid (poster) which I'm going to burn after the presentation.

Anyway. Yeah, I'm basically going from the 'Autism is a child robbing parasite that MUST BE SOLVED!' standpoint. Not that I'm going to talk about curing autism, these kids are smart enough to know better, but that'll be the general standpoint.

Yay for classes of 10 kids, I only have to convince six.

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

I'm feeling dumb but, what does ABA stand for?

[conuly]

Applied Behavioural something.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

Analysis.

[conuly]

Thank you.

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

Keine problem. :)


Yeah, this project is making me feel dirty. More than a shower can cure.

[staircase-wit.livejournal.com]

"Abusive Behavioral Ajustment."

If you haven't thought of it yet, check out the works of Skinner, especially "Beyond Freedom and Dignity." With behaviorism, the only thing that matters is stimulus and response. The mind is a "black box." The question isn't *why* these kids are acting weird, but *how* to make them stop and act more normal. If you can find statistics for how good A.B.A. is at that, you can use them to prove behaviorism's central thesis, and use behaviorism to prove ABA's need.

It may be more difficult to convince others that there is a *need* for the child to act normal, rather than act natural. ABA proponents place the burden on the deviant, and part of it is the whole reductionistic meme. Because only the *stimulus and response* of the bully beating (or murdering) the autistic person matters, the best way to ensure the child's safety is to make sure he doesn't provide stimulus for the bully.

In essence, the behaviorist answer to the mind-body problem is that the mind is unknowable, and anything unknowable is outside of the realm of science, and therefore *only* behavior is the true realm of psychology. Everything else is mysticism.

The counter argument is that autism is neurological, and that this can be known, can be mapped out. If possible, try to find as many resources as possible that either show there is no difference within the brain structures of autistic and neurotypical people, or do what you can to minimize them. Fortunately, there are some pages on "neurodiversity" by autistic people which show just how much variation there is within the human brain. You can use this to minimize autism as "natural," and/or show that A.B.A. is the ONLY therapy that can make the young autist into a real human being.

The important thing, of course, is to make sure to communicate the message that autism is something a person *has* and can be *trained out of,* without actually going so far as to state it. The belief that autism is *inherent* to a person, the way hand-preference is, is something that you'll need to avoid allowing people to consider.

[takaal.livejournal.com]

(I was pretty sure it wasn't the American Bar Association, but I didn't know either.)

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

HAHA, yeah, that was what popped into my head first, but I was failing to see the connection with lawyers and autism. But then, I know next to nothing about autism so I suppose their could be a connection there after all!