Remember: We should be more cautious about claiming interventions are "proven effective" #ActuallyAutistic #AutismResearch

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Today in Hell Yes, Research! Despite decades of use on non-speaking autistics, research shows that ABA therapy has never been even SLIGHTLY useful to them.

A damning article by Gary Shkedy, Dalia Shkedy & Aileen H. Sandoval-Norton.

link.springer.com/article/10.1... #BetterWaysThanABA #autism

Too often autism researchers "fail to adequately monitor adverse outcomes or even consider them a possibility—[meaning] harms of any kind are unlikely to be detected & reported as such, even when they are both prevalent & important." S. Fletcher-Watson/M. Dawson:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

The more you familiarize yourself with the wide range of Autistic experiences, the better chance of finding perspectives that might resonate. Then check with your autistic family member [however works for them]: Is this what autism is like for you or is it different?

aane.org/autism-info-...

The hit docu-series Natalia Speaks "addresses important issues about parents’ legal over-reach and the rights of the disabled. It also raises the question of what we who are disabled deserve from the stories about us." By Anne Borden King, at TPGA.

Yes, definitely. And also sometimes autistic traits like repetitive behaviors can devolve into self-harm, or preference for routines can turn into rigidity that becomes anorexia or other disorders—due to lack of informed supports. All intermingled and we need research on THAT, not "treating autism."

A fundamental problem with “Science of Reading” is also a problem with autism research. Scientism begets epistemic injustice. The behaviorist bent of ed. repeatedly churns out these monsters of ed-tech that steal the credibility of science to rationalize ableism.

stimpunks.org/2023/11/22/o...

Firstly, there's an inadequate evidence base to support judgements about the receptive language abilities of the nonspeaking autistic population. This demographic simply hasn't been a priority for researchers. It's something the Woolgar lab in Cambridge is trying to address.

Indeed! Also, does the nonspeaking individual have sensory-motor challenges which may mean initiation and planning of intentional movement are barriers to skillfully using AAC if they do have access?

My son’s disabilities require full-time support, which means he and I live the very lives grievance parents tend to portray as horror shows. But unlike grievance parents, I believe my son deserves respect and understanding—not grievance parents’ relentless exploitation of their children as burdens.

"Profound autism" lobbyists claim autistic advocates advocates deny intellectual disability. This is SPIN.

Autistic advocates like Julia Bascom have been pointing out—for nearly a decade—how the problem is that those lobbyists don't treat their kids like humans UNLESS they have "intact minds":

Most autism research does not consider the relationship between parts and the whole - the whole being an autistic person. It investigates particular parts (genes, neural networks, etc) and assumes they are describing what is responsible for the whole.