03/21/2022
There is, and almost always has been, a group of individuals that are adamant that Applied Behavior Analysis is abuse. Many of these individuals are people that have received behavior services. These voices should abolutely be heard and considered. They should be heard not with doubt or animosity, but with open hearts and open minds. I'm not going to go into the many reasons that individuals have left behavior services with trauma but some general reasons include guilt, shame, fear, and pain. Those are valid, shameful results of inpromperly and unethically, sometimes inhumanely, applied behavior modification.
Now, I hope that you, kind reader, noted that I changed terminology in the second sentence. Ethically done Applied Behavior Analysis should never equate to abuse. ABA should not infringe on basic rights including freedom of movement, freedom of expression, or freedom to find happiness. Ethical ABA is supposed to make achieving those freedoms easier for individuals, not remove them.
Here's an example that may make things clearer. Let's say J is a 5-year old boy with a developmental disablitiy to leaves supervised areas without an adult knowing. This can be extremely dangerous for J for obvious reasons. Improper behavior services may only look at restricting his movements. Restraints, chimes/alarms, locators may be recommended before any assessment is complete. Unethical behavior modification may include punishment for leaving or preemptive punishment when he stands without permission. These are not ABA. While an analyst may recommend some environmental modifications while assessing the individual, that cannot be the base treatment. Instead, an ethical practiioner will find out from J what it is he needs in his environment to not engage in the unsafe behavior. Does he need more breaks? A chance to run around outside? Is he hungry, thirsty, or need to use the bathroom? Perhaps the tasks he is doing are toohard or too easy (boredom). Once that is assessed, the treatment plan is not to get him to stop leaving but to communicate what is missing.
