r/ABA • u/RockerRebecca24 Student • Jan 01 '25
Journal Article Discussion Since it’s New Year’s Day…
I’m going to start working on my New Year’s resolutions. So I have two New Year’s resolution that I am working on and one, is to spread information on pseudoscience/false information and how anyone can counter it (my other one is to finish my last class in my Master’s of ABA with a 4.0 GPA). So I’m going to start with the flawed study that “linked” ABA with PTSD. Here’s the study if anyone wants to read it: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322239353_Evidence_of_increased_PTSD_symptoms_in_autistics_exposed_to_applied_behavior_analysis
And here’s a great rebuttal to use if you come across the study out in the wild of social media and want to rebut it: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/aia-02-2018-0007/full/html
I hope everyone has a great New Year’s Day!
Edit: Adding this because of a comment, I am autistic myself with ADHD. I did not have the opportunity to have ABA myself as I wasn’t diagnosed with autism until I was 28 (I was diagnosed at age 4 with ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder, Dyspraxia, and Speech Language Disorder.), but I did have speech and occupational therapy for years and I am very grateful for those therapies.
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u/OutrageousOne4170 Jan 01 '25
It was inappropriate for Kupferstein to accuse all of ABA of causing trauma and then try to use a convenience sample to prove their point. I'm relatively sure if a more rigorous set of criteria were used, there would be little to no correlation. However, it is not to say that ABA cannot cause PTSD. I am acquaintances with an autistic adult who claims that she experienced PTSD from ABA, and her story made sense. It's one case out of tens of thousands of cases. Regardless, it is essential to listen to Autistic adult stories about their treatment and use them to inform ABA as it evolves.
TL:DR: Behaviorism doesn't cause PTSD. Only the inappropriate use of behaviorism by behaviorists can cause PTSD.
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u/meepercmdr Verified BCBA Jan 01 '25
I would also keep in mind the rhetorical function of the paper, which is to aid in the spread of misinformation. The game is to make a claim, and then have "Evidence" of the claim with this paper that has the appearance of a legitimate academic paper. They are making the extremely safe bet that most regular people will not read past the headline, giving their claim the appearance of being evidenced, and even if people do read past the headline they likely will lack the skill repertoire to evaluate the glaring methodological flaws. If they do happen to meet someone who does have the ability to evaluate it, or present the Leaf rebuttal paper, then that person is on the backfoot of having to spend a lot of time and effort to rebutte he post. It takes literally seconds to lie about anything, and often hours to effectively debunk it.
This disinformation strategy is not unique to the neurodiversity movement, and once you see it you can't unsee it everywhere on social media.
Lastly I will say that Henny Kupferstein herself is an absolutely terrible person and devotes her social media presence to actively spreading misinformation about ABA. She also apparently harassed Feda Almaliti (a tireless advocate for profoundly impaired people) for months and after her death left disgusting comments gloating over her death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGWRyX6dwvI
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u/ABA_after_hours Jan 01 '25
You'll want to know that the authors of the rebuttal co-authored a now retracted article full of deliberate misrepresentations.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15021149.2024.2309416
Creem and Leaf lost their positions at Endicott for it and everyone involved was given an ethics sanction by the BACB iirc.
Worth talking about academic integrity, responsibility, and reputation in regards to spreading and countering claims.
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u/CoffeeContingencies BCBA Jan 02 '25
100% agree.
I was already skeptical of Leaf’s publications after the Social Stories rebuttal papers he had published which were basically a “professional” tantrum. I will never consider any research or CEUs coming out of the Autism Partnership Foundation (APF) to be worth my time as long as he is still employed there, which he will be forever because it’s a family job.
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u/CoffeeContingencies BCBA Jan 02 '25
While I love your enthusiasm, I really wish you’d reconsider the idea that ABA causes PTSD is pseudoscience just because that one article was very poorly written. There are so many other topics related to actual pseudoscience that are 100% more worthy of your time and effort. Vaccines causing autism is one that has come up recently because of RFK jr and Jenny McCarthy, chelation therapy and DAN diets are other areas to look at.
As an autistic BCBA myself I am asking you, respectfully, to not speak for autistic people and to please allow the research time to catch up on this subject.
Yes, the first publication you linked was a horribly done study. And yes, correlation wasn’t established. However, there are many autistic adults who have very real and lived experiences with ABA causing PTSD. Further research with more stringent scientific parameters are clearly needed surrounding this subject and I know for a fact that it is currently occurring.
As far as the rebuttal statement paper, as someone else already told you- Leaf is a well known “shit stirring” and “bulling” researcher in the field. Many BCBAs do not give his publications much credibility anymore. Leaf & Weiss are no strangers to controversial research practices and they themselves just had a paper surrounding the neurodiversity movement completely removed from publication in 2024 for lack of ethical and scientific rigor.
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u/RockerRebecca24 Student Jan 02 '25 edited Jan 02 '25
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I appreciate you taking the time to engage with this topic so thoroughly. First, I want to acknowledge that I am also autistic and have ADHD, and my lived experience deeply informs my perspective on this and related discussions.
I want to clarify that my critique of the initial article was aimed at the quality of the research presented, not at dismissing the lived experiences of autistic individuals who feel harmed by ABA. Lived experiences are valid and important, and I absolutely agree that they deserve more robust, scientifically rigorous research to investigate and understand those perspectives.
You’re absolutely right that there are many pseudoscientific topics, like vaccines causing autism or chelation therapy, that warrant significant attention. I also agree that the conversation surrounding ABA and PTSD requires nuance and careful consideration. My concern is that poorly conducted studies can hinder, rather than help, the progress of understanding and addressing this issue. Good research is the foundation for meaningful change, and I fully support ongoing studies that aim to explore the long-term impacts of ABA using stringent scientific methods.
As for Leaf and Weiss, I appreciate you bringing up their history, as it adds important context. Credibility is a critical factor in evaluating any research, and if there are issues with their practices, that should absolutely be considered when interpreting their findings.
Ultimately, I aim to advocate for compassionate, ethical, and evidence-based practices in ABA, and I believe that includes being open to listening to and learning from the autistic community. Thank you for reminding me of the importance of balancing scientific critique with respect for lived experiences.
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u/CoffeeContingencies BCBA Jan 02 '25
I am so sorry that I jumped to assumption you aren’t autistic and that I misinterpreted the intent behind your critique. I’m glad to see you are receptive to criticism, albeit unwarranted.
There are many things in the more recent (10-15 years) history of ABA that are important for context in any research, but especially for research surrounding this subject.
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u/RockerRebecca24 Student Jan 02 '25
No problem at all! It’s impossible to know someone’s disabilities just from text, and even in person, you likely wouldn’t realize I have disabilities unless we got to know each other or I shared that with you—which I usually do because I’m very open about it.
By the way, do you know of anyone currently conducting research on the long-term effects of ABA? I’d love to explore some recent studies on the topic!
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u/Expendable_Red_Shirt BCBA Jan 02 '25
I'm going to fire back about a few of your points.
First, ABA causing PTSD is pseudoscience. Pseudoscience is
practices or beliefs that claim to be scientific but lack empirical support and are not based on the scientific method
At this point in time there's no good data to suggest that ABA causes any more PTSD than anything else. Might it? Probably! But a bunk article with shit scientific backing is not evidence of it. We don't have good evidence for it, yet people think we do, so it is currently pseudoscience.
Second, OP never spoke for all autistic people. And, for me, truth is truth regardless of whatever diagnosis someone might have. People are using their autism diagnosis as a trump card for being right and it needs to stop. You having autism, OP having autism, none of that is relevant.
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u/CoffeeContingencies BCBA Jan 02 '25
Thank you for the correction. I see your point.
I never claimed OP spoke for all autistic people. I just asked that they wait for the research to catch up with what other autistic people are saying they’ve had as lived experiences and I have colleagues who are working on that research right now. Maybe I didn’t need to add my diagnosis in there but I felt like it made more of an emphasis on how precarious this topic can be to the autistic community and to be mindful- my intention was not to use it as a “trump card,” or to imply that I was automatically “right” but I can see how it might have been interpreted that way.
Being autistic actually does matter when speaking on this topic. Just as my skin color would matter when talking about things that involve the BIPOC community or my gender would matter when talking about topics such as pregnancy or menstruation. With any of these scenarios, one can look at what scientists say and what people in those communities with lived experiences have endured and they almost always are slightly different in the long run, and is ever evolving as people from those communities speak up and become the scientists working on the research themselves. This is why having more autistic BCBAs participating in research is crucial for the betterment of our field
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u/Expendable_Red_Shirt BCBA Jan 02 '25
First, you did absolutely imply, at the very least, OP was speaking for all autistic people.
I strongly disagree with your comparison to what BIPOC or women go through. It’s not the same at all. First, it implies that autistics are the only ones who go through ABA which is false, or that they experience it differently from non autistics which I’ve seen absolutely no evidence for and sounds wild to me. We also see it used by autistics who haven’t been through ABA but use it to claim an insight which is just bunk.
I don’t reveal my diagnoses as they are personal to me and have absolutely no effect on how I do my job or my ability to empathize with my clients. It’s not the same as the other things you mentioned, though many in the autism community are trying to elevate it to that level by emphasizing differences. It’s harmful for everyone but especially our clients.
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u/novafuquay Jan 02 '25
Wait. Can you even get ABA therapy without formal diagnosis? I'm quite sure no insurance will pay for it at least....
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u/CoffeeContingencies BCBA Jan 02 '25
You can in schools. It’s usually an educational model rather than the traditional medical model so it focuses highly on academics. It was rare that this existed even 15-20 years ago though
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u/novafuquay Jan 02 '25
So i worked as a special Ed assistant before I became a rbt. the school had a bcba and the assistants took frequency and duration data on behaviors and responded to behaviors per bcba instruction but it wasn’t like in an aBA clinic or home sessions. (Or school sessions done through my ABA company) where you do trials and different types of programming, reinforcement, etc. something like that? Or more full on ABA?
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u/SignificantRing4766 Jan 01 '25
The fact that self diagnosed were allowed to participate and nothing was done to confirm that actual ABA even happened should have that study wiped from the face of the earth. For all we know, hundreds of self diagnosed anti ABA advocates could’ve participated to purposely skew with results. That’s insane. I heard about that study before, but I had NO idea self diagnosed were allowed to participate and that there was nothing done to confirm they even received ABA.