Whereas, A 2018 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among adults aged 8 years to be 1 in 44; and

Whereas, Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is currently the most widely available and commonly used state-funded form of autism therapy in Canada and the United States; and

Whereas, Autism treatment represents a fragmented industry that consists of a mixture of for profit and nonprofit organizations, with the top nine for-profit chains estimated to have a combined revenue of $547 million and a market value close to $2 billion with future growth expected; and

Whereas, An ABA software company reports over 3 billion in claims processed annually for about 1,300 practices highlighting the prevalence of ABA use as an intervention for individuals with autism; and

Whereas, Autism Speaks lists 3,194 centers across the United States who offer ABA therapy as of 2022; and

Whereas, ABA was conceived in 1961 by Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas to condition neurotypical behaviors in children he viewed as “incomplete humans”; and

Whereas, Desired behavior is often defined by the adult or behaviorist without input or requirement of consent from the child and may include non-harmful stimming or coping behaviors; and

Whereas, ABA uses behavior modification techniques to eliminate behaviors deemed undesirable; and

Whereas, ABA practices are historically based in abuse such as holding autistic children's communication hostage through the use of their devices as leverage, and denying basic rights such as food and toileting privileges; and

Whereas, Modern ABA still abides by the founding principle of making a child appear “normal” or “indistinguishable from one’s peers”, which serves to separate the humanity of the individual with autism from desired behaviors; and

Whereas, A 2018 study found that Adults with autism who have received ABA are more prone to suicide; and

Whereas, ABA has been repeatedly linked to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), with 46% of 460 ABA participants meeting the diagnostic threshold for PTSD in an online survey; and

Whereas, Adults with autism have been continuously outspoken about the trauma incurred by ABA practices experienced in their childhood; and

Whereas, A 2012 literature review found the evidence base for services for adults with an ASD to be underdeveloped; and

Whereas, A 2018 Cochrane review recommend further research after reporting very weak evidence in support of ABA; and

Whereas, A 2022 informal online community survey found that 71% of adults with autism responded “disagree” or “strongly disagree” to the statement “Generally speaking, I support ABA therapy for autistic children”; and

Whereas, A 2020 Department of Defense report demonstrated a lack of correlation between improvement in symptoms and hours of direct ABA services, found that the improvements recorded were due to reasons other than ABA services, and ABA services did not meet the TRICARE hierarchy of evidence standard for medical and proven care; and

Whereas, A 2021 study on conflicts of interest (COIs) in autism early intervention research found COIs to be prevalent and under-reported, with 70% of studies containing a conflict of interest and less than 6% declaring them as such; and

Whereas, Current research supports alternatives to ABA such as the Developmental, Individual Differences, and Relationship-based (DIR®) program, the PLAY Project, individualized Early Social Interaction (ESI) and, Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Support (SCERTS®); and

Whereas, Current AMA policy supports the use of ABA through its advocation of coverage of ABA and the evidence-based treatment for autism and fails to recognize its harms or controversial nature within the community at large;

therefore be it RESOLVED… (American Medical Association [AMA], 2023, pp. 1179-1182)

https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/a23-combined-handbook.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2hQ7GNnmjPk-HDBsy7e5sFUxxvTN2GxdcBPo3CsM9i9YPeBM36TsLtzso

@actuallyautistic #actuallyautistic

@winter @actuallyautistic is this good or bad i don't wanna use my brain right now

@atlrvrse @actuallyautistic it's good!!!

@winter @actuallyautistic bark bark!!!

@atlrvrse @winter means they dont support aba as a treatment for autism anymore, which is good if a bit fucking late

(that shit shouldve been abandoned together with electro shock therapy and lobotomies why is this only happening now)

@coolbean @atlrvrse electric shock is still happening.

@winter This is amazing news! I don't know if my parents were advised to use ABA but they never said the word autism once in my presence and their insistence that I was just a fuckup and the punishment for that has caused me the most harm out of anything else I have experienced. I might've fared better without parents from the start.

@winter @atlrvrse wait what the fuck? still? as far as i was aware it was mostly abandoned in regards to psychological conditions

@coolbean @atlrvrse no, it is used to this day at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Rotenberg_Educational_Center

@winter @actuallyautistic broken cw behavior had me thinking that my app bugged out

@winter @atlrvrse @actuallyautistic i got your email but it was the same as this post and i didn't understand it
didn't know what "whereas" was replying to and the link was an entire textbook

@alienskyler sorry I know that is high neurotypical speech and hard to parse. it's good news, it's against ABA

@coolbean @atlrvrse @winter technically electroconvulsive therapy is still used as well (what used to be called electroshock therapy) although usually used as a last resort treatment for depression that doesn't respond to medications, and normally they use anesthesia nowadays, but i still have heard of people being subjected to it against their will (just like often happens with medications)

they shock people at the Judge Rotenberg center ostensibly as a form of behavior modification "therapy" but it is actually just torture

people get those two things mixed up a lot but they are both pretty bad

@winter @alienskyler so i wasn't the only person

@winter @alienskyler i immediately understood the point when i read the cw, fwiw

(to the point where i might have initially boosted one of the replies instead of the OP, having somehow forgotten to actually open the cw)

@coolbean yeah it was mostly abandoned, but “mostly” is an important word. It still happens sometimes

@alienskyler @atlrvrse if you’d like, I summarized it here. I made each paragraph into one sentence with mostly simple words

@winter @actuallyautistic

has this resolution been adopted or is ita draft ?
I have seen confusing info on line eg
https://www.reddit.com/r/ABA/comments/14woywf/apbas_response_to_ama_house_of_delegates_draft/

@failedLyndonLaRouchite @actuallyautistic at the time I shared this every source I'd seen was saying it has been adopted. I didn't check pro-ABA sources, I wouldn't trust a word they say. but the more I try to understand how decision making in the AMA works the more confused I get, so i can't say for sure.

@winter
If anyone promises you a cure for autism, they are lying
@actuallyautistic @failedLyndonLaRouchite

@winter @actuallyautistic ABA is child abuse.

@winter @actuallyautistic

https://thekeyresource.com/weekly-recap-1-22/

@Highlander1963

@winter @actuallyautistic This is terrific news!