cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/17147012

"Sometimes people use “respect” to mean “treating someone like a person” and sometimes they use “respect” to mean “treating someone like an authority”

and sometimes people who are used to being treated like an authority say “if you won’t respect me I won’t respect you” and they mean “if you won’t treat me like an authority I won’t treat you like a person”

and they think they’re being fair but they aren’t, and it’s not okay."

-a 15yo autistic girl experiencing ABA therapy

Source

  • EmptySlime@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    1·
    7 months ago

    Yep, like anything with the goal of changing behaviors it all comes down to what behaviors you’re targeting, why you’re targeting them, and how you’re planning to discourage the targeted behavior and enforce the desired replacement.

    It’s great if you’re trying to change behaviors that cause the autistic person distress and interfere with them living a fulfilling and happy life, but horrible if you’re aim is to just enforce blind conformity for the sake of it.

    My wife is autistic as are at least 2 of our 3 kids, with the third awaiting his own evaluation. She studied ABA in college because when you tell a woman with autism and severe OCD that actually a lot of human behavior is ordered and explainable if you understand the underlying reasons the behaviors exist she tends to jump on it to explain all of the “stupid social bullshit” she’s had to deal with all her life.