*Recommended Reading: ABA Haters 

I feel very unqualified to write this post.

The ABA Reform movement (also referred to as Autistic Activists & Allies) is not new, but you may be unaware of it. Many ABA peeps are. 

There's a vocal community of Autistics and pro-neurodiversity/anti-ABA parents, individuals, and professionals who work diligently to spread the word about their viewpoint of ABA. Sometimes this is due to actual experience with ABA therapy, but not always. 

If you want to understand why an Autistic dislikes ABA therapy, obviously the best person to ask would be an #ActuallyAutistic.

However, there are a couple of reasons why I am writing this post anyway, despite feeling unqualified to do so:

1. Lots and lots of parents come to my blog as a source of information about ABA. I don't want my silence on this topic to make it seem like I think ABA therapy is perfect with no flaws. I do think this industry has flaws, I have worked for low-quality employers, and I think parents making treatment decisions for their child need to know how to navigate this issue.

2. Although there are some in the ABA Reform movement who are pushing more for "ABA Eradication" and less for "ABA Reform", I think ABA professionals should be a part of this conversation. We are the ones in the field, day in and day out, working with vulnerable populations who don't always have a voice (either figuratively or quite literally). We cannot just stand by and watch this ABA conversation happen, we need to join the conversation.

If you think ABA, as a treatment or as an industry, is perfection and needs no improvement, you may want to stop reading now. <------------------------------------------

If however, you see the field's issues with clinician burnout, inefficient staff training, low-quality employers, person-first treatment planning, questionable research, teaching Autistics to mask, or respecting client dignity, and want to be a part of the CHANGE for the better, then read on.

My 1st post on anti-ABA'ers, or "ABA Haters" was written several years ago. I keep it up because I think it's important to see the evolution of change. 

Most of us do not change our minds about something instantly. It is a process. We receive new information, analyze that information, reject it and return to old thinking, or accept it and enter into a different level of understanding. Of course, I'm also minimizing the reality of defensive mechanisms, circular logic, and cognitive dissonance, and how these concepts impact our ability to change our mind.

I used to think people were anti-ABA because they had never experienced quality ABA services, or maybe received ABA decades ago when there was less accountability of providers, more "old school" tactics used, etc. I thought if they could see for themselves what ABA can do, how it can help, and how we impact lives everyday, that anti-ABA'ers would "come around".

I have since changed my mind on that.

For those of you that don't know, receiving low-quality/unethical ABA treatment is not the only reason why someone may hate ABA. 

Other reasons could include: being against the idea of "treatment" for a neurological difference, seeing Autism as a cultural identity and not a problem to solve, being against the high intensity of ABA services, taking issue with the tiered service-delivery model ABA uses, being angered by ABA providers or companies using "cure" or "recovery" talk (yes, this still happens today), viewing the origins of ABA as unethical and inhumane, viewing the current state of ABA as unethical and inhumane, and a strong displeasure with the lack of Autistic voices/input in the top Autism advocacy organizations, Behavior Certification Board for Behavior Analysis, leadership/ownership of ABA agencies and companies, or leadership in ABA state associations.

These are valid points, and they deserved to be heard without the lens of professional defensiveness.

Again, there are some in the ABA Reform community who think the best way to fix ABA is to 

Shut. 

It. 

Down.

But there are others who do want to see ABA improved, implemented more compassionately, and become more receptive to Autistic feedback and experiences. More about support and accommodations, and less about trying to force someone to not look or act Autistic.

Below are a ton of great resources for more information about Autistic voices, differing views on ABA, and anti-Ableism advocacy. The best consumer is an informed consumer, and I think it's important to present the information and let people decide what is best for them.

It is so important to be aware of what the main population served by ABA providers (*It is true that not all ABA professionals work within the Autism community, but a gigantic chunk of us do*) has to say about ABA therapy, and the ways it can improve.

If you aren't willing to at least non-defensively listen, then what you're really saying is you aren't willing to change your mind. And how sad is that?

*Resources- 

Do Better Professional Movement 

The Great Big ABA Opposition List

Autistic Self-Advocacy Network 

BCBAs + Autistics Towards a Reformed ABA Facebook group

ABA Reform Facebook page

Beautiful Humans Podcast: The ABA Reform Movement Ep. 26 (Go take a listen, this is an amazing conversation!)

A Perspective on Today's ABA from Dr. Greg Hanley

5 Important Reasons Even "New ABA" is Problematic 

The Controversy Around ABA

Stimming Deserves Acceptance 

Nice Lady Therapists 

"I Am a Disillusioned BCBA" 

ABA Inside Track Podcast: Trauma Informed Care Ep 134 

Behavioral Observations Podcast: What is Trauma Informed ABA Ep 131

What's Wrong with the Autism 'Puzzle Piece' Symbol

"Why Autism Speaks Doesn't Speak for Me"

Avoiding Ableist Language: Suggestions for Autism Researchers 

"Why Autism ABA Goes Against Everything B.F. Skinner Believed In"

Eye Contact for Recipients Validation

"Autism Doesn't Have to be Viewed as a Disability"

"How To Ask an Autistic"

Outdated Autism Terms & Language

Autism Wars 

The Controversy over Autism's Most Common Therapy

For ABA Practitioners: How to Respond to ABA Hate

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Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author

"Bad bosses compel good employees to leave"
www.Forbes.com

"The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don't feel valued, neither will your customers"

Sybil F. Stershic

"The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave not training them and having them stay"

Henry Ford

"Strive not to be a Success, but rather to be of Value"

Albert Einstein

"You don't get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value to bring to that hour"
Jim Rohn

Get Excited!

For those of you out there, laboring away, giving your all to your clients, working from 8am to 8pm every day (and getting paid for 1/2 that time), typing up 20 page reports at 2 am, laminating flashcards until your fingers are sore, putting hundreds of miles on your car, going to work bruised, discouraged, and exhausted, and eating your lunch in your car...I have something for YOU.

My newest book, 'The Practical ABA Practitioner', uncovers and openly discusses all aspects of ABA practitioner life, as in the good, the bad, & definitely the ugly. ;-)
This book is all about the practitioner experience working in this field, the day-to-day reality, how to plan out a successful career, and what common pitfalls to avoid. Especially for those of you brand new to the field, or newly certified.


If you want to work in this field, you need to read this book.
If you're tired of working in this field, you need to read this book.
If you LOVE working in this field, you need to read this book.

In preparing to write this book, I talked to lots and lots of practitioners about their experiences working in this field, reached back into my own early days as an in-home ABA therapist, and I also perused the resources out there about ABA as a career: What's it like being a BCBA? What are the pros and cons to becoming an RBT? What are the joys, the pressures, and the challenging to meet expectations of this industry?


Dying for some specific details about the book? Sure!
 "The Practical ABA Practitioner" addresses:

• Professional Burnout. Yup. I dedicated an entire chapter to discussing loving what you do, but hating the way you have to do it, and being eternally exhausted. You're welcome.
• The end of the book is a huge treasure trove of practical practitioner tips and resources (handouts, job performance tips, staff satisfaction surveys, suggested parent policies, etc.) that will help you do your job better. Seriously, its just pages and pages of stuff. :-)
• Work-Life balance as a busy full-time BCBA: Fiction or Reality?
• Developing and refining your clinical identity as an ABA practitioner.
• What are employers looking for when hiring RBT's? What about BCBA's?
• Should you pursue BCBA certification? Is it really for you?
• How to revitalize your passion for this field.
• What kinds of pitfalls should newbie BCBA's watch out for (because they're vulnerable to these issues)?
• Why are the staff retention rates in this field so terrible? To put it another way, why are so many ABA companies bleeding staff?
• Tips for choosing between various employment options, and red-flags to look out for.
• How to BE the change when working in less-than-ideal conditions.
• Holding this field accountable for the way we treat direct staff/ABA implementors.
• How to to develop your personal value system in this field, and practice with integrity.
• How to be truly successful as a practitioner, for years and years to come.
• What are some of the main reasons why quality practitioners walk away from this field, and don't look back. And how we can keep them from walking away.

Treat yourself, and do something GREAT for your career... get this resource and be encouraged and strengthened.

Click here to find this brand new resource on Amazon!

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Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author

Photo source: www.newcap.org

A novel, based on the life of an 18th century peasant girl who marries into nobility...


I am totally kidding.


My newest book, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about ABA" is now available for purchase on www.Amazon.com.
I'm just going to say it: It's my best book so far.
(If you are unfamiliar with my previous books, just go to Amazon and type 'Tameika Meadows' into the search bar).


I stand by that huge claim. If you buy the book and hate it, let me know and I'll give you a cookie or something.

This is my BEST book yet because I combined all the ABA horror stories I hear from families, all the questions parents ask me when I first meet them, all of my kind-but-honest responses to those scared parents, cold hard data, but also warm, soft hope.
The book also includes 2 *bonus* Parent Checklists with over 50 suggested questions to ask potential ABA providers. I talk to so many parents with newly diagnosed children and tell them "You should be asking more questions", and they respond with "But I don't know what to ask!". Well.. now you will.


My hope is that any parent who finds themselves nervously facing their computer screen trying to process and digest everything about ABA to make a decision for their child, can instead just get this book and have all their innermost questions and fears addressed in clear, simple language.
If you have visited my blog for longer than 10 seconds then you should know by now that clear and simple language is how I roll.


Specifically, this book will honestly and plainly tackle the following common parent questions or concerns:

• If ABA is so great, why does it get SO much hate? (I did not mean to rhyme right there)
• How do I know if I'm getting quality ABA treatment?
• How much should I be paying the ABA provider?/Why is this so expensive?
• What will ABA therapy cost my marriage, or my family?
• Do all children with Autism NEED ABA therapy?
• Who can provide ABA therapy? What training do they need?
• What setting for ABA therapy (home, school, center) is the BEST?
• How much therapy is enough therapy?
• I have NO idea how to read these assessment results from the BCBA. Help.
• Can older kids or adults benefit from ABA therapy?
• Isn't the goal of ABA therapy to force Autistics to be "Normal"?
• What is the role of the parent in ABA treatment and why is parent training so crucial?
• What the heck is a FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment)?
• How quickly will my child progress/improve with ABA therapy?
• Why doesn't my BCBA provide direct therapy to my child?
• What is the difference between Non-verbal and Non-vocal?
• Is ABA therapy the right choice for my child, and for my family? 
• What will my child be like after years of ABA therapy? What should I expect?
• Why are ABA providers so judgmental about sensory diets/sensory integration?
• Why can it be so difficult to obtain ABA treatment for older kids/teens?
• Why can't ABA sessions be 30-45 minutes long, like so many other therapies?
• Can ABA ever truly "not work"?
• Why does ABA force compliance?
• Does ABA today still use aversives and punishers?
• What questions should I ask this new ABA provider we just started with?
• How can I determine if an ABA provider is practicing ethically or not?

And many, many more!

Order your copy today, all the cool kids are doing it: Click here to go to Amazon.

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Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author

Photo source: www.climbthesearch.com, www.metv.com, www.marketplace.secondlife.com, www.forum.isatrance.com

I get lots of questions and emails from people curious about the field of ABA, and how to become an ABA provider.

Like, a lot of questions.

A lot, LOT, of questions.


After probably question #999,999, it finally dawned on me that maybe a handy dandy resource would be helpful for people. So with this post I present that handout to you!
Oh stop, no applause is necessary.

Okay, if you insist.

Below you will find a massive list of links that will lead you to specific posts that should answer your burning questions about entering the field of ABA. At the very bottom of this post, you can download a FREE (we like that word around here)  handout that goes into great detail about how to enter this field and kick off a rewarding career.

I tried to be as thorough as possible, but of course, I can't possibly answer questions about every possible scenario. Please peruse the information below. I hope its helpful!

**Remember, sharing is caring so if you know someone who could use this information feel free to pass it along.


LINKS:

Why being an ABA provider is so amazing
This is what a great ABA therapist looks like
This is what a horrible ABA therapist looks like
ABA provider dress code
Why I love my job 
Selecting a quality ABA employer
Getting ready for your first few interviews for ABA jobs Part I and II
Common ABA work settings
So you want to be a Superhero?
That lo-o-o-ng road to the BCBA
Finding work post BCBA certification 
Stay Sane! Organization Tips for BCBA's
What to expect after being hired for an ABA position
You should be checking this website out on a regular basis: Behavior Analyst Certification Board

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Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author

For my ABA peeps:

 Photo source: www.mostmetrocom

What is your elevator pitch?

The "elevator pitch" or "elevator speech" basically refers to your ability to concisely and simply explain what it is that you do in a super brief amount of time. Like, the amount of time it takes to ride the elevator from one floor to the next.

As massive, broad, and variable as your job as an ABA clinician can be, there is the added burden that the person asking "So what do you do?" is usually a layperson who does not want some super long and boring technical answer. Skip the jargon, please.
But if you give a super brief answer ("I'm an ABA Therapist") the average person will have NO idea what that is.

So whats a good pitch?

This video gives some good tips a from a business perspective.

Or you can copy my pitch, which while far from perfect, typically results in the other person leaning forward excitedly and saying "Wait, WHAT job is this????"

The coolest elevator pitch ever: 

"I'm a Behavior Analyst. I have a job I am passionate about where I get to help some of the most amazing kids in the world. I teach young children how to increase or decrease all kinds of behaviors in ways that are really effective, and long lasting. Most of my work is done at home on my laptop, but even when its not I have a flexible schedule and lots of variety to my workday. There isn't anything else I'd rather be doing, and I DON'T hate Mondays."

Photo source: www.icanandiamcom

 

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Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author

 Photo Source: www.kingarthurflour.com, blog.palmnet.me.uk

So, this is weird. 

My blog just officially reached its 1,000,000th view.

Photo source: www.u.osu.edu

Wowzers.

I think it’s pretty darn cool that a blog I started a few years back, just as a fun little hobby (mainly for my own geeky ABA interest), is now becoming a woman. Or something like that.

Whether you are a new reader or have been hanging around here since the beginning, thank you. Thank you for reading, thank you for sharing the posts, thank you for commenting, thank you for suggesting posts, thank you for supporting my books, thank you for giving honest feedback (it would be great if the feedback was always KIND, but moving on…..), & thank you for contributing to the magic “1,000,000” number. Did I already say wowzers??

When I first started this blog it was only read by people I knew. Mainly clients, some family members, and a few friends. I had no idea what to talk about on my blog, so I just started putting up posts about things I cared about. To my surprise, other people liked it...not just people who know me, and are therefore obligated to tell me nice things :-) 

The very 1st post that got a huge surge in readers and a flurry of emails to my inbox, was my Clint Eastwood themed Punishment post. In that post, I pretty much did what I do everyday in my career: I combined clinical knowledge with my personality, and presented technical information in a very simple, basic way.  I like to say, "I'm not formal, but I'm professional". Uptight and stuffy just isn't what I do. But if you want to hear about how my mind connects Giada De Laurentiis to the FBA process, then by all means stick around.

It took me a while to find my writing voice, so thanks for hanging in during that process. Some of my very first posts are a bit cringe - worthy for me to read now, kind of like looking back at old pictures of yourself in middle school.

Through my blog I get to connect and chat with some amazing people: parents, grandparents, individuals with Autism, teachers, counselors, therapists, & other ABA professionals.
 I get to share ideas and discuss behavior with people in Australia, Italy, Canada, India, Russia, and the UK, just to name a few places. Why in the world someone halfway across the globe would check out my little blog, I have no idea…..but it’s pretty awesome!

The best part of having a blog is getting to blab on and on about my passion, and giving other people information I wish I had when I was a newbie in this field. If I can help someone else avoid the missteps I made, I think that’s great. So I hope something you have read, or downloaded, or viewed on this blog has helped you with your child/client/student in some small way.

Thanks for reading!

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Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author