Tag: aba

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There is nothing “inappropriate” about Autistic Play - Lyric Rivera - NeuroDivergent Rebel - with an image of a young person wearing a yellow rain coat, with a green and white umbrella, sensory seeking by splashing in puddles.

If Not ABA, then What? Autistic People, Social Skills, and “Appropriate Play”- We socialize and play Autistically!

Lyric Holmans

Something that far too many non-autistic people get wrong about Autistic People is thinking that we lack social skills when, in reality, we have social skills, but they’re not the same social skills non-autistics use.

Autistic People socialize (and play) Autistically. Continue reading If Not ABA, then What? Autistic People, Social Skills, and “Appropriate Play”- We socialize and play Autistically!

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2 panel comic, one is a hand clicking off a light switch with text that reads: "If you tell me I need to remember to always flip a red switch before lunch, I may forget to toggle the switch because I don't understand the significance of flipping it.” Panel 2is a hamster about to eat 3 strawberries with text that reads: However, if you were to tell me that flipping the switch feeds lunch to the office pet, and me doing so will make sure an animal won't starve, and then show me the animal who needs to eat and how the red switch feeds it. Then, I am much more likely to remember (because I understand the importance of doing so)."

Alternatives to ABA: If not ABA… then WHAT? – Helping Autistic People With “Self-Care Skills”

Lyric Holmans

In my last piece, Alternatives to ABA: If not ABA… then WHAT? – ABA for “Problem Behaviors,” I shared how behavior can often indicate unmet needs and why squishing “inconvenient behaviors” also may extinguish communications to you that something is wrong. 

In the piece’s opening, I mentioned several common ABA goals listed on Autism Speaks’ website (below), and in its closing, I asked my readers which of the items they wanted me to dive into next.

The first request I saw was to talk more about “helping Autistic People with learning self-care skills,” – so that is the topic I will cover today.  Continue reading Alternatives to ABA: If not ABA… then WHAT? – Helping Autistic People With “Self-Care Skills”

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2 panel comic: first one young person with long black hair sitting in a curled up pose, frustrated and sad as a teacher scolds them. Second panel the same person has a rain cloud above them and they are thinking “i suck”. The caption on the comic reads “I was treated like the problem so I believed I was the problem” and “Nobody asked if I needed help or support to get my work done. Because I was seen as "the problem," I wasn't offered support - instead of noticing my cries for help, behavioral modification techniques were used to "extinguish" my "undesirable behaviors" (all signs I was in distress).”

Alternatives to ABA: If not ABA… then WHAT?

Lyric Holmans

All humans (and other animals, ESPECIALLY those who don’t speak) communicate through their body language and behaviors (even if they are completely unaware they’re doing so).

When children (regardless of NeuroType) demonstrate “disruptive” or “inappropriate behavior,” it is often a sign they have unmet needs that they are trying to meet. Continue reading Alternatives to ABA: If not ABA… then WHAT?

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Sounding the Alarm: Battling the ABA Epidemic: ABAers Target ADHD and Kids Who Started School Late During COVID

Lyric Holmans

These results are not limited to people who’ve experienced formal modification programs (because compliance-based programs permeate our society and many of its systems as a whole).
Continue reading Sounding the Alarm: Battling the ABA Epidemic: ABAers Target ADHD and Kids Who Started School Late During COVID

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Lyric Rivera - NeuroDivergent Rebel Asks: Has anyone ever tried to punish the NeuroDivergence out of you?

Have You Ever Been Punished (or Scolded) for Your NeuroDivergence?

Lyric Holmans

Recently, I asked my NeuroDivergent readers if anyone has “ever tried to “punish” the NeuroDivergence out of” them (while being reasonably sure I knew the answer to my question).

Overwhelming comments came pouring in on various platforms, with stories from my readers telling how they had been harmed by people around them (who insisted on unfair and unrealistic expectations of NeuroTypicality).

I knew there would be Autistic People and ADHDers who had been punished for our NeuroTypes because many of my readers are my age (or older), and when we were growing up, punishment was the standard of care for kids who struggled to fall in line.

What surprised me was how many people with other NeuroTypes were also punished for things beyond their control. Continue reading Have You Ever Been Punished (or Scolded) for Your NeuroDivergence?

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Because I am incompatible with the world, I have two options regarding how to deal with the compatibility issues I face daily. Option 1: Modify MYSELF to fit into the world (because the world expects me to conform and doesn't have compassion for my NeuroDivergent brain). Option 2: Changing my environment and the world around me to better suit my needs instead of changing (and breaking) myself to fit into the world.

My Autistic Truth: Two Choices – Modify Myself to Fit into the World OR Modify the World Around Me to Fit My Needs

Lyric Holmans

Because I am incompatible with the world, I have two options regarding how to deal with the compatibility issues I face daily.

Option 1: Modify MYSELF to fit into the world (because the world expects me to conform and doesn’t have compassion for my NeuroDivergent brain).

Option 2: Changing my environment and the world around me to better suit my needs instead of changing (and breaking) myself to fit into the world. Continue reading My Autistic Truth: Two Choices – Modify Myself to Fit into the World OR Modify the World Around Me to Fit My Needs

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For those of us who feel safe enough to live "outside of the closet," coming out is something we will choose to do (or NOT to do) repeatedly with every new person we meet.

Coming out: It’s not something we do “just once.” It’s something we will do over and over again our entire lives.

Lyric Holmans

Unfortunately, sometimes the people you think (hope) will be safe aren’t always safe. It can be tricky to know if someone will accept you or judge you harshly, thinking less of you when you tell them you’re Queer (regardless of what flavor Queer you are). 

For those of us who feel safe enough to live “outside of the closet,” coming out is something we will choose to do (or NOT to do) repeatedly our entire lives.  Continue reading Coming out: It’s not something we do “just once.” It’s something we will do over and over again our entire lives.

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The word TRUTH is spelled out in light blue and dark yellow fabric letters on a burlap background.

The History of the Puzzle Piece (a Controversial Symbol for Autism and Autistic People), ABA, Conversion Therapy, & Autism Speaks

Lyric Holmans

When I see a puzzle piece, I think of ABA as “missing a piece” and “building a person” (because I know the history). To me, it will always be something ugly.
Continue reading The History of the Puzzle Piece (a Controversial Symbol for Autism and Autistic People), ABA, Conversion Therapy, & Autism Speaks

LGBTQIA+, Substack2 Comments
a note written on a cardboard sign says love shouldn't hurt

Behaviorism 101: Identifying Autistic, NeuroDivergent, and Other forms of Conversion “Therapy”

Lyric Holmans

I consider “Conversion Therapy” to be ANY behavioral modification program that uses negative and positive reinforcements to coerce and manipulate someone into emulating behaviors that are forced and unnatural to them to make the person blend in and appear more “socially acceptable” (whether for Queer, NeuroDivergent, or any other type of behavior that is not considered the “social norm”).
Continue reading Behaviorism 101: Identifying Autistic, NeuroDivergent, and Other forms of Conversion “Therapy”