Tag: Autism

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”

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Rainbow brain icon on a black background with white text that reads: NeuroQueer Timelines: Conversion Therapy, Queer History, and ABA - The Pains of Watching History Repeat Itself - Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Ivar Lovaas conducted experiments using rewards and punishments to shape "desirable" or "normative behaviors" in gender nonconforming and Autistic children.

NeuroQueer Timelines: Conversion Therapy, Queer History, and ABA – The Pains of Watching History Repeat Itself

Lyric Holmans

Throughout the 1960s and ’70s, Ivar Lovaas conducted experiments using rewards and punishments to shape “desirable” or “normative behaviors” in gender nonconforming and Autistic children.
Continue reading NeuroQueer Timelines: Conversion Therapy, Queer History, and ABA – The Pains of Watching History Repeat Itself

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Photo of a young Lyric, sitting on a red sofa with a white throw, dressed in a costume they made themselves that's supposed to be Puss N Boots. Several of Lyric's favorite stuffed toys are lined up on the sofa beside them. There is white text that reads: You don't have to have been subjected to formal Autistic Conversion Therapy to have experienced behaviorism and its harms. There are many types of conversion therapy used to "normalize" Autistic and other NeuroDivergent People. ABA, or Applied Behavioral Analysis is among the most widely

You don’t have to have been subjected to formal Autistic Conversion Therapy to have experienced behaviorism and its harms.

Lyric Holmans

There are many types of conversion therapy used to “normalize” Autistic and other NeuroDivergent People. ABA, or Applied Behavioral Analysis, is among the most widely recognized and controversial.
Continue reading You don’t have to have been subjected to formal Autistic Conversion Therapy to have experienced behaviorism and its harms.

Coworkers, LGBTQIA+, Substack1 Comment
a dark, black and white image of a hand holding a compass out looking for direction

How many NeuroDivergent people’s skills are lost (or never have a chance to grow) because those NeuroDivergent People are stuck in survival mode?

Lyric Holmans

Because I’d been told “work wasn’t supposed to be fun,” I kept taking jobs that made me miserable, feeling as if the punishments and misery were rights of passage necessary for the money I earned.
Continue reading How many NeuroDivergent people’s skills are lost (or never have a chance to grow) because those NeuroDivergent People are stuck in survival mode?