Oh Behave! Podcast

I’m using this as a supplement for studying for my exam. The info is good with some examples to correlate with the task list items- but after listening to three episodes I noticed the host tends to talk over/interrupt the guests. Maybe it’s just the early episodes before the technology was figured out, but hopefully that isn’t a constant throughout the series.

I enjoyed listening to this episode. I am currently a student in a ABA program and this is one of the first topics we cover. However, the examples that were used like the candy machine, the rat bumping the lever, sharks, and the octopi show how there are species specific behaviors. Food is often used as a stimulus with many different animals to include humans. I like how Dr. Araiba spoke about the shark whisperers here in Hawaii tickling sharks. The shark approaches the diver, diver tickles/rubs sharks jaw, shark goes into a trance like effect, then sharks swim away. If the diver remains in the same spot the shark will return multiple times for the diver to rub/tickle their jaw. This was a great example that I have seen with my own eyes and had connected that this interaction was a live depiction of operant conditioning. Mahalo for having such great content!

The entire purpose of applied behavior analysis (ABA) is to pathologize the autistic neurotype and compel autistic people to act “normal.” This is accomplished through a system of brutal reprogramming that takes place for up to 40 hours a week for several years. Eventually, the autistic “subject” becomes too exhausted and traumatized to resist and learns to internalize their pain, distress and discomfort to please those around them. The Bearded Behaviorist thinks he can put lipstick on this pig by using buzzwords, like “trauma-informed.” He also thinks that, because he is autistic, that gives him special insight into how to apply ABA in a benign way. He is wrong on both counts. ABA was built on the philosophy that it’s easier to train an autistic person to not be autistic (an impossible and unethical goal) than it is to train the rest of society to accept and include autistic people. The Bearded Behaviorist and those like him claim that they’ve abandoned that philosophy and transformed a cruel pseudoscience into a respectable scientific field; again, this does not comport with reality. Like all ABA “professionals,” the Bearded Behaviorist has no formal training in any field relevant to the study or support of the autistic community, such as neurology, psychiatry or any psychological field outside of radical behaviorism. Thus, neither he nor any of his industry colleagues are competent to do what they do. They call themselves experts in a field they have absolutely no knowledge of and dismiss actual medical professionals as “mentalists.” If you think this podcast will give you insight into how to best support the autistic community, I’m sorry to disappoint you. If you’re an RBT, BCBA or any other ABA practitioner tuning in to try to improve your practice, do yourself and the autistic community a favor and go back to school (or, in the case of an RBT, go to school). Train to be a diagnostician specializing in autism. Train to be an occupational therapist. Train to be a psychotherapist with a specialty in the treatment of autistic patients. These are just some of the services that the autistic community at large actually wants, needs and would benefit from. ABA cannot be made benign; it needs to be abandoned.

I just found this podcast to hear more about DTT and NET and loved what I heard!! I wish I could work with them everyday! I hope these ideas catch on and we all continue to learn better practices! Thanks!!