A 2018 study by Kupferstein found that 46% of autistic people exposed to ABA, as an adult or as a child, met the diagnostic criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In addition, the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms correlated positively with the length of time spent in ABA. The results of this study suggest that short-term benefits of ABA are outweighed by the long-term costs. This study was not accepted without critique: a follow-up study by Leaf et al. critiqued many aspects of Kupferstein’s study design, including hypothesis testing bias, vague operational definition of ABA, and for not confirming the diagnoses of its participants before running the study. However, others have critiqued the follow-up study as well, noting that Leaf et. al were funded by donors who support the use of ABA therapy for autistic individuals. Given the deep controversy around the issue of ABA and post-traumatic stress symptoms, there is ample room for further follow-up studies.

PTSD Symptoms and ABA

Although Skinner and other early behaviorists advocated for usage of only reinforcements and not punishments on human subjects, there have been notable instances of practitioners of ABA using punishments in their therapy approaches. One of the earliest examples of practitioners openly using aversives was Ole Ivar Lovaas, whose work was well-known (and already controversial) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In a 1965 study, Lovaas used electric shocks on autistic children whose “bizarre” behaviors would not respond to traditional treatment efforts. Usage of punishments has declined sharply since then, though there is still one school in the United States permitted to use electric shocks as part of their disciplinary strategy. 

Use of Punishment in ABA

ABA therapy and Conversion therapy were both invented by Ivar Lovaas and are fundamentally very similar in nature. This has been a significant reasons for criticism of ABA therapy, as conversion therapy has been found to be unethical by the majority of the scientific body. 


Conversion Therapy and ABA

In a 2020 study, interviews and questionnaires were done with adult participants (n=10) to gauge individual feelings regarding ABA. A majority of participants (n=7) recalled being forced to ‘perform’ as neurotypicals, being ‘trained like dogs', and that their experiences with ABA were considerably punishment based.


Autistic Experiences of Childhood ABA

Those who practice ABA are considerably less qualified than other therapists, as they are not required to take any classes on autism or receive masters or PhD credentials. This is a considerable source of controversy and critics feel that ABA should require more qualifications. 


Perceived Lack of Training for ABA Therapists

ABA does not adequately treat ASD as a neurological and developmental disorder. Because Autism Spectrum Disorder is now categorized as a neurological and developmental disorder, it does not make sense to only treat its behavioral aspects. ABA is not concerned with the growing field of neuroscience and is consequentially regarded as outdated 

Treatment of Autism as a Behavioral Disorder

Self-regulatory behaviors (stims) are not inherently harmful or negative. ABA aims to “extinguish” these behaviors, often through punishment, even if they do not harm the patient. Critics of ABA point out that this is likely because they are trying to make neurotypical people more comfortable by making the child appear “normal” rather than aiming to actually help the child. 

Perpetuating Negative Views on Self-stimulatory Behavior

Bowdoin College

Applied behavior analysis is a subfield of psychology that emerged in the 1960s to apply the principles of the experimental analysis of behavior to practical, human-focused research. By utilizing single-subject research methodologies, this discipline seeks to develop and evaluate interventions for real-world issues. It plays a critical role in contemporary applied research across various domains, including the treatment of developmental disabilities, education, health, and organizational behavior.

Applied Behavior Analysis

Controversy around ABA

Early behaviorism posited that a stimulus would prompt a response in a simple cause-and-effect manner; Skinner later argued that the stimulus directly following a behavior (the antecedent) is just as important, if not more important, than the stimulus that came before it. Using Skinner’s principles, ABA was first coined in the 1950s, with a 1959 journal article becoming the first official study on its effectiveness. Early ABA studies focused predominantly on reducing self-injurious behaviors in patients with schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders by providing positive and/or negative reinforcement* after the patient behaves in a way that the researcher wants to encourage. 

*Reinforcement refers to a stimulus that encourages a behavior. Negative reinforcement differs from positive or negative punishment in that it is supposed to encourage the behavior by taking away a dislikable stimulus.   

History of ABA

Operant conditioning is a form of associative learning in which the motivation for a behavior occurs after the behavior is demonstrated. An organism learns to associate a voluntary action with its subsequent consequence, which can be either a reinforcer or a punisher. This consequence then modifies the likelihood of the behavior being repeated in the future.

Operant Conditioning

Applied behavior analysis principles drove educational practices. This ideology permeated all classroom interactions. The authors argue it harms both students and teachers.

Systemic Instruction Ideology

Often students with Severe Intellectual Disabilities are taught communication in the context of ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis. This type of therapy is focused on getting children to produce predetermined behavioral responses to certain stimuli in an attempt to correct "undesirable behaviors" that may be natural responses to the situation. This paradigm undermines the child's agency in the pursuit of performing normativity.

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