I'm Autistic and I Became an ABA Therapist

I train as an ABA therapist to investigate the “gold standard” treatment for autistic kids – tracing its roots in aversive behaviourism and conversion therapy, unpacking the evidence behind 40‑hour programmes, and examining new 2025 research linking ABA to more mental‑health crises. At stake is not just whether ABA changes behaviour, but whether a system built to make autistic people pass as neurotypical can ever be compatible with neurodiversity and human rights. This video is made from an autistic, neurodiversity‑affirming perspective. It’s critical of ABA as a system, but not of individual parents or low‑paid RBTs trying to help under pressure. For the full sources & references, mind map, notes and a guided tour of my research process, please visit: https://geni.us/undercover_aba Join the Autisti-Cat Community and get extra content, Discord, and more:   / autisticaf   📌 Stay Connected: Stim the notification bell and subscription button to be notified when I release new content. 📸 I'm now on Instagram:   / autisticafter40   👩🏼‍💻 And the web: https://www.autisticafter40.com 👨‍⚖️ Disclaimer: I am not a healthcare professional or psychotherapist. If you are watching this and feel that you need immediate mental health support, please see the list of mental health helplines at HelpGuide.org here: https://www.helpguide.org/find-help.htm If you have met one autistic (and or ADHD) person, you have met one person. This is a spectrum condition, and many traits may be different, or have alternative explanations for your experiences. If in doubt, refer to a psychologist, and not a YouTuber. Self-diagnosis is valid (because:    • Autism Self-Diagnosis: Valid or Just an In...  ) Chapters: 00:00:00 Please watch these five minutes first. 00:04:54 Act 1: ABA's Problematic Past 00:11:59 "Constructing a Person", Lovaas Enters 00:19:48 "Recovery" and the Forty-Hour Week 00:28:15 Aversives, Conversion Therapy, and the Judge Rotenberg Center 00:34:02 Professionalism as damage control 00:38:47 Act 2: Inside the Machine (RBT Training vs. Real World Structures) 00:41:52 Language and Deficits 00:43:58 Measurement 00:48:37 The Consent Paradox 00:54:20 Touch 00:56:54 5% Supervision 00:59:46 ABA vs Occupational Therapy; whose evidence counts? 01:07:29 Act 3: "NEW ABA" or "NO ABA"? Reform, Abolition and the Unknown 01:18:26 The Abolitionists 01:20:04 Evidence on Trial 01:29:06 Masking, Trauma and the Racism Argument 01:33:14 Reform or Abolition? 01:35:27 TAGteach and ABA-schisms 01:38:54 Advice for Parents and Practictioners 01:42:34 Everything we know that we don't yet know