Centering Autistic Voices and Practicing Flexibility in ABA Interventions

Overview

What you will study

In 1978, Montrose Wolf argued for the importance of incorporating social validity measures within the science of applied behavior analysis. Almost 50 years have passed since the publication of his seminal article in JABA and the field is still grappling with truly attending to the social significance of our interventions, especially as it relates to the autism community. Criticisms abound from autistic self-advocates and fields outside of behavior analysis (e.g., McGill & Robinson, 2020; Sandoval-Norton, & Shkedy, 2019; Wilkenfeld & McCarthy, 2020) that behavior analysis does not center the autistic perspective. 

In this Centering Autistic Voices and Practicing Flexibility in ABA Interventions panel offered by University of New Brunswick , a panel of Autistic self-advocates will share their perspectives on key steps from their own lived experiences. The panel will conclude by fielding questions from the audience relating to centering autistic perspectives and maintaining flexibility within our interventions.