Nov 13, 2025
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I've seen a lot of ppl in this tag asking about how to vet ABA therapy centers as a potential employee. I've been working at an autism care center for almost two years now so here are some tips you can use to see if a clinic is using abusive practices.
Firstly, keep an eye out for these red flags:
any use of physical restraint
withholding of food, water, or sensory regulation tools in order to gain motivation
expectation to use eye contact, limit stimming behavior, or forgo sensory regulation tools like headphones, fidgets, chewies, etc
use of punishment* - aka intentionally causing an aversive experience with the goal of reducing a behavior
And here are some scripts you can use to gauge how ABA-critical a center is:
"I'm passionate about autism care but I know ABA has a history of abusive practices. What kind of measures do you have in place to ensure that clients have a beneficial experience?"
"I understand I will be taking clinical direction from a BCBA**. If I have concerns about a BCBA's clinical practices, who can I discuss this with?"
And, if you're unsure, you can always ask directly:
"Do you use physical restraint at your clinic?"
"Do you use punishment at your clinic?"
"Are clients ever expected to use eye contact/forgo sensory regulation tools/limit stimming behaviors?"
If you're nervous about being this direct, you can always start with:
"I have a friend/family member who had a traumatic experience with ABA, and I'm passionate about delivering empathetic, trauma-informed care to autistic people."
Being an RBT has been my favorite job I've ever had and it's so important for clients of ABA that the people who work with them really care about ethical practices. I hope this is helpful for people curious about the field.
*Punishment at its worst looks like intentionally causing physical pain to a client, but it can also involve removing preferred activities or items. Client motivation should be acquired through reward rather than punishment. An example of this could look like:
A client frequently climbs on tables in a way that is unsafe. A punishment could mean removing the client's favorite toy from the area until the client returns to the ground. At my clinic, which doesn't use punishment at all, I would position my body so that I can catch them if they fall, and either wait them out or offer a motivating item on the ground.
**BCBA stands for Board Certified Behavior Analyst and they typically supervise RBTs on how to deliver therapy. A BCBA will write goals for clients (like "uses fork to self-feed") and the RBT will prompt clients through the goals and take data on how the client is doing.
autism hack: if you cant make yourself brush your teeth, soemtimes just buckling and buying a kids toothbrush can help. not only are the heads of the brush smaller and the stick thing shorter (this helps make sure you dont accidently gag yourself and only touch where you want in your mouth)- but you can get cool licensed characters if you want, which is helpful for me. i brush my teeth so i get the joy of looking at my bluey toothbrush and toothpaste.
There was a time when Sharelle Menard thought her son would never be able to speak. She couldn’t soothe Benji when he cried, couldn’t read h
It just gets worse
I was high cleaning and pacing around. Planning how I want to structure my room to properly stimulate me in the future. I then got giddy at my plan, thinking "yes! For once I'm zooing myself properly! My ultimate hamster cage!"
I then realized how cringe it was, sighed, and had to confess it to the void
Communication is one of the most important daily living skills, and many children with autism communicate more through actions than words.
Autism parenting is a unique journey, filled with joys and challenges. Let’s talk about some effective strategies that not only help with kids’ emotional and cognitive skills but also make the whole parenting journey smoother and more fulfilling.
"Lost in Face" An unplanned for interruption to protocol on the wrong day can be all it takes for an Aspie/Autistic person to go into overload/meltdown mode. Every ability to take in, focus on, and process information can fail all at the same time leaving you dead in the water. This can take moments, hours, or days to recover from, and usually needs alone time, or time with a trusted (caring) person. Don't forget to support me on PATREON.COM/IRISHWOLFPRODUCTIONS if you like what I do.
HAPPY 2 APRİL! HAPPY AUTİSM AWARENESS DAY!
Lavina is canonly autistic