#aversives

[butterflyinthewell]

I will always side-eye NT parents who are okay with electric shock devices being used on their autistic kids.

Their argument is always: “They let me try it, and it felt like a little pinch!”

They have an NT nervous system.

An autistic person’s nervous system can turn that “little pinch” into feeling like they’re burning alive (difficulty or inability to localize pain) or having their limb sawed off (hypersensitivity).

Why do you think some autistic people will go into brutal self-injurious meltdowns over a little cut on their toe or a tiny canker sore in their mouth?

When I was a kid, I gave myself a “little” shock trying to pry a plug out of a socket with a paper clip. I was 4 and didn’t know metal conducted electricity. I thought my arm was on fire, and all I had was a tiny burn on one finger. But I was in so much pain that I screamed for hours. That was technically a bigger shock than the people who get zapped as an aversive get, but my nervous system flipped out and forgot to turn off the alarm system (pain) for 3 hours. It was so traumatic for me that I wouldn’t touch cords or plugs for years as a kid. (Now I can and do all the time-- very carefully and without paperclips!)

My point is: The zappy thing is a little pinch to you. It’s not a little pinch to autistic people.

It’s torture, and it’s traumatic.

[sheepdog-and-fakegoldenretriever]

Good behaviour OR learned helplessness?

Understanding Learned Helplessness in Dogs

Learning about learned helplessness may help you better understand the dynamics behind your dog's behavior. Understand what happens during l

[autisticadvocacy]

Florida School Staffers Charged With Using Dark Room, Whistle to Torment Autistic Kids

The children were locked alone in a bathroom while screaming and crying for up to 90 minutes.

The use of restraint, seclusion, and aversives in schools must end.

[thenoodlesadventures]

So i am super frustrated right now because of how my FST is going. The Noodle had a really bad experience on a track a few months ago and rather than build his confidence he got is torn down by how my trainer pushed my to react. I would love to blame them for all of it but ultimately he is my dog and i made the choice to listen to my trainer rather than stand up for him. He is where he is now because of me. That is just how it is and i have to deal with it. I think i can fix this but it is going to require a lot of time and isolating certian behaviors which is really hard to do with tracking. It is especially hard since i keep finding myself in moments where i get caught thinking that i am never going to be able to title him in IGP. Realistically i know he can do it and that it is just going to be a lot of work. He went from a dog who would pull me to the next footstep regardless of whatever the fuck i did with the leash to a dog who lifts his head and rapidly backs up to my side when the leash does something weird or gets too much tension. He can barely do a 100 pace track rn when he used to do 300 and i am caught between making sure he follows the pattern and just letting him walk the track to build confidence. Saving grave is he has still never walked an article. I have been problem solving this since fhe beginning of summer and there has definitely bee progress but it is slow and hard and i have had to change up what i am doing and try different things. I keep wanting to pick different trainer's brains over how they train tracking but i also do not want input from a bunch of schutzhund trainers because i cannot use any aversives on his track because he gives up/shuts down because he did not actually understand the behavior he was supposed to be doing when he had his very bad experience and it generalized to all of tracking expect for articles. Apparently those are safe lol. Idk i am just really frustrated and kind of down on myself over this and needed to vent.

[folkdogs]

I am completely convinced that we have no right to punish an animal for an instinctive behavior that has been genetically determined through a long evolutionary process.

Clarissa Von Reinhardt, Chase!: Managing Your Dog’s Predatory Instincts

[sheepdog-and-fakegoldenretriever]

Why Science Matters to Our Pets

Science — and science writing — can help animal welfare in important ways. By Zazie Todd Barack Obama greets his dog Bo outside the Oval Of

"The problem is that using aversive dog training techniques has risks, and positive reinforcement is a better choice. Dogs trained using negative reinforcement (teaching them how to sit by pulling the leash and pushing the dog’s bottom down, only stopping when the dog sits, for example) gaze less at their owner and are more likely to show signs of stress.

Dogs taught recall using electronic shock collars show signs of stress and don’t perform any better than those taught with positive reinforcement. A higher frequency of punishment correlates with higher aggression and excitability. For dogs with behavior problems, the use of aversive techniques can sometimes lead to aggression, while rewards-based training has a positive effect. People who use only positive reinforcement report better trained dogs. Plus, dogs like to work for rewards. It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that using aversive methods can have unwanted consequences."

[sheepdog-and-fakegoldenretriever]

Yes these training tools work.

Will i ever use them? No.

Because I wouldn't ever want to put my dog in a position to where he needs to feel uncomfortable. I dont want my dog to associate environments or equipment with anything uncomfortable.

[sheepdog-and-fakegoldenretriever]