The electroshock devices used in ABA therapy were briefly banned by the Food and Drug Administration 2020,12 before being reinstated in 2021.13 Today, the Association for Behavior Analysis still vocally supports the use of such “aversives” to discourage visibly Autistic behavior. In 2012, an ABA-trained special education teacher came under fire for coating her young students’ crayons in hot sauce, to discourage chewing.14 That case wasn’t a random act of violence. It reflects the core philosophy of ABA. The founder of ABA, Ole Ivar Lovaas, used to coerce children into providing hugs and kisses
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