Finally decided to listen to autism advocates

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... and it ultimately resulted in me pulling my daughter out of school today. She is getting Xrayed tomorrow because she likely fractured her right wrist when restrained at school. Her teacher was not supposed to be restraining her, but believes in very rigid ABA practices. However, that doesn't work with my daughter. When she has SIBs, she needs to get out of the sun, the light, the noise, etc. FIRST before trying any type of replacement strategies. I am taking it to the highest level possible since they refuse to get her a signing aid/skills trainer as her one-one, seeing as ASL is the only language she knows. I contacted a lawyer, got medical documentation, etc. However, I might just not have her go to school. We got referrals from the doc today for speech therapy 3 times a week and PT. Her school wanted to give her 40 min. a week of SP, and the lady doesn't even know how to sign.

My daughter is not a dog that can be trained. I finally am seeing why ABA is regarded as a somewhat abusive practice by many autistic adults looking back. I, for one, as a "HFA," could never be trained nor conformed. I spent everyday in detention, and I am still who I am.

Our spirits can't be broken.

Very glad your daughter has you fighting for her. I will never understand the rigidity some teachers/authority figures have- when alternatives are so simple and produce good results.

I wish your daughter and you the best

^^^
THIS

Sending good thoughts your way

ABA is abusive. Your daughter is lucky that you realize that. I think the only reasonable course a parent can take is to remove her child from this environment.

ABA assumes that conformity is the only recourse. That we (austics) are so awful that the only thing to do is to try to modify us.

One day, I believe, society will take a breath and realize that our way of life does have something to offer.

ABA done correctly is not abusive. I'm sorry for any experiences you may have had that caused you to have that opinion of it. As for OP's daughter, if in the course of ABA, her teacher/aide/whatever fractured her wrist, they were doing it wrong.

I work one-on-one doing ABA with a girl who has severe autism and she responds well to it. Her verbal and communication skills are noticeably improving.

ABA should not be used to make autistic people act "normal". However, if it helps them with communication and does not harm the child then it should be used. Any therapy that helps develop a child's communication should be used provided that the means do not hurt the child in any way.

What people don't understand is that there is nothing wrong with the way autistics communicate. Neurotypicals think that their way of communication is the only way. You only alienate us more by forcing something that is not natural to us. Why don't you try to understand the way we express ourselves rather than forcing us to drink your kool-aid.

I have autism too, you know.
There needs to be some form of communication for the child (pointing and screaming or hitting or other behaviours along that line don't count) so that their needs can be met and their wants understood. Now, whether it is PECS, AAC, ASL, or verbal communication depends on the child. But you can't deny that all children/people need a way to communicate and be understood. That is what I am trying (and apparently succeeding) to teach the girl I work with. Teaching verbal communication works for her (and many other autistic kids). For the kids who aren't having success with verbal communication, other forms of communication should be taught. It's better for everyone that way, kid included.

That's true, but verbal communication amongst neurotypicals seems to be about so much more. And you can't teach that. People go on about themselves a lot, with no purpose to it whatsoever. That's just not necessary. I guess I just think people talk too much. But yeah, it's best if people can communicate basic needs. The thought of being conscious but unable to express myself scares the s**t out of me.
But how this can come to a teacher damaging the wrist of student is beyond me. Somewhere along the line the priorities have been confused.

Very rigid ANYTHING doesn't work; if they are approaching ABA from a strictly "black-box" behaviorist point of view (ie that whatever might go in inside the child's head is irrelevant, the only thing that matters is continuing to apply the packaged stimulus until you get the desired response), it's going to do worse than not work. Sooner or later, it will either "break" her, leaving a miserable shell, or it will give you a child that has both oppositional-defiant disorder AND autism.

Getting her out of that environment is absolutely the right thing to do. They don't seem to be qualified to deal with her, they don't seem to want to deal with her (there is a big difference between dealing with a child and getting a child's compliance at whatever cost), and no matter how she reacts, it isn't going to go well for her there.

I don't know where to tell you to go from here, but I wish you luck.