My Research

Why combining these two approaches is potentially dangerous. In PBIS is Just ABA with a Nicer Name, I debunked PBIS’ claim their programs improve student mental health. At the end of that piece, I began exploring the six principles of trauma-informed care. 

Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports are no better than ABA... In fact, they could even be worse when you consider their marketing messaging and tactics. 

In fact, it usually has the opposite effect of suppressing people’s self-regulation behaviours through punishment (and yes, negative punishment, such as withholding rewards, is still a form of punishment…

My article explains how extensive research shows Positive Behaviour Interventions & Supports (PBIS) programs do more harm than good, especially for marginalized and vulnerable students. 

PBIS is just ABA with different letters. I break down a program called Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports, identifying some very concerning aspects about this "positive" approach to inclusion and supporting "positive" behaviour in students. Learn why behaviourism is a violation of human rights.

How Schools Are Actually Indoctrinating Our Children. Parents worried about indoctrination are correct about the overreach of government and politics in their children’s schools. Their energies and concerns are focused on the wrong type…

Charts, points, and other behaviour management programs touted as "positive" are actually harmful, and ableist AF. First off, I want to express my gratitude to all teachers and school staff everywhere.

If a child is worried about getting into trouble, they are focused more on following expectations than on actual learning.

Running a holiday sale or weekly special? Definitely promote it here to get customers excited about getting a sweet deal.

The principles of behaviourism are ubiquitous throughout society, especially in public education, and in particular with Autistic students. For more than three decades, experts in child development have expressed increasing concerns about the potential psychological harm caused by their use.

Autism, behaviourism, and covert methods of social control. ABA is a type of therapy popularized through B.F. Skinner's theories of behaviour published in the 1950s, but had been introduced much earlier by John Broadus Watson in 1913. 

Public schools are institutions of conformity and control. Behaviourism is highly prevalent in our public education system, especially with vulnerable populations in “special needs” schools and classrooms, and with Autistic students. It is a form of power and control…

In the Spring of 2022, lawyer and writer Ariana Cernius published an article in Fortune Magazine entitled, The autistic community is having a reckoning with ABA therapy. We should listen. The human health sciences uphold and perpetuate an ideology of neuronormativity.

Ideologies are beliefs and mental frameworks which influence how we interpret our experiences. I have developed three defining features of neuronormative ideology....

As mentioned previously, a lawyer named Ariana Cernius published an article in Fortune Magazine in May 2022 entitled, The autistic community is having a reckoning with ABA therapy. We should listen…

Autism, neuronormative ideology, and the ABA industry. Those who have been following my research might remember I have developed three defining features of neuronormative ideology, based on Sonja K. Foss’ model of ideological criticism...

Scientism, ABA, and the pathologization of autism. Those who have been following my research might remember I have developed three defining features of neuronormative ideology, based on Sonja K. Foss’ model of ideological criticism...

Continue reading my articles on Substack and Medium. **Please note, all articles are published on both platforms, so you can read them on whichever website or app you prefer.