I am an autistic adult. Around 2002, I was sent to a charter “school” in San Diego, California. This “school” was a place for so-called “troubled” kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At the facility, restraint, and seclusion were regularly practiced on kids who were having meltdowns or other compromising moments triggered by various things, be it schoolwork, activities, peers, or staff. I was no exception, and when I struggled with tasks, was bullied by peers, or tried to communicate with staff who knew nothing about autism, I would be held down either on the floor or against the wall, often by staff who were stronger and bigger than me.

There was another autistic kid at the school. While I didn’t know him, what I saw done to him would leave an impression that will stay with me for the rest of my life. He was a non-speaking autistic boy. They tried to make him communicate orally. He was not provided with an AAC device, nor did they attempt to teach him sign language. I remember one time, seeing him physically restrained because he had a meltdown.

It’s not just restraints and seclusions that were practiced there; they also used applied behavior analysis (ABA). Autistic traits or any harmless behavior deemed “creepy,” “weird,” or “abnormal” were targeted. The focus was teaching me, as well as the other kids, to mask and obey what the staff demanded without question, even if it put our mental and emotional health in peril. Today, ABA has been denounced by the overwhelming majority of the autistic community as abusive, and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network published a paper titled “For Whose Benefit?: Evidence, Ethics, and Effectiveness of Autism Interventions.” which further reinforces this assertion.

Additionally, ABA studies and research is rife with numerous conflicts of interest, and the scientific basis is considered by many (myself included) to be a sham, according to Gary Shkedy, Dalia Shkedy, and Aileen Herlinda Sandoval-Norton, in a paper published in April 2021, and before that paper, the United States Department of Defense published a report titled “The Department of Defense Comprehensive Autism Care Demonstration Annual Report 2020” which the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective covered.

The one thing I’ve always wished for is that the staff who abused me, and the others, would have to answer for their abuse, and be held responsible for child abuse and child endangerment.