gritsinmisery

Giraffe Party on Facebook:

And yes, this is still the situation with ABA in January 2022.

More information about ABA is available at: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1640064006204333&id=330649957145751

[Image Description - Screenshot of a blog post. Background is white, text is black sans-serif font. Text reads:

"I babysit a 7 year-old who attends an ABA school. Parents described it to me as 'the good kind' of ABA. Today I was in pain, and I guess it showed on my face. The child kept trying to use their hands to push the corners of my mouth up, while saying 'can you make a happy face?' They would say 'what's wrong with your face? Let's make it happy' and then try to move my mouth into a smile. I kept telling them I don't like the way that feels, I don't like it when people touch my face like that. They took my hands and put them on their face to show me what to do, to push on their face and force a smile. I said I didn't want to make them smile that way either. I asked why would you make someone's face smile with your hands? They said it was a game. I asked them where they played the game, they said 'at school'. I asked who plays the game? They said, 'my teachers'.

Imagine being 7 and being taught that you should always look happy, even when you're not. Imagine being taught this not just through example or reinforcement, but by being PHYSICALLY MANIPULATED.

ABA is still just about compliance. And this isn't the 70s or the 90s, it's January 2020. #YesAllABA"]

Source: intentionally anonymous

So ABA is copying the old-fashioned religious abuse from my childhood.

I got this from the Wikipedia entry for Ivar Lovaas:

"He was a forced farm worker during the 1940s Nazi occupation of Norway, and often said that observing the Nazis had sparked his interest in human behavior.[5]"

To be clear, Ole Ivar Lovaas is the guy who developed ABA, and also conversion therapy.

Sometimes people claim that ABA is “good” when it doesn’t punish (“use aversives”) to train autistic children into compliance. Punishment is not the only problem with ABA, though.

Even when you use only “positive reinforcement” (which often includes talking to the child or acknowledging the child’s existence only when the child is compliant, only letting them play or have access to things they enjoy when they comply, etc.), the whole goal of ABA is to train children to comply with adults’ demands, no matter how much suffering that compliance causes.

ABA also usually trains young autistic children out of beneficial self-regulating behaviors like stimming, and out of expressing their emotions. It is a compliance-based protocol that does not help children develop healthy emotional or social skills. For more perspectives on ABA, check out our ABA tag here: http://autistics-speak.tumblr.com/tagged/ABA

I'm really tired and out of it

Turned out i was dehydrated

College will acquaint you so thoroughly to the reality that your body has needs that, if unmet, will make you feel like Death For A Thousand Years In The Abyss, a fate so disproportionate to the simplicity of drinking An Water or eating A Food or perhaps indulging in A Sleep or Washing Off The Gunk, that you are constantly humbled by the pure silliness of being made of mortal flesh

RELEASE THE RACCOONS

this is a life saving advice

Discourse? Couldn’t be me I’m listening to “kiss me” by sixpence none the richer!!!!!!

Discourse? Couldn’t be me I’m listening to “kiss me” by sixpence none the richer!!!!!!

— Bradshaw v. Unity Marine Corp., Inc., 147 F. Supp. 2d 668 (S.D. Tex. 2001)

Oh boy

I googled the full judgement (x) and it just… keeps going like that. The judge has no chill and also may be my new hero.

“Despite the continued shortcomings of Plaintiff’s supplemental submission, the Court commends Plaintiff for his vastly improved choice of crayon. Brick Red is much easier on the eyes than Goldenrod, and stands out much better amidst the mustard splotched about Plaintiff’s briefing. But at the end of the day, even if you put a calico dress on it and call it Florence, a pig is still a pig.”

— Bradshaw v. Unity Marine Corp., Inc., 147 F. Supp. 2d 668 (S.D. Tex. 2001)

Oh boy

I googled the full judgement (x) and it just… keeps going like that. The judge has no chill and also may be my new hero.

“Despite the continued shortcomings of Plaintiff’s supplemental submission, the Court commends Plaintiff for his vastly improved choice of crayon. Brick Red is much easier on the eyes than Goldenrod, and stands out much better amidst the mustard splotched about Plaintiff’s briefing. But at the end of the day, even if you put a calico dress on it and call it Florence, a pig is still a pig.”

y'know say what you want about tumblr (and I have), but this is still probably the simplest and most powerful distillation of the heart of the Lord of the Rings I’ve ever read. I think back to it all the time

Conophytum Wittebergense is an uncommon succulent belonging to South Africa. It belongs to the Mesembryanthemum family and is known for its small, globular shape and unique, pebble-like look. The plant has little white or pink flowers that flower in the summer.

me looking at the image: that's a creepy thing to paint on a bunch of rocks but you do you me reading the caption: what the fuck holy shit what the fuck

My cartoon for the latest issue of New Scientist.

Our world.

Imagine what society would be like if this movie had been made

(From a Howard Hawks biography by Todd Mccarthy)

Unmute !

man, humans fuckin love drums

i’m actually pretty decent on that last one, the doumbek. i can play one of those reasonably well

This is an appreciation post for the fanfic authors who aren’t included on rec lists

For the fanfic authors who don’t get art of their fics

For the fanfic authors who can’t get to 1000/500/100 hits

For the fanfic authors who don’t get comments/reviews

For the fanfic authors who write for small fandoms

For the fanfic authors who write rarepairs or gen fics

For the fanfic authors who get hate for the ships/characters/fandoms they write

For the fanfic authors who write in English despite it not being their first language

For the fanfic authors who don’t write in English

For the fanfic authors who don’t think anyone reads or likes their work

For the fanfic authors who aren’t big name fans

For the fanfic authors who don’t get requests in their inboxes

For the fanfic authors who can’t write stories that are more than a thousand words

For the fanfic authors who only write one ship

For the fanfic authors who are just starting

For the fanfic authors who have been writing fic for years

For the fanfic authors who use fanfic to practice writing

For the fanfic authors who write self-insert fics

For the fanfic authors who write about their OCs

For the fanfic authors who write to vent or cope

For the fanfic authors who are just waiting for their big break

Keep creating, I love you ❤️

Me too.

There, two published authors who absolutely love the creativity of fanfic writers!

This is an appreciation post for the fanfic authors who aren’t included on rec lists

For the fanfic authors who don’t get art of their fics

For the fanfic authors who can’t get to 1000/500/100 hits

For the fanfic authors who don’t get comments/reviews

For the fanfic authors who write for small fandoms

For the fanfic authors who write rarepairs or gen fics

For the fanfic authors who get hate for the ships/characters/fandoms they write

For the fanfic authors who write in English despite it not being their first language

For the fanfic authors who don’t write in English

For the fanfic authors who don’t think anyone reads or likes their work

For the fanfic authors who aren’t big name fans

For the fanfic authors who don’t get requests in their inboxes

For the fanfic authors who can’t write stories that are more than a thousand words

For the fanfic authors who only write one ship

For the fanfic authors who are just starting

For the fanfic authors who have been writing fic for years

For the fanfic authors who use fanfic to practice writing

For the fanfic authors who write self-insert fics

For the fanfic authors who write about their OCs

For the fanfic authors who write to vent or cope

For the fanfic authors who are just waiting for their big break

Keep creating, I love you ❤️

Me too.

There, two published authors who absolutely love the creativity of fanfic writers!

just saw someone reviewing the erin hunter books like, ‘they should publish the whole series at once, i don’t want to wait a whole year to read it’. like babe i hate to break it to you but,,,, go touch some grass and think about your relationship with consumerism okay, because it’s gotten really weird on you

I’ve heard these kinds of sentiments in regards to novels, as well as readers outright refusing to read fantasy series debuts because “they fear committing to something unfinished” (like refusing to read an incomplete fanfic on AO3…) in case the author dies, or isn’t able/doesn’t complete the work. The GRRM effect, if you will.

Regardless of how people feel towards the authors personally, I will continue to bleat, til the day I die, artists do not owe an audience anything. They are not in debt to you. They don’t owe their works to their readers, no exceptions, there is no “earned/lost trust” or “unspoken contracts.” Capitalism has got people treating artists and entertainers as though they should hop on their bicycles like a chained bear, the moment the audience cracks its whip.

There’s also this fun aspect of capitalism where your favorite (usually marginalized) author doesn’t get another book contract or have the rest of the series picked up or have the money to keep investing their time in that project because you refused to buy the thing until it was finished.

Not only do creators not owe their audience anything, but those who really truly want to give these things to their audience are directly prevented from doing so by this exact mentality!