Imagine being forced into a life of constant monitoring, manipulation, and control. This is the reality for many autistic individuals who have been subjected to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Positive Behavioral Support (PBS) therapies. These approaches may seem harmless at first glance, but they can be extremely harmful and many aspects of both meet Geneva Convention criteria for torture(1). In this article, we’ll delve into the dark truth behind ABA and PBS, exploring how these therapies can cause physical and emotional trauma, leading to a degradation of overall health. ABA: Torture by Design?ABA is often marketed as a “scientific” […]
Public Comment to IACC (2024 report response)
The reporting cycle for the IACC is complete and now, delivered. I’m livid at the result.
Callback to 2012 – Law School Presentation
In so far as you may be a resident, a citizen, and a constituent of a city, county, or state within the country of The United States, you really need to understand a very, very simple thing:
Business, as usual (OpEd)
8:17am PST – I’m sitting here listening to a government official grilling a corporate representative on hate speech and how/when/if it is removed.
Morning thoughts, day 19435
Did you know the United Nations is pushing something called “ID2020“? Have you actually thought about how easy it is to profile and track you thanks to technology you willingly carry in your pocket? So much argument about “whether or not its real”. How real do you need it to be? There is the website. This is the difference between the opinion many accuse me of and the fact to which I am referring. Damnation, the dichotomies. All culture now rife with umbrage, we collapse inward and obfuscate in the name of ‘plausible deniability’ – because resolution is anathema to […]
Someone please educate our judicial system on technology?
I am horrified by a story I read today that ran on BBC News. It was about the recent LVO key leak, but the horror rested at the end of the article, where the following appeared (sic): “A US judge has thrown out a mass lawsuit brought by users of the PlayStation Network, following a huge security breach in May 2011 which saw the user information of 69 million customers exposed. The suit accused Sony of failing to adequately protect information and exposing users to identity theft. Judge Battaglia from the US District Court of Southern California pointed to a […]
If you have to ask, you’re already too late, friend (online advocacy)
With no little amusement today, I read a story in which “the traditional lobby” and those who follow them continue to express surprise and a little dismay at the flexing of constituency muscle. I think the thing that bemuses and boggles me the most is the continued inability of “those folk” to realize that this isn’t new and it isn’t even unusual… that their continued treatment of it as such eloquently underscores a blunt and rather derogatory perspective that is common “in their circles” that (frankly) is the thing in need of redress; to wit, that the constituency is stupid, […]
A happy graduation (and a sore spot on the return home)
Just returned from being out of town since the 3rd at my daughter summa cum laude graduation (proud of her? me? you betcha). It was a pretty pleasant experience but for the return flight home and an unfortunate encounter with TSA. I spent the evening last night and most of today contemplating the matter and trying to decide what to do about it. Part of me is so angry that I want to just shred something and the other part? Well, it acknowledges that this pitiful state of affairs wherein citizens are routinely being intimidated, humiliated, harassed, and manhandled is […]