Author Archives: Taryn Jaye

This is a complicated, nuanced topic, as are most things. While working in advocacy, I’ve come across a (somewhat) large amount of ABA professionals that are reform-minded. Some are doing the work, some are sticking the label on themselves as some kind of “get-out-of-acknowledging-harm” card, and there are levels to how “good” they are. ThereContinue reading “Why “Good” ABA Therapists Don’t Leave the Field, and Why We Really Need Them To”

I’ve been dreading talking about this. Dreading. I was a volunteer at an ABA school as part of my post-graduate certification. This ABA school was progressive – it used tactics like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, it was well known in the area and frequently received praise for its work. And for a while, I wasContinue reading “My Experience With ABA”

Picking my battles is something I’ve forever struggled with. EVERYTHING matters to me. Every single thing has implications, and everything is “that deep” to my brain. So, when I see my community rallying against a mother’s use of the puzzle piece when speaking about her newly diagnosed child, I understand why they are “picking atContinue reading “The Bigger Picture in Advocacy”

This argument is so tired and pointless because 1) Nobody said I did? Me speaking about issues I and the people around me see with the autism industry/disability industries is not the same as speaking for every autistic person. The people I “don’t speak for” are people of completely different intersecting identities than I, butContinue reading ““You Don’t Speak for Every Person With Autism””

My family has a history of alcoholism. I’ve never known a life without the smell of beer or the sound of slurring – even before I knew what slurring was. When I was younger, I never wanted to drink. I never saw the appeal, never understood why anyone would want to. When I got toContinue reading “Anxious, Autistic, Drunk”