This series of panel discussions is part of the global Ban Conversion Therapies project, which keeps track of all the bans of conversion therapies that are already in place and of all initiatives towards bans.
You are invited to join our series online panel discussions to progress towards a ban of all forms of autistic conversion therapies (including ABA) – in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.
Panel 5
Date and time: TBC
➜ Access to Zoom meeting
Panellists:
- TBC
- TBC
- TBC
- TBC
- TBC
Facilitator:
TBC
Recordings
Overview of panel discussions to date and links to recordings:
- Alice Richardson, Jasper Poole, Naphaphol Suwanacheep
11 June 2021 - A.W. Peet , Kim Crawley, Star Ford, Tania MeInyczuk
9 June 2021 - Allison Hoffmann, Jake Pyne, Terra Vance, Sarah Selvaggi Hernandez
27 May 2021 - Alice Richardson, Kim Crawley, Laura Dilley, Pip Carroll, Rory
20 May 2021
Registration
Please use the form below to register your interest in participating in the panel discussion and to submit any specific questions or topics you would like to see discussed. Any questions that we don’t not manage to cover in the panels will be used as fuel for further sessions and will inform our online advocacy work on blogs, social media, etc.
In case you have not already done so, please also sign the current petition to ask the New Zealand government to investigate the consequences of all forms of conversion therapy, including conversion therapies that target autistic children, which are often branded as Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) or Positive Behaviour Support (PBS).
Note: all international support is welcome as well. Those who don’t reside in New Zealand can sign the petition with postcode “0000”. This allows us to easily distinguish the level of local support from international supporters.
Topics and questions to explore
- What synergies might we find between our push to stop autistic conversion therapy and other pushes to stop trans and queer conversion therapy? As someone who is autistic and trans and queer, I think many of our concerns overlap strongly! How can we support each other’s struggles more, learn from each other’s experiences more?
- Who are our allies and potential allies?
- Who does the monitoring and where does one report violations once this is law?
- Engaging parents, and the reluctance to report abuse (even when removing children from the situation).
- How does ABA cause long-term harm to the child? In what ways is it abusive?
- Does ABA disturb the relationship between the child and the parents?
- What are the views of psychologists specialising in trauma and early childhood development on this topic? How important is unconditional love?
- How important is free play for the young child, as well as developing a trusting relationship with the primary caretaker? How does the ABA technician interfere with the ability of the mother or other main caretaker to forge a trusting and nurturing relationship with the child and to explore ways of communicating with each other?
- How much independence do research centres in New Zealand have, considering that many/most autism studies come out of the USA and the UK? Is this a factor that influences local research agendas?
- How can we further autistic-led research so that we can get data about the trauma being forced to act like neurotypicals does to us long term, so that we can both support the adults in our community and save the children in our community from the same experience?
- How can we fund more autists being able to become researchers themselves?
- Any further questions that registered viewers submit, including any questions that viewers may have after watching earlier panel discussion in this series.
- I got in contact with an ABA organization that has pledged to listen to autistic people and reform ABA. Questions that arise from that are: is this even possible? How would we have enough standing (clout) on our side to engage in communication without risking selling out to or being used by the huge power imbalance that exists between the ABA industry and autistic people?
- Could ‘consensual ABA’ be a thing, following a kink model of consent? (Must be over 18, parents can’t request it for you.)