Unfortunately, we don't live in a world where respect is always earned and the reasons for not accepting someone's word or their opinion often has more to do with an abuse of power than it does with denying respect to those who don't deserve it.
The smaller the respect-decider group is that is in power, the narrower and strict their rules need to be, which provide them the opportunity to rule.
Behavior modification is a technique that relates to the psychology known as behaviorism (which was defined by Skinner) and was originally designed so that behavior could be more easily demanded by those in a position to do so. Those who judge people from this view of how all animals supposedly process information will naturally assume that the main achievement for people whose behavior is modified according to their belief will be that they know how to ensure for themselves the benefits given to those with the ability to comply.
This behavior modification opposes the idea of neurodiversity. The ethical claims of neurodiversity show that someone who is born with a less-than-common neurological configuration would need space to develop in less- than-common ways rather than being forced to comply with programs designed to normalize them.
When a single corporation (such as ABA's statewide PBS) seeks a government contract so that they will have the ultimate say over how, when, and where strict rules of normalcy are enforced it needs to be understood that their goal is to ultimately exclude rather than include diverse populations who see the world in different ways.
Having difficulty with executive functioning skills may show autistic people to be excellent candidates for programs with clearly defined guidelines. This also creates the biggest potential for abuse.
Once someone leaves a program where rewards and punishment (along with when and how they are administered) can always be anticipated, they are most prepared for another situation with a similar environment.
Preparing school children in such a way will teach them that they are nothing more than a composite of positive/negative behaviors and will teach their future caretakers which negative behaviors they are prone to so they can be further disciplined in those areas. After leaving a school where their behavior is constantly monitored and modified, they will then naturally fit well in institutional environments such as mental institutions, group homes and nursing homes, and rehabilitative services which would include jails.
The politicians responsible for promoting school wide PBS are very aware of how to sell this ABA product to parents of autistic children. These politicians are very skilled with intimidation tactics. Autistics themselves are also the best candidates for them to recruit as advocates of their behavioral program. Without our endorsement, they are less likely to seem autism-friendly to parents of autistics.
It is already very rare for autistic people to have confidence in their ability to communicate effectively in a way that will change public policy. It is even more rare for us to believe that we will have any voice in decisions that govern our future. Due to many societal methods of intimidation we have grown accustomed to, we are likely to expect that how we feel and what we believe about all behavioral demands of others will be dismissed as unimportant and unworthy of consideration.
