Reforming from the ground up: Neuroaffirming behavior analysis

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about neurodivergence lately, sparked by a recent trip to Australia. Being outside the US opened my eyes to just how differently the conversation around autism and neurodevelopmental differences is framed globally. As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) practicing in the United States, the contrast hit me like a ton of bricks. It forced me to look at our training pipelines with a much more critical eye, and honestly, what I see concerns me.

This disconnect is especially wild when you look at how the public perceives our field. Historically, people have come to think that ABA is an autism-specific intervention. In reality, behavior analysis is a broad science of learning that can be applied to almost anything, but because autism services are what insurance companies fund the most, the entire field has been pigeonholed. We have built a massive multi-billion dollar industry around a specific population, yet our foundational training programs haven't evolved to actually teach us about that population.

Here is a shocking reality that those outside our field might not know: as BCBAs, we are rarely taught about neurodevelopmental differences, neurobiology, or neuroaffirming care during our formal training. Think about that for a second. We are vetted, certified, and hired to work primarily with young, developing minds, yet our standard curriculum focuses almost exclusively on standard Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) strategies. We learn the mechanics of behavior, but we learn next to nothing about the actual neurobiology or neuropsychology of the clients sitting right in front of us.

For a long time, I was the person who would instinctively fight back whenever someone said, "ABA is inappropriate for autism." But the more I’ve grown, the more I recognize the validity in that criticism. When I look closely at my own practice, I realize that a massive portion of what I do; especially when it comes to meaningful, respectful skill-building; isn't actually from my baseline ABA coursework. It is entirely a result of my broader academic background, specifically holding a Master’s in Special Education, a Master’s in Counseling, and postgraduate training in trauma.

These degrees gave me the foundational understanding of childhood development and therapeutic empathy that standard behavior analytic training completely missed. Furthermore, my approach has been shaped by actively seeking out multidisciplinary supervision throughout my career as both a BCBA, special education teacher and therapist. My supervisors haven't just been other BCBAs; they’ve been Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, and psychiatrists. Whenever I’ve worked with BCBAs who only stayed inside the ABA bubble, I noticed a distinct rigidity in thinking and a profound lack of knowledge regarding natural childhood development.

Right now, "neuroaffirming care" is a major buzzword in the ABA world, but real neuroaffirming care can't just be a marketing slogan. It requires a fundamental shift that must begin in higher education. Graduate schools are doing a massive disservice to providers, clients, and the reputation of ABA as a whole by treating behavior analysis as a one-size-fits-all monolith. Universities need to start specializing in distinct tracks, such as Clinical Behavior Analysis, ABA and Neurodivergence, ABA for Addictions, and Organizational Behavior Management.

By forcing every single student down the exact same generalized path, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) is doing a disservice to the community by failing to emphasize the absolute necessity of specializing in the specific population you choose to serve. Perhaps the most troubling gatekeeper failure rests with our state licensing boards. Right now, licensing boards are doing a profound disservice to children by allowing behavior analysts to automatically work with autistic youth when those analysts have zero formal education in childhood development. It is a massive systemic blind spot. If we want ABA for neurodivergence to be a truly ethical, effective, and neuroaffirming field, we have to stop getting stuck in our own bubbles, branch out, collaborate deeply with other disciplines, and demand that our educational and governing bodies evolve.