Towards A Theory of Neurotypical Biopower
Behaviourism as a form of neurotypical biopower over Autistic children
The Mistreatment of Misha
In the Spring of 2020, an eight year old boy named Misha was suddenly unable to attend his Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)-intensive school, after it closed due to Covid pandemic shut-downs. Despite the behaviourists’ grim warnings about the ‘risks’ of abruptly discontinuing ABA therapies, Misha’s father noticed a much different change from what had been predicted.
As John Summers writes in his heartfelt article, The Mismeasure of Misha, his son Misha appeared to experience the withdrawal of formal “special” education as an opportunity which freed him from the psychological “vice grip” that had been clamped around him.
Following more than six years of intensive ABA therapies, with a time commitment increasing from 20 to 45 hours per week, there had been zero progress in any of the behaviours targeted by ABA interventions. After observing his son’s dehumanizing treatment at school, noting the staff’s complete disregard for Misha’s inner life and adamant refusal to consider his sensory needs, let alone respect them, John Summers decided to learn more about the purported evidence behind this therapy.
“Disabled kids have been herded into makeshift classrooms, seated before surplus desks, and outfitted in yesteryear’s clothing. Apparently, they are given the obsolete ideas, too.”
— John Summers
There are millions of children like Misha around the world, and tens of thousands right here in the province of Manitoba.
ABA as Conversion Therapy
The principles of behaviourism are ubiquitous throughout society, especially in public education, and in particular with Autistic students. For more than three decades, experts in child development and related fields have expressed increasing concerns about the potential psychological damage caused by their use. In more recent years, researchers have shown even the most positively framed and implemented behaviour programs may still do more harm than good.
Conversion therapy, an intervention developed by Ole Ivar Lovaas as “The Sissy Boy Project” in the 1970s, was an extension of his work with Autistic children that incorporated the same behaviourism techniques in attempts to “correct” what he perceived as deviant sexual behaviour. In 2021, Canada finally banned conversion therapy, stating it violated numerous Charter Rights. Despite these changes, Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) continues to be marketed as the “gold standard” of “treatment” for Autistic children, even though it is the same approach based on the same principles.
Guided by Foucault’s theories of biopower, my research will explore whether behaviour programs in public education are an embodiment of neurotypical biopower over Autistic students.
“The application of control mechanisms to populations defined as deviant, based on appeals to science, in order to constrain the behaviour of both the majority and the rest.”
— Mitzi Waltz
In order to do this, I must first develop a theory of Neurotypical Biopower, one which allows us to clearly identify and critically analyze it. As such, my first project will be to create a concrete framework for defining neurotypical biopower, so that I may use this conceptualization to thoroughly and methodically analyze school behaviour policies.
Why am I doing this?
To be clear, this is not about villainizing anyone. This is about looking at the systems at work and critically analyzing them in order to change them for the better.
My goals are to force our public education system to acknowledge its role in perpetuating neuronormativity and ableism, and to compel schools to evaluate their treatment of Autistic students. Policy-makers and administrators must consider the harms of demanding Autistic students conform to neurotypical behaviour norms, recognize the trauma this causes neurodivergent children in their care, and protect children from this maltreatment.
The pressure placed upon all students to conform to narrow and rigid expectations for the convenience and comfort of school staff, and shape them for the benefit of our capitalist economy, should cause significant misgivings about the true aims of public education.
My findings will be valuable to school administrators, school boards, provincial governments, and parents whose children are subject to behavioural interventions.
© Jillian Enright, Neurodiversity MB
Related articles
The “Gold Standard” for Autistic Children
Behaviour Management Programs are Harmful & Ableist
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Behaviour Plans Are For The Adults, Not The Kids
Positive Behaviour Supports Are Compliance-Based
References
Adams, R. (2017, May 10). Michel Foucault: Biopolitics and Biopower. Critical Legal Thinking. [CLT online].
Bill C-4. (2021, December 6). An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy). House of Commons, Government of Canada. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/charter-charte/c4_1.html
Gibson, M. F. & Douglas, P. (2018). Disturbing behaviours: O Ivar Lovaas and the queer history of autism science. Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.28968/cftt.v4i2.29579
Pyne, J. (2020). “Building a Person”: Legal and Clinical Personhood for Autistic and Trans Children in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Law and Society / Revue Canadienne Droit et Société, 35(2), 341–365. https://doi.org/10.1017/cls.2020.8
Summers, J. (2022, November 28). The Mismeasure of Misha. The Boston Globe. [Opinion].
Waltz, M. (2020). The production of the ‘normal’ child: Neurodiversity and the commodification of parenting. In H. Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, N. Chown, & A. Stenning. (Eds). Neurodiversity Studies: A new critical paradigm. Routledge.