My Thoughts on Kaelynn Partlow

That one autistic ABA therapist that was on TV.

Have you ever watched Love on the Spectrum? If you have, you may recongize the name Kaelynn Partlow. She’s an autistic woman in her mid twenties who starred on Season 1 of Love on the Spectrum. She was also, to me, the most relatable autistic person I’d ever seen in media.

That is, until I figured out what she does for work. You may not know this about me, but I can’t stand Applied Behavior Analysis, or its therapy. Created by Ivar O. Lovaas based on the science of behaviourism by B.F. Skinner, its basically carrot and stick method for neurodevelopmental disabilities. You can’t communicate with words? Good luck getting what you need. I can give you a PECS card, though, which is basically an image of what you might want, but you have to get my attention, unstrap it from your paper, and hand it to me. And then, you have to hope that I’ll actually give it to you.

Sound horrific? It is, trust me. After working in ABA for about a year, I left. Gladly, and with many horror stories - most of which I’ve written about or spoken about on Tiktok.

So, when this amazing woman, multiply disabled and openly autistic, was a part of the industry that most autistics can’t stand? I was shocked. After some digging, though, I’m less surprised. Kaelynn was in special education, and now works at the school she attended. She’s been working there for the better part of a decade. Considering how hard it is for autistic adults to gain and keep steady employment, I can’t say I blame her for clinging to it, even if it’s not what I would be able to stomach.

I also can’t stand LOTS. On top of the regular critiques of its overly-childish soundtrack, crappy editing, and its insistence on matching autistic people with solely other autistic people (which is why Kaelynn is no longer considered a viable participant, by the way!), I also just hate its insistence on treating the show like some kind of zoo exhibit. 0/10 would not recommend. Unless you’re just watching for the autistics themselves, in which case, go for it! They’re all pretty great.

Kaelynn’s advocacy mentions non-speaking autistic people a lot. Im not sure how many friends she has that are non-speaking, though. Kaelynn is the star of Kaelynn’s content - as she should be. So although I take issue with some of her arguments, I think as representation she’s still pretty damn relatable. So relatable in fact, that I know I would also be ineligible to participate in LOTS. If you’d like to make up your own mind, here’s Kaelynn’s Facebook page - Kaelynn's Autistic Angle.

Here is a list of resources that explain the issues around ABA and its history and present.

The ABA Opposition Resource List