Some Neurodiversity advocates, including some autistic people who have experienced ABA interventions, believe that ABA attempts to eliminate, suppress or reduce autistic behaviors and reinforces autistic people to [[Autistic masking|mask]] their true characteristics in order to, imitate neurotypical behaviors (e.g. eye contact, body language) and conform to an overly narrow conception of normal behavior.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/news/features/47225/index4.html|title=The Autism Rights Movement| vauthors = Soloman A |website=New York Magazine|date=23 May 2008 |access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="fortune.com">{{Cite web | vauthors = Cernius Y | date = 13 May 2022 |title=Commentary: The autistic community is having a reckoning with ABA therapy. We should listen |url=https://fortune.com/2022/05/13/autistic-community-reckoning-aba-therapy-rights-autism-insurance-private-equity-ariana-cernius/ |access-date=2022-05-15 |website=Fortune |language=en}}</ref> Masking is generally associated with suicidality and poor long-term mental health.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cassidy S, Bradley L, Shaw R, Baron-Cohen S | title = Risk markers for suicidality in autistic adults | journal = Molecular Autism | volume = 9 | pages = 42 | date = 2018 | pmid = 30083306 | pmc = 6069847 | doi = 10.1186/s13229-018-0226-4 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cook J, Hull L, Crane L, Mandy W | title = Camouflaging in autism: A systematic review | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 89 | pages = 102080 | date = November 2021 | pmid = 34563942 | doi = 10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102080 | s2cid = 237942158 | url = https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10134806/ }}</ref> Instead, these critics advocate for increased social acceptance of harmless and sometimes adaptive autistic traits and interventions focused on improving well being and [[quality of life]].<ref name="DeVita 2016">{{multiref2|1={{cite web|url=https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/controversy-autisms-common-therapy/|title=The controversy over autism's most common therapy| vauthors = DeVita-Raeburn E |author-link=Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn|date=2016-08-10|website=Spectrum|access-date=2019-04-07}}; republished in ''The Atlantic'' as:|2={{cite magazine| vauthors = DeVita-Raeburn E |date=August 11, 2016|title=Is the Most Common Therapy for Autism Cruel? |magazine=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/08/aba-autism-controversy/495272/}}}}</ref> The [[Autistic Self Advocacy Network]], campaigns against the use of ABA in autism.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=2021-06-12 |title=For Whose Benefit? Evidence, Ethics, and Effectiveness of Autism Interventions |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ACES-Ethics-of-Intervention.pdf |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=[[Autistic Self Advocacy Network]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2016-08-11 |title=Is the Most Common Therapy for Autism Cruel? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/08/aba-autism-controversy/495272/ |website=[[The Atlantic]] |vauthors=DeVita-Raeburn E}}</ref> The European Council of Autistic People (EUCAP) published a 2024 position statement expressing deep concern about the harm caused by ABA being overlooked. They emphasize that most surveyed autistic individuals view ABA as harmful, abusive, and counterproductive to their well-being. EUCAP advocates for a variety of support methods and the inclusion of autistic individuals in decision-making processes regarding their care.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=2024-04-02 |title=EUCAP Position Statement on ABA |url=https://eucap.eu/2024/04/02/aba-statement/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=EUCAP |language=en-GB}}</ref>
A 2020 study examined perspectives of autistic adults that received ABA as children and found that the overwhelming majority reported that "behaviorist methods create painful lived experiences", that ABA led to the "erosion of the true actualizing self", and that they felt they had a "lack of self-agency within interpersonal experiences".<ref name=":0" /> Another study published in 2023 at Autism, one of the leading journals in autism, found similar results, with evidence of increased masking and causing mental health challenges for some autistic people.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613221118216 | doi=10.1177/13623613221118216 | title=Autistic experiences of applied behavior analysis | date=2023 | journal=Autism | volume=27 | issue=3 | pages=737–750 | pmid=35999706 | vauthors = Anderson LK }}</ref>
