Kathryn Parsons, a 51-year-old digital marketing professional in Stamford, Connecticut struggled to hold down a job because employers didn’t understand her autistic behaviors. She struggled to adapt, which is a common problem for autistic people, so like many others on the spectrum, Parsons tried applied behavior analysis (ABA).
A controversial but widely-used form of autism treatment, Parsons believed ABA could be an ideal solution, and at first she thought it was effective. ABA helped her mask some of the autistic traits that got her fired — but this came with a steep price.
