Perceptions of Behavior Analysis in La Francophonie: Accuracy and Tone of Posts in an Internet Forum on Autism

Abstract

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) remains highly contested and under-utilized in many countries for the treatment of individuals with autism. One country where ABA remains particularly difficult to access is France. One potential problem is that parents often rely on online resources such as social media to identify interventions for their child. These sources of information may not accurately portray ABA or even openly disapprove of the approach. To examine this issue, we used data mining methodology to extract, categorize, and analyze 897 messages on ABA published in a popular French internet forum based on their type, tone, and accuracy. Although messages were generally accurate and approving of ABA, our results showed that one in three messages fully or partially disapproved of the approach and one in four messages contained some inaccurate information. Our analyses also indicated that parents were more likely to approve of ABA than individuals with an autism spectrum disorder. Finally, we found that the number of approving messages published in the internet forum decreased with time, especially over the last five years. Together, these results support the relevance of developing system-level approaches to dispel misconceptions about ABA in languages other than English.