Abstract
As part of the child-rearing process, situations that invite difficult conversations will inevitably arise. Oftentimes, there are no guidelines or structure for how to discuss topics such as sex education, systemic racism, bullying, grieving, and gun violence. Accordingly, adults may feel at a loss for how to address difficult topics and may even avoid difficult conversations completely. When adults choose to have these conversations, they may imitate the conversations their caregivers had with them, and therefore further the cycle of systemic racism, often unknowingly and unintentionally. Racial injustice has been a core part of the American experience since the founding of the republic; hence, conversations about systemic racism are long overdue. The need has significantly increased, given the current socio-political climate. Social justice may be a sensitive topic for some, but it is a needed conversation for all, including children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Currently available curricula and teaching manuals in the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) literature include little or no resources for caregivers on how to address systemic racism with their children on the spectrum. Children with ASD should be educated about how they, and their families, can combat systemic racism in their everyday lives. The present paper addresses this gap in available treatment resources by offering practical suggestions and guidelines for how adults can address the topic of systemic racism with children on the autism spectrum to educate them and prepare them to contribute to a more equitable and just future.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychological Association. (2006). Stereotype threat widens achievement gap. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/research/action/stereotype
Araújo, B. Y., & Borrell, L. N. (2006). Understanding the link between discrimination, mental health outcomes, and life chances among Latinos. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 28(2), 245–266. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986305285825.
Barnes-Holmes, Y., McHugh, L., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2004). Perspective-taking and theory of mind: A relational frame account. The Behavior Analyst Today, 5(1), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100133.
Cannella, G. S. (1997). Deconstructing early childhood education: Social justice and revolution. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Connolly, P. (1998). Racism, gender identities and young children: Social relations in a multi-ethnic, inner-city primary school. London, UK: Routledge.
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & B Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied behavior analysis. Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Darling-Hammond, L. (1998). Unequal opportunity: Race and education. The Brookings Review, 16(2), 28. https://doi.org/10.2307/20080779.
Delgado, D., & Hayes, L. J. (2007). The acquisition of a conceptual repertoire: An analysis in terms of substitution of functions. The Behavior Analyst Today, 8(3), 307–316. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100622.
Dixon, M. R., & Stanley, C. R. (2020). Relational Frame Theory: Basic Relational Operants. Applied behavior analysis of language and cognition: Core concepts and principles for practitioners (pp. 174–197). Oakland: New Harbinger Publications.
Dulin-Keita, A., Hannon, L., Fernandez, J. R., & Cockerham, W. C. (2011). The defining moment: children’s conceptualization of race and experiences with racial discrimination. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34(4), 662–682. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.535906.
Edwards, F., Lee, H., & Esposito, M. (2019). Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(34), 16793–16798. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821204116.
Escayg, K. (2019). “Who’s got the power?”: A critical examination of the anti-bias curriculum. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 13(6), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-019-0062-9.
Feagin, J. R. (1991). The continuing significance of race: Antiblack discrimination in public places. American Sociological Review, 56(1), 101. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095676
Feagin, J. R. (2006). Systemic racism: A theory of oppression. New York, NY: Routledge.
Feagin, J., & Bennefield, Z. (2014). Systemic racism and U.S. health care. Social Science and Medicine, 103, 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.09.0063.
Findling, M., Casey, L., Fryberg, S., Hafner, S., Blendon, R., Benson, J., Sayde, J., & Miller, C. (2019). Discrimination in the United States: Experiences of Native Americans. Health Services Research, 54(S2), 1431–1441. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13224.
Fletcher, L., & Hayes, S. (2005). Relational frame theory, acceptance and commitment therapy, and a functional analytic definition of mindfulness. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 23(4), 315–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-005-0017-7.
Fox, E. J., & Ghezzi, P. M. (2003). Effects of computer-based fluency training on concept formation. Journal of Behavioral Education, 12(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022373304577.
Gourdine, R. M., Baffour, T. D., & Teasley, M. (2011). Autism and the African American community. Social Work in Public Health, 26(4), 454–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2011.579499.
Harris, R. (2013). Getting unstuck in ACT: A clinician’s guide to overcoming common obstacles in acceptance and commitment therapy. New Harbinger Publications.
Harris, R. (2019). ACT Made Simple: An Easy-to-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (2nd ed.). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
Hauserman, N., Walen, S. R., & Behling, M. (1973). Reinforced racial integration in the first grade: A study in generalization. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 6(2), 193–200. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1973.6-193.
Hayes, S. C. (2004). Acceptance and commitment therapy, relational frame theory, and the third wave of behavioral and cognitive therapies. Behavior Therapy, 35(4), 639–665. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7894(04)80013-3.
Hayes, S., & Smith, S. (2005). Get Out of Your Mind and into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. New Harbinger Publications.
Hayes, S., & Wilson, K. (1994). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Altering the verbal support for experiential avoidance. The Behavior Analyst, 17(2), 289–303. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392677.
Hayes, S., Luoma, J., Bond, F., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.06.006.
Hill, R. (2004). Institutional racism in child welfare. Race and Society, 7(1), 17–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.racsoc.2004.11.0044.
Hoffmann, A., Contreras, B., Clay, C., & Twohig, M. (2016). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for individuals with disabilities: A behavior analytic strategy for addressing private events in challenging behavior. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(1), 14–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0105-4.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion.
Lillis, J., & Hayes, S. C. (2007). Applying acceptance, mindfulness, and values to the reduction of prejudice. Behavior Modification, 31(4), 389–411. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445506298413.
Little, A., Tarbox, J., & Alzaabi, K. (2020). Using acceptance and commitment training to enhance the effectiveness of behavioral skills training. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 16, 9–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.02.002.
Luoma, J. B., Hayes, S. C., & Walser, R. D. (2017). Learning ACT: An acceptance and commitment therapy skills training manual for therapists (Second Edition). Oakland: New Harbinger Publications.
Mandell, D. S., Listerrud, J., Levy, S. E., & Pinto-Martin, J. A. (2002). Race differences in the age at diagnosis among Medicaid-eligible children with autism. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(12), 1447–1454. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200212000-00016.
Matsuda, K., Garcia, Y., Catagnus, R., & Brandt, J. A. (2020). Can behavior analysis help us understand and reduce racism? A review of the current literature. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 13(2), 336–347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00411-4.
McClure, E., Feinstein, L., Cordoba, E., Douglas, C., Emch, M., Robinson, W., . . . Aiello, A. E. (2019). The legacy of redlining in the effect of foreclosures on Detroit residents’ self-rated health. Health & Place, 55, 9–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.10.004
Mitchell, O. (2005). A meta-analysis of race and sentencing research: Explaining the inconsistencies. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 21, 439–466
Michael, A., & Bartoli, E. (2014). What White Children Need to Know About Race. Independent School.
Miller, L. K., & Weaver, F. H. (1976). A behavioral technology for producing concept formation in university students. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 9(3), 289–300. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1976.9-289.
Mizael, T. M., de Almeida, J. H., Silveira, C. C., & de Rose, J. C. (2016). Changing racial bias by transfer of functions in equivalence functions. The Psychological Record. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-016-0185-0.
MomsRising. (n.d.). 10 tips for teaching and talking to kids about race. EmbraceRace. https://www.embracerace.org/resources/teaching-and-talking-to-kids
Nix, J., Campbell, B. A., Byers, E. H., & Alpert, G. P. (2017). A bird’s eye view of civilians killed by police in 2015. American Society of Criminology, 16(1), 309–340. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12269.
Park, C. C. (2011). Young Children Making Sense of Racial and Ethnic Differences. American Educational Research Journal, 48(2), 387–420. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831210382889.
Peters, W. (1970). The eye of the storm. United States: American Broadcasting Company.
Polk, K. L., Schoendorff, B., Webster, M., & Olaz, F. O. (2016). The essential guide to the ACT Matrix: A step-by-step approach to using ACT Matrix model in clinical practice. Oakland, CA: Context Press.
Sandoz, E. K., Boullion, G.Q., & Rachal, D. O. (2020). Second - and Third-Wave Behavior Therapy. Applied behavior analysis of language and cognition: Core concepts and principles for practitioners (pp. 250-263). Oakland: New Harbinger Publications.
Stoddard, J., Afari, N., & Hayes, S. (2014). The Big Book of Act Metaphors: A Practitioner’s Guide to Experiential Exercises and Metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. New Harbinger Publications.
Stone, D., Patton, B., & Heen, S. (2010). Difficult conversations: How to discuss what matters most. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Van Ausdale, D., & Feagin, J. (2001). The first R: How children learn race and racism. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Williams, R. B. (2017). Wealth privilege and the racial wealth gap: A case study in economic stratification. The Review of Black Political Economy, 44, 303–325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12114-017-9259-8.
Young, E. Y. (2011). The four personae of racism. Urban Education, 46(6), 1433–1460. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085911413145.
Zentall, T. R., Galizio, M., & Critchfield, T. S. (2002). Categorization, concept learning, and behavior analysis: An introduction. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 78(3), 237–248. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2002.78-237.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Dr. Jonathan Tarbox, Dr. Michael Cameron, and Michael Odinlo for their contribution and perspective on this paper.
Availability of Data and Material
Not Applicable
Code Availability
Not Applicable
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of Interest/Competing Interests
Not Applicable
Ethics Approval
Not Applicable
Consent to Participate
Not Applicable
Consent for Publication
Not Applicable
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Melendez, J.L., Tan, I.M.C., Lau, J.C. et al. Practical Resources for Talking to Children with Autism about Systemic Racism. Behav Analysis Practice 14, 451–461 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00500-4
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00500-4