{"id":127822,"date":"2024-07-25T11:41:08","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T15:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=127822"},"modified":"2024-08-07T11:41:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T15:41:42","slug":"aba-therapy-for-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/","title":{"rendered":"Lovaas&#8217; Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy for autism? Does it work and is it ethical?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although there is no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/is-there-a-cure-for-autism\/\">cure for autism<\/a>, there were still many who believed they could cure the disorder with behavioral therapy\u2014one of these people was Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas. This therapy came with a slew of ethical issues, including touching without consent, a lack of autonomy, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continue reading for an overview of this controversial practice, as told in <em>NeuroTribes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-applied-behavioral-analysis\"><strong>Applied Behavioral Analysis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Many today still believe that autism can be medically \u201ccured\u201d through biomedical interventions or by avoiding vaccines. In this article, we\u2019ll explain another purported treatment called applied behavior analysis (ABA) for autism: a type of therapy based on the psychological principles of behaviorism. Silberman explains how <strong>psychologist Ivar Lovaas developed this \u201ctherapy\u201d as a means of ridding autistic children of their autistic traits so they would seem \u201cnormal.\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas\u2019s treatment involved teaching children to perform certain behaviors to get a reward\u2014for example, the therapist would instruct the child to give them a hug or a kiss, and they would reward the child with food when they did so. However, as his treatment proved ineffective with some children, <strong>Lovaas began implementing punishments for failing to perform the desired behavior<\/strong>, or for performing undesired behaviors like stimming and echolalia. These punishments included striking children, subjecting them to blasts of sound over 100 decibels, subjecting them to electric shocks, and withholding food and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite outcries from the public and the medical field about the use of ABA on autistic people, some facilities and professionals still practice it and use punishments like electric shock.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While these different approaches have had varying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/levels-of-success\/\">levels of success<\/a> in treating some aspects of autism, there\u2019s no medical \u201ccure\u201d for autism. And, according to Silberman, there\u2019s no need for a cure: <strong>Modern advocates of neurodiversity argue that autism isn\u2019t a mistake or a problem to be solved, but a valuable aspect of humanity<\/strong>. And while many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-are-the-traits-of-autism\/\">traits of autism<\/a> can be disabling, the best way to treat these is through social support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>The Ethics of ABA<\/strong><br><br>A major ethical issue with ABA that autistic advocates highlight is that it requires a child to let someone else touch or move their body <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autisticslt.com\/pecs-aba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">without their consent<\/a>. They argue that <a href=\"https:\/\/autisticadvocacy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/ACWP-Ethics-of-Intervention.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this teaches children that they\u2019re not in control of their bodies<\/a>\u2014a violation of their bodily autonomy\u2014and that they don\u2019t have the right to say \u201cno\u201d to what someone else wants to do to their body. This concern becomes especially relevant when we consider that <a href=\"https:\/\/autism.org\/sexual-victimization-in-autism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">autistic people are significantly more likely to experience sexual abuse<\/a> than allistic people.<br><br>Punishments continue to be <a href=\"https:\/\/leafwingcenter.org\/aversive-stimulus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">standard practice in many ABA therapies<\/a>. The use of electric shocks has largely been eliminated, but the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) <a href=\"https:\/\/autisticadvocacy.org\/2022\/11\/abai-finally-opposes-the-use-of-electric-shocks-at-the-jrc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">publicly supported this punishment up until November of 2022<\/a>. One treatment facility in the United States, the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, continues to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wgbh.org\/news\/local\/2023-09-11\/electric-shock-therapy-is-still-allowed-in-one-mass-treatment-facility-advocates-say-change-is-long-overdue\">use electric shocks on people with autism<\/a> and other disabilities. This is despite opposition that includes a statement from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wgbh.org\/news\/local\/2023-09-11\/electric-shock-therapy-is-still-allowed-in-one-mass-treatment-facility-advocates-say-change-is-long-overdue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UN Human Rights Council that classifies electroshock therapy as torture<\/a>.&nbsp;<br><br>And while the <em>methods<\/em> used to induce behavior change have faced much backlash, many autistic advocates suggest that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC9979895\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the overall <em>goal<\/em> of ABA is inherently unethical<\/a>. They argue that trying to force an autistic person to behave like an allistic person is a type of conversion therapy, not unlike gay conversion therapy (<a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s41252-021-00201-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a practice that was also based on Lovaas\u2019s work<\/a>).&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy for autism? Does it work and is it ethical? Although there is no cure for autism, there were still many who believed they could cure the disorder with behavioral therapy\u2014one of these people was Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas. This therapy came with a slew of ethical issues, including touching without consent, a lack of autonomy, and more. Continue reading for an overview of this controversial practice, as told in NeuroTribes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":128002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,39,9],"tags":[1560],"class_list":["post-127822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ethics","category-history","category-psychology","tag-neurotribes","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lovaas&#039; Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Lovaas tried to cure autism using a therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Here&#039;s what it entailed and how it was unethical.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lovaas&#039; Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Lovaas tried to cure autism using a therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Here&#039;s what it entailed and how it was unethical.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-25T15:41:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-07T15:41:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1057\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"592\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\"},\"headline\":\"Lovaas&#8217; Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-25T15:41:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-07T15:41:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/\"},\"wordCount\":603,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"NeuroTribes\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Ethics\",\"History\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/\",\"name\":\"Lovaas' Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-25T15:41:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-07T15:41:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dr. Lovaas tried to cure autism using a therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Here's what it entailed and how it was unethical.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp\",\"width\":1057,\"height\":592,\"caption\":\"A hand holding a cookie out to a sad toddler, who is sitting on the floor\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lovaas&#8217; Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\",\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hannah Aster\"},\"description\":\"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing\"],\"jobTitle\":\"SEO Team Lead\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lovaas' Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism - Shortform Books","description":"Dr. Lovaas tried to cure autism using a therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Here's what it entailed and how it was unethical.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lovaas' Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism","og_description":"Dr. Lovaas tried to cure autism using a therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Here's what it entailed and how it was unethical.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2024-07-25T15:41:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-07T15:41:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1057,"height":592,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Hannah Aster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Aster","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Aster","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f"},"headline":"Lovaas&#8217; Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism","datePublished":"2024-07-25T15:41:08+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-07T15:41:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/"},"wordCount":603,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp","keywords":["NeuroTribes"],"articleSection":["Ethics","History","Psychology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/","name":"Lovaas' Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp","datePublished":"2024-07-25T15:41:08+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-07T15:41:42+00:00","description":"Dr. Lovaas tried to cure autism using a therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Here's what it entailed and how it was unethical.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp","width":1057,"height":592,"caption":"A hand holding a cookie out to a sad toddler, who is sitting on the floor"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/aba-therapy-for-autism\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lovaas&#8217; Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy for Autism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f","name":"Hannah Aster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hannah Aster"},"description":"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.","knowsAbout":["Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing"],"jobTitle":"SEO Team Lead","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/a-sad-child-hand-with-cookie.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127822"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128007,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127822\/revisions\/128007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}