Hi,
I'm Scarlett and I'm new to the forum. I was diagnosed with autism when I was 16 - I'm now 24. I'm quite happy with myself and my life - although I've been through quite a lot mental health-wise and suffer from bad anxiety at times, but I'm pretty good at managing all that now. I guess I'm just here to become a more aware autistic person, if you will! Over the last year or so, I've been learning more and more stuff, some of which is really quite disturbing, about how autism is thought of and 'treated', but there's so much I don't understand, and I'm not sure if I'm hearing about it from the right sources/whether the people I've heard things from are biased. One thing I'm particularly confused about is ABA. I've heard it's a harmful practice and tried and tried to research it but I still don't have a clear idea of it in my head if that makes any sense. What is it? And does it help autistic people or is it harmful?
Any info/explanations would be greatly appreciated. Sorry, I know I'm new, but can I please respectfully ask that people don't get heated on this thread, to me or to each other...that's not why I posted this, I posted this because I want to learn more, not because I want to hurt anyone or get involved in internet pile ons. I'm not good with conflict.
Thank you
Scarlett 
