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15 Harv. L. & Pol'y Rev. 661 (2020-2021)
Statement of Retraction & Withdrawal: "No Imbecile at All": How California Won the Autism Insurance Reform Battle, and Why Its Model Should Be Replicated in Other States (2016)

handle is hein.journals/harlpolrv15 and id is 673 raw text is: Statement of Retraction & Withdrawal: No Imbecile At All: How California Won the Autism Insurance Reform Battle, and Why Its Model Should be Replicated in Other States (2016) Ariana Cernius* INTRODUCTION In 2015, as a second-year law student, I authored a research paper enti- tled, 'No Imbecile At All': How California Won the Autism Insurance Re- form Battle, and Why Its Model Should be Replicated in Other States.' The piece, which explored the health insurance landscape with respect to services for autism, and argued for wider access to what has become known as the main form of treatment for autistic individuals-Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy-is one that I would now like to withdraw. This statement and letter of explanation comprise my formal retraction of this work. Thank you to the Harvard Law & Policy Review for accepting my withdrawal request and affording me this space to discuss my change in per- spective, in the hopes that those who have read my work, cited it, or come across it in the future, will step with me into greater enlightenment about autism. I. AUTHOR'S REASONS FOR RETRACTION This is a topic concerning a community I care a great deal about. My decision to retract this piece stems from my love for my brother and years of inner turmoil over wanting to support both autistic individuals and their parents and caregivers, and growing up in an era and within a community that framed ABA as a positive tool for the autistic population that they had been wrongfully denied. That, in recent years, has been followed by the slow realization and resolution of cognitive dissonance in light of recent studies and literature reviews on the impact of ABA on people with autism and the individual testimonials of autistic adults on the trauma ABA caused them- that real harm is being done to these individuals by ABA. ABA has been in my family's life for decades, since my brother was diagnosed in the 1990s, * B.A., Harvard College, 2013, J.D., UCLA School of Law, 2017, M.B.A., UCLA Ander- son School of Management, 2021. 1 Ariana Cernius, No Imbecile at All: How California Won the Autism Insurance Reform Battle, and Why Its Model Should be Replicated in Other States, 10 H Av. L. & POL'Y REv. 565 (2016).

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