Uniquely Hari: June 2023

Limitations of Traditional Disability Justice/ Disability Rights Movement

Ignores Intersectionality

Race, Religion, Gender, SES, Immigration Status, Cultural Values

White-male-hetrosexual-Centric. White-privilege centric

(eg: Parallels in Psychology Research which is WEIRD-centric: Western Educated, Industrial, Rich, Democratic Countries)

Power/Status-Centric

Centered around people who have achieved status through legal framework,
Why: Rights have to be won by litigation. So unequal access to rights across the board. You don’t sue, you lose

Mobility-Impairment Centric

Access needs as beyond architectural barriers.

What are we looking for in a Disability Justice Framework

All mind-bodies unique and essential
All mind-bodies have strengths + needs that must be met
All mind-bodies are Powerful, despite complexities
Mind-Bodies are confined by & cannot be separated from our intersectionalities.

Key concepts

Connectedness
Interdependence
Relational & transformative framework.

Sins Invalid. 10 Principles of Disability Justice

Intersectionality
Leadership of the Most Impacted
Anti-capitalist Politic
Commitment to Cross-movement organizing
Reorganizing wholeness
Sustainability
Commitment to Cross-Disability Solidarity
Interdependence
Collective Access
Collective Liberation

1. Intersectionality

Disability is another layer of intersectionality we experience
Impacted by White Privilege,/ Colonial legacy

Intersectionality is not about who is suffering the most but about who is impacted in which areas.

Within our own intersectionality we experience privilege in some areas and oppression in others; varying across context.

Intersectionality impacts access to spaces/ community/ resources /inclusion and funding.

Me --> Autistic + ADHD + other medical/sensory/mood/communication issues + South-Indian descent + Tamil Hindu Iyengar Brahmin + vegetarian + multilingual etc.

What Can be Done

Recognize Disability is not a vacuum.
Collaborate on overlapping issues
What else?

2. Leadership of the Most Impacted

System impacts are not equal.
People most hurt by the system often have a better understanding of what all is wrong with that system.

What Can be Done

Prioritize the more marginalized voices
Be aware of hierarchies within disability
Eg: an unspoken hierarchy means unequal access
What else?

3. Anti-capitalist Politic

Disabled Mind-Body is anti-capitalist
Why:

Capitalism = Survival of Fittest
Competition towards wealth accumulation, land acquisition for the ruling class.

Therefore:

By definition the “non-normative” mind-body of disabled people are invalidated.

What can be done

Rethink Worth of an individual beyond as beyond productivity. Eg: some may not be able to “contribute” in the traditional sense due the more significant disability and THAT’s OK!!
Work on issues that are exacerbated by capitalism Eg: homeless disabled, health care, poverty
Access at times has a “price tag” in capitalist society- so either need to be creative with solutions or organize funding sources.
What else?

4. Commitment to Cross-movement organizing

A relational and transformation framework of Disability Justice means we need to think about disability and ableism in many different ways
Learn from other movements
Paraphrasing what Stuart James, Director of CIL said during class visit to Ed Roberts Campus, Spring 2018 Sem.

“We need to learn from the Gay Rights movement which in just 30 years has become mainstream. “

What can be done?

Disability does not exist in vacuum
You can reach out for allies in unlikely places.
Eg: Reproductive justice is Disability justice. , Climate Justice is Disability Justice
Mixed movement organizing (“nurturing old ways & inventing new ways)
What else?

5. Reorganizing wholeness

Disabled people are whole people
Everyone is a living breathing thinking individual with emotions, sensations, perceptions and quirks.

What can we do

Reject capitalist notion of worth of an individual as tied to his perceived “productivity”
Recognize & support: “We all struggle together” imperfectly
What else?

6. Sustainability

Transformation needs to be deep, longlasting and sustained.
But Transformation does not happen overnight.
Disabled mind-body needs to be paced according to the “spoons” available to us.
“Rest is resistance, Survival is resistance, Anything else is extra”

What can we do?

Group effort, flexible schedules/ deadlines
Avoid Burnout
What else?

7. Commitment to Cross-Disability Solidarity

There can be NO Disability Justice, unless there is Disability Justice for all.
“Honor insights of all community members”
“We are trying to break down barriers”

What Can be Done

Means working together. Collaboration
Connections that cross living, advocacy and education.
Eg: autism + deaf have communication access as a common issue.
What else?

8. Interdependence

State Solutions → they control our lives
Interdependence → we control our lives & help each other. (Our interdependence with other humans & nature was already part of our unconscious before western colonization.)

What Can be Done

Check ins
How to ask for help & communicate needs
Share spoons
What else?

9. Collective Access

Access Needs are not shameful / not a favor
Access Needs are not fixed - depend on context and environment.
We can share responsibility for our access needs.
Needs community, shared responsibility and creative out-of-the-box nuances.

What Can be Done

Pool resources
What else?

10. Collective Liberation

Disability justice is a vision.
Moving together is what gets us to liberation
We are all survivors. “Listen to the Canaries”
“We honor the longstanding legacies of resilience & resistance” for all non-conforming mind-bodies.

What can we do

Recognize: “moving together does not mean we move in the same way;” we are still valued in any way we move.
What else?

Creativity

Creativity is the fuel that ignites innovation.

Creativity is the art of bringing dreams to life.

Imagination is the foundation of creativity.

Creativity is the voice of the soul.

Creativity is the ultimate form of self-expression.

To create is to discover a world within yourself.

Creativity is the bridge between art and science.

Creativity is the language of the heart.

The beauty of creativity lies in its infinite possibilities.

Creativity is the key to unlocking the doors of the unknown.

Creativity is the gift that keeps on giving.

Every creation is a reflection of the creator's unique perspective.

Creativity is the heart and soul of innovation.

Creativity is the antidote to monotony.

To create is to be fully human.

Creativity is the art of making something out of nothing.

Creativity is the energy that drives progress.

Creativity is the power to inspire and transform.

The world needs more dreamers who can turn their dreams into reality.

Creativity is the spark that ignites change.

The creative mind sees opportunities where others see obstacles.

Creativity is the force that drives humanity forward.

To be creative is to be fully alive.

Creativity is the path to self-discovery and self-expression.

The beauty of creativity is that it has no limits.

Creativity is the ultimate form of freedom.

The world is a canvas waiting for the creative mind to paint its beauty.

- Hari Srinivasan

The Brain is Never Zero

The Brain is Never Zero

In the realm of thoughts, wonders reside
Brain pulses ceaselessly, a relentless tide
Neurons fire, synapses alight
The brain is never zero, its brilliance ignites.

"Partly Cloudy" is a heartwarming Pixar short film that takes viewers into a whimsical world where clouds are responsible for creating and delivering babies to their expectant families. Directed by Peter Sohn, the story centers around the relationship between Gus, a gloomy gray cloud, and Peck, a small and enthusiastic stork.

Unlike his fellow clouds, Gus specializes in producing challenging and unconventional babies like porcupines, crocodiles, and electric eels. Each morning, Peck tirelessly retrieves the bundles of joy created by Gus, braving their sharp quills and fierce jaws. Despite the dangers, Peck maintains his unwavering dedication to his friend, never faltering in his commitment.

"Partly Cloudy" showcases the power of friendship, forgiveness, and the beauty of embracing one's uniqueness. With stunning animation, heartfelt moments, and a touch of humor, this Pixar short reminds us that even the most unlikely pairs can find solace, love, and happiness in each other's company.

Severe Weather Nashville - Summer Edition

Summer runs from Jun 21 to Sep 23. This is a running tab of the weather here.

June is bringing hot temperatures and also lots sudden showers

Jun 29 - Excessive Heat warning all week with temp climbing to 101 on Thu

The entire southern US hit by a massive heatwave.

I also read that across the world the nighttime temperature is increasing faster than the daytime temperature. Which means there is less chance to cool down before the day heat hits again.

Thu started off hot - headed into the heatwave and ended up with severe thunderstorm alerts instead. A heavy downpour in the afternoon.

Jun 25 - severe storm risk

Sat Jun 3: Sweltering weekends. Today's High 93

Sun Jun 4: Possible Pop Up Storm

Creativity is the Gift that Keeps on Giving

- Hari Srinivasan

"Every creation is a reflection of the creator's unique perspective."

Hari Srinivasan

Creativity is the heart and soul of innovation.

- Hari Srinivasan

Task Load Index

[See posts on other Screening/Assessment Tools, Psychological Measures]

The NASA-TLX (Task Load Index) questionnaire is a tool developed by NASA to assess the workload and subjective workload experienced by individuals performing a task. Though initially designed for pilots, it is widely used across various industries including autism research

The questionnaire has 6 subscales/submeasures, that assess different dimensions of workload.

Mental Demand: mental effort and cognitive load required to perform the task.
Physical Demand: physical effort and exertion involved in performing the task.
Temporal Demand: perceived time pressure and the amount of time available to complete the task.
Performance: individual's perception of their own performance during the task.
Effort: perceived level of effort and energy expenditure required to complete the task.
Frustration: degree of annoyance, stress, and dissatisfaction experienced during the task.

Scoring and Interpretation

Participants rate each submeasure on a scale of 0 to 100. Scoring and interpretation vary depending on the specific study or context. Generally, higher scores indicate a higher perceived workload in the respective submeasure.

Researchers often analyze the individual submeasure scores and the overall workload score to gain insights into the specific dimensions of workload that are most significant in a given task or situation. The questionnaire can help identify areas where workload can be optimized or where additional support or resources may be required.

Examples of use in Autism Research in evaluating workload and cognitive demands

Study: "Task load and verbal responses to questions in children with autism spectrum disorder"Citation: Nishida, T., Yuhi, T., Kaneoke, Y., Kurosawa, K., & Dan, I. (2014). Task load and verbal responses to questions in children with autism spectrum disorder. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 937.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00937

Study: "Measurement of cognitive workload in individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder using a virtual reality task"Citation: Park, S. M., Chong, S. C., Lim, S. L., Kim, J. S., & Kim, J. S. (2020). Measurement of cognitive workload in individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder using a virtual reality task. Applied Sciences, 10(2), 581.
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/app10020581

Creativity is the antidote to monotony.

- Hari Srinivasan

Simultaneity Window

[Concepts in Sensorimotor Research]

Simultaneity Window (SW) refers to a temporal window within which the brain perceives stimuli from different sensory modalities as occurring simultaneously. It represents the temporal range over which the brain integrates sensory inputs from different modalities into a coherent percept.

If stimuli from different modalities fall within the SW, they are likely to be perceptually integrated, whereas if they fall outside the SW, they may be perceived as separate events.

Commonly used research tasks to measure SW

Temporal Order Judgment (TOJ): participants are presented with 2 stimuli, one in each sensory modality (e.g., a flash of light and a beep), and they have to determine the order in which the stimuli occurred.
Simultaneity Judgment (SJ): Participants are presented with 2 stimuli, from different modalities, and they have to judge whether the stimuli were perceived as simultaneous or not.
Temporal Alignment Task: Participants are presented with a stimulus in one modality and have to adjust the timing of a stimulus in the other modality until it is perceived as synchronous with the first stimulus. This helps in determining the temporal window of integration.
Temporal Recalibration Task: Participants are exposed to a consistent asynchrony between stimuli from different modalities over a period of time. Following this exposure, their perception of simultaneity is tested to see if it has been recalibrated.

The perception of simultaneity can vary across individuals and is influenced by various factors such as attention, age, disability, the specific sensory modalities involved, and distance of stimuli (as determined by, say the PPS).

To create is to be fully human.

- Hari Srinivasan

DSM v ADOS

DSM-5-TR (latest version of DSM) and ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition) are two distinct tools used in assessment and dx of autism.

DSM-5-TR

Diagnostic manual that outlines the criteria for diagnosing ASD, including the presence of social communication deficits and RRB.
Serves as a reference for clinicians and researchers in making diagnostic decisions and ensures consistency in the diagnosis of ASD.

ADOS-2

standardized observational assessment tool designed to aid in the diagnosis of ASD.
Administered by a trained professional and involves direct interaction with the individual
consists of a series of activities and social scenarios that allow the examiner to observe and evaluate the individual's communication skills, social interaction, play, and RRB.
It helps in determining whether an individual meets the diagnostic criteria for ASD and provides information to inform intervention and treatment planning.

ADOS-2 can be utilized as part of the diagnostic process, providing valuable information to support the dx under DSM-5. Both tools are commonly used together to aid in the assessment and diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Creativity is the art of making something out of nothing.

- Hari Srinivasan

EEG Capping

EEG capping from a neuroimaging researcher perspective at the Vanderbilt EEG research lab

(rather than as a half sedated patient in a hospital clinic).

Felt like a soggy swim cap. Not the most comfortable feeling but tolerable.

To clarify, in this photo I'm trying on the cap to see what it feels like as I will likely be using neuroimaging methods (EEG, fMRI etc) in my own research design and I will be studying issues in autism.

Creativity is the energy that drives progress.

- Hari Srinivasan

Creativity is the power to inspire and transform.

- Hari Srinivasan

Summer Soltice

Sun's longest sojourn

Heat waves dance in the daylight

Melting ice cream dreams.

The summer solstice is an astronomical event that occurs annually around June 20th or 21st in the northern hemisphere and around December 21st or 22nd in the southern hemisphere. It marks the longest day and shortest night of the year.

Astronomically, the summer solstice happens when the Earth's axial tilt is most inclined towards the sun. This means that the North Pole is tilted directly towards the sun, resulting in the sun appearing at its highest position in the sky, and the rays of sunlight falling more directly on the northern hemisphere. Conversely, in the southern hemisphere, the South Pole is tilted away from the sun, leading to shorter days and longer nights.

During the summer solstice, the sun reaches its highest point in the sky at noon, and the length of daylight is at its maximum. This phenomenon occurs because the Earth's axis is tilted approximately 23.5 degrees relative to its orbit around the sun. As the Earth orbits the sun, this tilt causes the amount of sunlight received by each hemisphere to vary throughout the year, leading to the changing seasons.

Many western european cultures celebrate the summer solstice. Some examples.

Stonehenge, England: People gather to witness the sunrise aligned with the ancient stone monument.
Midsummer's Eve in Scandinavia (countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Norway) is celebrated with bonfires, traditional dances around maypoles, and feasts. It is a significant holiday in these cultures, often associated with fertility, love, and the celebration of nature.
Sankthans (St Johns Eve), Norway: is celebrated on June 23rd in Norway. People gather around bonfires, sing songs, and enjoy traditional food and drinks. It is a time for community bonding and merriment.
Fête de la Musique (Music Day), France: musicians of all genres perform in the streets, parks, and public spaces. It is a day of music appreciation and open-air concerts.

However, summer solstice festivities tend to be less common or less significant in regions closer to the equator (eg: parts of Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia). This is because the equatorial regions experience relatively consistent day lengths and sunlight throughout the year, with only minor variations so the seasons are less pronounced. As a result, the solstices do not bring about significant changes in the length of the day or the angle of the sun, as they do in regions farther from the equator.

There are however some festivals in these regions that somewhat align and happen around the time of summer solstice.

The Massai of East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania): A traditional warrior dance called Adumu (jumping dance) is performed during special occasions, including the solstices, as a way to celebrate and mark important events in their calendar.
The Kukuya of Central Africa (Congo): have a solstice ritual called the "Iboundji" ceremony where people gather around a sacred tree and engage in traditional dances and songs to honor the sun and its role in their lives.
The Dayak of Borneo: The "Gawai" festival is held around June 1st coincides with the rice planting season and the beginning of the rainy season, and includes various rituals and celebrations that pay homage to the sun, earth, and spirits for a bountiful harvest.
The T'boli of the Philippines: During the summer solstice, people perform ceremonies and rituals related to the T'nalak art form (traditional weaving of abaca fibers into intricate patterns), which is believed to have spiritual and cosmic significance.

The world needs more dreamers who can turn their dreams into reality.

- Hari Srinivasan

Psychophysics and Autism

The field of psychophysics explores how humans perceive and interpret sensory information, including vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. It investigates how changes in physical stimuli result in changes in perception, allowing researchers to measure and quantify the relationships between physical stimuli and perceptual experiences.

Psychophysical experiments often involve participants making judgments or providing responses to stimuli under controlled conditions. These experiments use psychophysical techniques to measure and analyze perceptual thresholds, discrimination abilities, response biases, and other aspects of sensory perception.

Some common psychophysical methods and measures include:

Threshold determination: Identifying the minimum or maximum level of a stimulus that can be detected or discriminated.
Scaling: Estimating subjective perceptions using rating scales or magnitude estimation.
Difference thresholds: Assessing the smallest detectable difference between two stimuli.
Response time measures: Examining the speed of processing or decision-making in response to stimuli.

Psychophysics has contributed to our understanding of sensory perception, including concepts such as Weber's Law, Stevens' Power Law, and Fechner's Law. It has applications in various fields, such as vision science, auditory perception, psychopharmacology, and the study of human factors in design and technology.

Use of Psychophysics in Autism Research

Sensory processing differences at various levels, such as visual, auditory, and tactile domains. Researchers have utilized psychophysical methods to measure thresholds, discrimination abilities, and response biases related to sensory perception. This helps in identifying specific sensory sensitivities, hypo- or hyper responsiveness, and atypical processing patterns in individuals with autism
Perceptual integration and binding of perceptual features, such as color, motion, or shape, in autistics. By examining how autistics perceive and integrate different sensory information, researchers gain insights into potential difficulties in integrating and perceiving coherent perceptual representations.
Face and emotion perception studies investigate perceptual thresholds, discrimination abilities, and biases related to facial features, expressions, and emotional cues. They can provide insights into the specific challenges in perceiving and interpreting social cues.
Multisensory processing: Psychophysics has been utilized to explore how autistics integrate information from multiple sensory modalities. By measuring sensory integration and cross-modal processing abilities, researchers gain a better understanding of how individuals combine information from different sensory channels, which can contribute to their overall perceptual experiences.

Creativity is the spark that ignites change.

- Hari Srinivasan

Looking at the Self

In the context of disability and autism, all the terms discussed below takes on a unique significance as individuals may grapple with challenges that affect their physical, cognitive, emotional, and social attributes. Understanding one's own abilities, limitations, and unique traits can be an integral part of developing a positive self-perception and fostering self-acceptance and empowerment within the disability and autism communities.

Self-Perception: refers to how we perceive themselves, including our physical, cognitive, emotional, and social attributes. It involves forming an understanding of one's own characteristics, abilities, and behaviors. Self-perception can encompass both internal aspects, such as thoughts and emotions, and external aspects, such as appearance and social roles. It involves recognizing oneself as a distinct entity separate from others and the environment.

Self-Reflection: involves the process of introspection and examining one's thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It entails looking inwardly and exploring one's own inner world. Self-reflection allows individuals to gain insight into their beliefs, values, motivations, and behaviors. It often involves asking oneself questions, considering personal experiences, and analyzing one's own actions and their consequences. Self-reflection facilitates self-understanding, personal growth, and the ability to learn from past experiences.

Self-Evaluation: refers to the process of assessing one's own abilities, performance, and worth. It involves comparing oneself to internal or external standards and making judgments about one's strengths, weaknesses, and accomplishments. Self-evaluation can be influenced by various factors, including personal goals, social comparisons, and feedback from others. It plays a crucial role in shaping self-esteem, as positive self-evaluation can enhance feelings of self-worth and competence, while negative self-evaluation can lead to self-doubt and low self-esteem.

Self-Awareness: is the conscious knowledge and recognition of one's own existence, thoughts, feelings, and sensations. It involves being cognitively and emotionally attuned to oneself. Self-awareness allows individuals to monitor and reflect upon their own internal states, behaviors, and reactions in relation to themselves and their environment. It involves recognizing one's own strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs. Self-awareness is a fundamental aspect of self-consciousness and is essential for introspection, self-regulation, and social interactions.

The creative mind sees opportunities where others see obstacles.

- Hari Srinivasan

Igniting Inner Light

Neurons firing with might
Revive engine, ignite inner light
Action potential of this mind
Chuck this fickle body behind

Creativity is the antidote to monotony.

- Hari Srinivasan

Oddball Paradigms

[Concepts in Sensorimotor Research]

Oddball trials, also known as oddball tasks or oddball paradigms, are a type of research experimental design. In oddball trials, a sequence of stimuli is presented to participants, and their task is to detect and respond to specific target stimuli embedded within a stream of more frequent, standard stimuli. The oddball paradigm has been widely used in autism research to investigate sensory processing differences, attentional issues, and cognitive control.

The oddball paradigm typically consists of two types of stimuli:

Standard Stimuli: These are the most common stimuli presented in the sequence and serve as the baseline / control stimuli, occurring with higher frequency. Participants are generally instructed to ignore standard stimuli and withhold any response to them
Target Stimuli: These are the less frequent or "oddball" stimuli that differ in some way from the standard stimuli. Participants are instructed to actively detect and respond to these target stimuli. The target stimuli can be defined by various characteristics, such as a different color, shape, sound, or any other perceptual feature.

The purpose of oddball trials is to investigate how the brain processes and detects rare or deviant stimuli amidst a background of more common stimuli. By manipulating the frequency and characteristics of the target and standard stimuli, researchers can examine various aspects of cognitive processing, including

Attention: how participants allocate and sustain their attention to detect infrequent target stimuli. It allows researchers to explore the mechanisms of selective attention, attentional capture, and the ability to filter out irrelevant information.
Perception & perceptual processing: how the brain discriminates between different stimuli; how the brain detects and discriminates deviant stimuli based on sensory features, and how it forms representations and expectations about the environment
Memory and Cognitive Control: Participants may be required to remember the occurrence or characteristics of the target stimuli and maintain this information for subsequent recall or recognition. Also sheds light on cognitive control processes, such as response inhibition and response selection when distinguishing between standard and target stimuli.

During an oddball task, researchers typically measure various physiological and behavioral responses, such as reaction times, accuracy rates, ERPs (via EEG) or fMRI (to examine neural activity patterns).

Psychiatry Symposium

https://www.vumc.org/psychiatry/AcademicPsychiatry2023

Schedule

10:45-10:50am	Welcome and Introduction
10:50-11:50am	Oral Session #1
11:50am-12:00pm	Break
12:00-1:00pm	Collaboration Talks
1:00-1:10pm	Break
1:10-2:10pm	Poster Session
1:10-1:40pm	Group A
1:40-2:10pm	Group B
2:10-2:20pm	Break
2:20-3:20pm	Oral Session #2
3:20-3:25pm	Closing Remarks
3:25-4:00pm	Ice Cream Social

Berkeley News

UC Berkeley Chancellor Christ retires next year. Can't help but remember that had handed me my University Medal finalist award on stage at convocation along with a lovely message. I think she became chancellor around the time I joined Cal.

https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/06/15/chancellor-carol-christ-announces-2024-retirement-plans-for-ambitious-year/

NASEM: Cultivating Accessible Educational Pathways and Spaces

Event by National Academies of Sciences, Engr and Medicine.

Disrupting Ableism and Advancing STEM:

Cultivating Accessible Educational Pathways and Spaces

THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2023,

I was on the the panel that runs from 1:35pm ET - 2:15pm ET

Recording link

"This virtual session is a critical element of Disrupting Ableism and Advancing STEM: Cultivating Accessible Educational Pathways and Spaces, the fourth event in the five-part Disrupting Ableism and Advancing STEM conversation series. Overall, this event in the series will focus on the important role of education in preparing students with disabilities as they enter the STEM ecosystem. Discussions will focus on the need to challenge assumptions about who can learn and succeed in STEM and the need to make direct changes to policies and practices to facilitate positive educational experiences for students. Examples will include asset based approaches to learning in classrooms, laboratories, online, and in the field.

Got a nice feedback email today.

"My name is ____ and I work at a medical university in a northern town in ___Ontario Canada. I saw your presentation today on cultivating accessible educational pathways and spaces. I was completely blown away by your presentation. What you have accomplished is incredibly impressive. I not only applaud you but the professors who went out of their way to make labs accessible for you. I think as a medical school, we are behind the ball so to speak with regards to accommodating the needs of those with different abilities....... This entire series has been fascinating to me. Thank you for sharing."

====

On behalf of the planning committee, I want to thank you for being part of the NASEM Disrupting Ableism and Advancing STEM discussion series.

This event was very well received, and your panel’s discussion was truly fantastic. Thank you for your leadership and for taking time to share your insight and expertise.

It feels like a historic and meaningful inflection point for people with disabilities in STEM, and we are grateful for your role in driving that change.

======

On behalf of the planning committee for the Disrupting Ableism and Advancing STEM conversation series and the National Academies staff, I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to each of you for an informative and engaging panel session. We are proud to have brought together such an amazing group of individuals to speak about Lived Experiences: Listening, Learning, and Acting. I am certain that your discussion was greatly appreciated by the over 320 who attended on June 15th to learn about issues related to Cultivating Accessible Educational Pathways and Spaces.

Your expertise and insights were invaluable, and we are so grateful for the time and effort that you put into preparing and delivering your remarks.

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Creativity is the language of the heart

Contemplation, one line a day #MentalHealth

Review v Meta Analysis

I continue to learn....as I navigate grad school

Review vs Meta-Analysis

A review paper /literature review, provides a comprehensive overview and evaluation of existing research on a particular topic. It involves gathering information from multiple sources, such as research articles, books, and other relevant publications, and synthesizing the findings to summarize the current state of knowledge on the topic. Review papers typically do not involve statistical analysis or original data collection.

A meta-analysis is a specific type of research synthesis that involves combining and analyzing quantitative data from multiple studies to generate more robust conclusions. Researchers identify relevant studies, extract relevant data from each study, and statistically analyze the combined data to derive overall effect sizes or estimates of the relationship between variables. Meta-analyses often include a systematic review of the literature as a first step to identify relevant studies for inclusion.

To create is to discover a new world within yourself

Contemplation, one line a day #MentalHealth

Ed Levels and dx age

I came across an intriguing fact today.

Individuals who get an ADHD diagnosis in childhood tend to attain lower levels of education than individuals who get an ADHD in adulthood (Wymbs & Dawson-2015).

I wonder if there is a parallel in autism too. Do autistics who get dx in childhood have lower ed levels than autistics who get dx in adulthood. (though I could not see much research on this)

I would think so - cuz despite the claim that you get better access to childhood autism therapy (most of which does not work by the way), you also end up facing a lot of gatekeeping from an educational system that fundamentally starts off with a view of lower exceptions of anyone with a disability dx, which means you are often kept out of mainstream education, gatekeeped out of opportunities than those without a dx would have access to if they chose to pursue it. We are not even given that option of opportunities as everything and everyone around you indicates over and over that you are incapable of more than just surviving and being pushed up and out of the school system (parallels to the school-prison pipeline in minority communities).

All this constant stigma and discrimination takes a toll on mental health, self-esteem, and motivation. If the ed foundational legs at the basic school level is non-supportive and discouraging, there is no motivation to complete and attempt yet another potentially demotivating/discouraging environment.

Ironically I find that though it's a lot more work/effort (the disability part), ed is actually much more non-judgmental and freeing at college level compared to school, but you have to first navigate the school system; a step many may not be able to cross, to even make it to college.

Creativity is the voice of the soul

Contemplation, one line a day

Proprioceptive feedback

Proprioceptive feedback refers to the sensory information that our body receives regarding the position, movement, and orientation of our body parts. It is a crucial component of our overall perception and awareness of our body in space. This feedback allows us to have a sense of where our body is located, how it is moving, and how our limbs are positioned without having to visually observe them.

Proprioception is mediated by specialized receptors known as proprioceptors, which are found in muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. These proprioceptors detect changes in muscle length, muscle tension, joint angles, and joint pressure. They provide constant input to the central nervous system, particularly the brain and spinal cord, enabling us to have a continuous sense of our body's position and movement.

Examples of proprioceptors

the muscle spindle located within skeletal muscles, responds to changes in muscle length. When a muscle is stretched or contracted, the muscle spindle sends signals to the CNS, providing information about the degree and speed of muscle stretch. This information helps the brain monitor and control muscle activity, contributing to coordinated movement.
Golgi tendon organ, located at the junction between muscles and tendons, responds to changes in muscle tension or force exerted on the tendon. When muscle tension increases, the Golgi tendon organ detects this change and sends signals to the central nervous system, allowing for adjustments in muscle force and preventing excessive muscle contraction.
Joint receptors found in the capsules and ligaments surrounding joints, detect changes in joint position and movement. There are different types of joint receptors, including Ruffini corpuscles, Pacinian corpuscles, and free nerve endings, each specialized for different aspects of joint movement. These receptors provide information about joint angles, joint velocity, and joint pressure, allowing for precise control of limb movements.

Proprioceptive feedback is integrated with other sensory information, such as visual and vestibular input, to provide a comprehensive perception of body position and movement. The brain combines these different sensory inputs to create a coherent representation of the body in space, known as body schema.

Research has shown that proprioception plays a vital role in motor control, coordination, and balance. Impairments in proprioceptive feedback can lead to difficulties in performing precise movements, maintaining balance, and coordinating multiple body parts. For example, individuals with certain neurological conditions or injuries affecting proprioceptive pathways may experience problems with coordination and a reduced awareness of their body's position, potentially leading to increased risk of falls or accidents.

Proprioceptive feedback has been studied in the context of Autism to understand its potential role in the motor impairments and sensory processing differences and altered personal space.

Citations around Proprioceptive Feedback
Proske U, Gandevia SC. The Proprioceptive Senses: Their Roles in Signaling Body Shape, Body Position and Movement, and Muscle Force. Physiol Rev. 2012;92(4):1651-1697. doi:10.1152/physrev.00048.2011
Gandevia SC, McCloskey DI. Joint Sense, Muscle Sense, and Their Combination as Position Sense, Measured at the Elbow. J Physiol. 1976;260(2):387-407. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1976.sp011306
Roll JP, Vedel JP. Kinaesthetic Role of Muscle Afferents in Man, Studied by Tendon Vibration and Microneurography. Exp Brain Res. 1982;47(2):177-190. doi:10.1007/BF00239352
Gandevia SC. Kinesthesia: Roles for afferent signals and motor commands. In: Comprehensive Physiology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2011. doi:10.1002/cphy.c100058

Specific to Autism
Marco, E. J., Hinkley, L. B., Hill, S. S., & Nagarajan, S. S. (2011). Sensory processing in autism: a review of neurophysiologic findings. Pediatric Research, 69(5 Pt 2), 48R-54R. doi: 10.1203/PDR.0b013e3182130c54
Torres, E. B., & Donnellan, A. M. (2013). Autism: the micro-movement perspective. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 7, 32. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2013.00032
Haswell, C. C., Izawa, J., Dowell, L. R., Mostofsky, S. H., & Shadmehr, R. (2009). Representation of internal models of action in the autistic brain. Nature Neuroscience, 12(8), 970-972. doi: 10.1038/nn.2356
Glazebrook, C. M., Gonzalez, D. A., Hansen, S., Elliott, D., & Lyons, J. (2009). Impaired visuo-motor processing contributes to altered personal space in autism. Neuropsychologia, 47(13), 2811-2817. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.06.021
Cascio, C. J., Foss-Feig, J. H., Heacock, J., & Newsom, C. R. (2012). Tactile perception in adults with autism: a multidimensional psychophysical study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(11), 2270-2282. doi: 10.1007/s10803-012-1486-2
Hilton, C. L., Zhang, Y., Whilte, M. R., Klohr, C. L., & Constantino, J. N. (2012). Motor impairment in sibling pairs concordant and discordant for autism spectrum disorders. Autism, 16(4), 430-441. doi: 10.1177/1362361311435155
Glazebrook, C. M., & Elliott, D. (2010). Vision-action coupling for perceptual control of posture in children with and without autism spectrum disorders. Developmental Science, 13(5), 742-753. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00941.x

Serenity is the healing that comes with being kind to ourselves.

To create is discover a world within yourself

Towards a more Humane Society. Contemplation one line a day. #MentalHealth.

Mental Time Travel

The concept of mental time travel (MTT) refers to the ability of individuals to mentally project themselves backward in time to relive or remember past events, as well as forward in time to imagine or anticipate future events. It is a cognitive process that allows us to mentally simulate and navigate through temporal experiences beyond the present moment.

The MTT task is a neuroscience measure designed to assess an individual's capacity for mental time travel. It typically involves presenting participants with a series of event cues and asking them to generate specific events from their own personal past or future that are related to each cue. For example, participants may be shown cue words such as "graduation" or "vacation" and then asked to recall a specific past event or imagine a specific future event related to each cue.

In this task, the individual's present moment serves as a reference point from which they situate and retrieve personal versus general events. Personal events refer to specific episodic memories from the individual's own life, such as a birthday party or a family trip, while general events are more abstract and can be shared by multiple individuals, such as historical events or holidays.

The MTT task taps into several cognitive processes and neural mechanisms associated with mental time travel. It requires the retrieval of specific episodic memories or the construction of plausible future scenarios. The task engages memory processes, including recall and recognition, as well as imagination and prospective thinking.

Neuroimaging studies have shown that the neural substrates underlying MTT involve a network of brain regions.

PFC: cognitive control and executive function required for retrieving and manipulating temporal information.
Hippocampus and MTL: formation and retrieval of episodic memories

The MTT task has been used in research to investigate individual differences in the capacity for mental time travel and how it relates to various cognitive processes, such as autobiographical memory, imagination, planning, and self-projection. It has also been employed to examine the effects of aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and psychiatric disorders on mental time travel abilities.

Creativity is the bridge between art and science

Towards a more Humane Society. Contemplation one line a day. #MentalHealth.

If you know everything, you are not learning

Something Professor Carissa Cascio shared with the lab today. So appropriate.

Also accompanied by a message encouraging us to "be confident in asking questions and not worried about what they don't know. If you already know everything, you're not learning!"

Thank you for this assurance cuz my rather atypical educational path leaves me wondering (more often than not) if there are things I have missed out (through the typical NT education path, NT social experiences/interactions/networking) which is now maybe impacting my knowledge and work.