Towards a more Humane Society. Contemplating an emotion, 1 line a day.
Our divided and conflicted world needs compassion more than ever. #MentalHealth.
Dear Colleague
https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/dear-colleague-letter-online-accessibility-postsecondary-institutions
On May 19, 2023, the Justice Department and the Department of Education jointly issued a Dear Colleague Letter reminding colleges, universities, and other postsecondary institutions to ensure that their online services, programs, and activities are accessible to people with disabilities.
Letter at chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/1584491/download
Who has the dx, and who is the professional
This week I heard of an instance where an ABA therapist got offended at a something his autistic client did and quit over the autistic teen not following directions.
The autistic teen had been asked to wait at a library, looks like that teen hung around for a while, and then decided to just walk back to his home alone after a while.
I want to ask, who has the diagnosis here, who is the professional "behavior-therapist" here who is supposed to help shape behaviors instead of walking off in a huff.
Why have the word "behavior" in applied-behavior-therapy if you don't want to even help with or deal with behavior in the first place.
Enhanced Perceptual Functioning (EPF) Model
While no single theory fully explains all aspects of autism, each attempts to provide insights into different cognitive and behavioral characteristics.
This model proposes that autistics have superior perceptual processing abilities. They may have heightened sensitivity to sensory input, leading to enhanced performance in perceptual tasks.- Implications: Exceptional abilities in tasks involving pattern recognition, attention to detail, and memory for visual and auditory information. However, this heightened perception can also lead to sensory overload.
Read more on [EPF Model]
Posts on other [Theories of Autism]
Compassion is the hand that holds us when we are lost
Towards a more Humane Society. Contemplating an emotion, 1 line a day.
Our divided and conflicted world needs compassion more than ever. #MentalHealth.
A Personal Voice
https://www.thestreet.com/retailers/apple-reveals-a-powerful-new-feature-that-absolutely-no-one-asked-for
This is so cool
Essentially apple is coming out with AI generated feature which will create a text-speech voice that sounds like you rather than a third party foreign voice.
Personal Space v PPS
[Concepts in Sensorimotor Research]
Personal space refers is a social construct - refers to the physical or psychological distance individuals prefer to maintain between themselves and others. It is the immediate area surrounding a person that they consider as their own.
Peri-personal space is a neuroscience construct to describe the area immediately surrounding the body that is within reach of the individual. It encompasses the space where individuals feel they can manipulate/reach using their limbs / body parts.
Past research has indicated autistics as having a very constrained PPS.
Related Posts on [PPS] [Peripersonal Space]
Compassion is the source of all true strength and courage
Towards a more Humane Society. Contemplation one line a day.
Our divided and conflicted world needs compassion more than ever. #MentalHealth.
Principle of inverse effectiveness
[Concepts in Sensorimotor Research]
Ergo, when the individual sensory cues are relatively weak or have low impact, the brain tends to rely more on multisensory integration to enhance the perception and processing of the stimuli. eg: people with hearing loss exhibit increased visual abilities, and increased crossmodal activation within the auditory cortex.
This principle suggests that the brain optimally integrates sensory information from multiple modalities to improve perception and increase sensitivity, particularly in situations where the sensory cues are less informative or ambiguous.
The principle of inverse effectiveness highlights the advantage of combining multiple sensory inputs in situations where the individual senses may provide limited or unreliable information. By integrating sensory cues from different modalities, the brain can enhance the overall perception and make more accurate judgments about the external environment. This principle has been observed across various species and sensory domains and is believed to reflect a fundamental property of multisensory processing.
The principle of inverse effectiveness highlights the advantage of combining multiple sensory inputs in situations where the individual senses may provide limited or unreliable information. By integrating sensory cues from different modalities, the brain can enhance the overall perception and make more accurate judgments about the external environment. This principle has been observed across various species and sensory domains and is believed to reflect a fundamental property of multisensory processing.
Me or We?
A poem written many years ago that captures the mind-body and depersonalization
Me or We?
If I were a math expression I’d be
Irrational Number Body
Perfect Square Mind
A body that acts quite on its own
A mind that can only watch and mourn
Body, the numerator, mere flesh and bone
Irrational number like, a math anomaly
Visible to all, pure absurdity
Mind, the denominator, profound and wise
Perfect square like, just ecstasy
Hidden from sight, pure tragedy
Body just limited by space, movement and time
Mind without boundaries, infinite times
Two seeming identities in one unreasonable body
Perchance, I should be a 'We' and not 'Me.'
I crave the 'Me' and not the 'We'
How do I go from 'We' to 'Me'?
Private equity and ABA
Another example of private equity (valuation) driving ABA therapy. This does not bode well for the marginalized groups within autism and furthers the exploitative and profit hungry nature of autism therapy.
When the focus is on $$$$, companies will turn away the "non-easy" cases (aka, autistic kids with behaviors) and take up cases they perceive are easy, so that they can show quick results to the investors. Given the heterogeneity of autism with the dx ratio now at 1:36, there are enough non-behavior kids to fill any amount of supply. There is irony in behavior agencies turning away kids with behaviors who need help.
There is focus on valuation but not on quality control in ABA, because in autism if a kid does not improve, the fault is all on the kid, never the therapy. The one industry where there can be profits with no accountability.
https://bhbusiness.com/2023/05/12/autism-therapy-providers-tie-upskilling-to-beating-turnover-serving-more-families/
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