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.
- 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.
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:
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.
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.
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-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.
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.
Igniting Inner Light
Igniting Inner Light
Revive engine, ignite inner light
Action potential of this mind
Chuck this fickle body behind
SCQ - Social Communication Questionnaire
Lexicon [Measures] - SCQ
Limitations:
- The SCQ is a screening tool and should not be used as a standalone diagnostic instrument. A comprehensive evaluation by a trained clinician using multiple assessment methods is necessary for a formal autism diagnosis.
- Co-occurring Conditions: Many individuals with ASD may have co-occurring conditions such as intellectual disabilities, language impairments, ADHD, anxiety, or sensory processing difficulties. The SCQ focuses specifically on social communication and interaction and may not fully capture the range of challenges associated with co-occurring conditions such as language challenges, ADHD, anxiety or sensory processing.
- Caregiver reports are subject to biases and inaccuracies, as they rely on the caregiver's observations and interpretations of the individual's behaviors.
- Caregivers' ability to accurately report on specific social communication behaviors and experiences of nonspeaking autistics may be limited.
- The SCQ is not designed to assess other developmental disabilities apart from ASD.
Psychiatry Symposium
https://www.vumc.org/psychiatry/AcademicPsychiatry2023
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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.
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.
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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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