Lynne Soraya www.psychologytoday.com/blog/aspergers-diary Presuppositions. We all know what they are — but what part do they play in our interactions? Any member of a minority group will tell you stories in which they felt that they have been unfairly stereotyped – in which the other person made a presupposition about their character dependent on certain criteria – be it age, gender, race, or some other factor. These are obvious cases of presuppositions impacting our social interaction. But are there situations in which presuppositions more subtly impact interactions? If you reach out to touch someone, and they jerk away, do you make a presupposition as to what that means? If someone is habitually quiet, do you make presuppositions regarding their intelligence or competence? As I have learned about autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, I have learned to question certain aspects of my experience. Things that I accepted as “normal,” because I experienced…
Author: Liz Ditz
Kim Wombles http://kwomblescountering.blogspot.com/ http://www.science20.com/science_autism_spectrum_disorders My husband and I obtained guardianship of my bright boy when he was approaching 18 years old — the legal age of adulthood in the US. Bobby has a blood clotting disorder which lead to a stroke at aged nine, which left him with significant cognitive disabilities. Bobby’s certainly an adult, but he has a cognitive impairment; he can’t spell more than a few words despite many long years of working at it, can’t do double digit math. He is my son, my bright boy, and while I accept and celebrate that he is an adult, the truth is that he is an adult with a cognitive impairment that requires he have assistance. We work very hard to find a balance that allows him the opportunity for growth, to reach his potential. We work very hard to allow him as much autonomy as he is capable…
Scott Standifer Disability Policy and Studies Office School of Health Professions University of Missouri http://dps.missouri.edu/Autism.html standifers@missouri.edu Introduction from the editors: Many of our readers are from outside the United States, or have children with autism under the age of 16, and so are not yet fully aware of some of the elements of employment and employment planning for adults with disabilities in the US, including autism. The following brief summary is an orientation. In 1973, the United States passed a law that directed federal and state authorities to assist people with disabilities to find employment. In the same time period, the US mandated that children with disabilities must receive educational services, and to be provided with planning for transition from the school years to subsequent employment. In the subsequent years, transition from school to work has evolved in many ways. In the US, the system for helping people with disabilities…
Amy Tuteur, MD skepticalob.blogspot.com www.askdramy.com On the surface, the old idea of the “refrigerator mother” causing autism and the new quack idea of vaccines causing autism might appear to have little in common. However, as Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick notes, they both rest on the same deeply flawed belief: it is the mother (through her emotional response or her actions) who causes autism in her child and it is the mother (through her emotional response or her actions) who has the power to prevent autism. Fitzpatrick is the author of Defeating Autism: A Damaging Delusion, a physician and the parent of an autistic child. He writes bitingly about the quackery in the “crusade against autism.” Jenny McCarthy is an obvious target: In the foreword to Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey Into Healing Autism, Jenny McCarthy is described as the ‘polar opposite’ of the ‘refrigerator mom’, the quasi-demonic figure blamed by…
Liz Ditz http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/ http://lizditz.typepad.com/academic_remediation/ I have been thinking about this issue, and this post, for several days now, since a friend who is a science blogger sent on an email from the British Medical Journal (BMJ) about yesterday’s revelations alleging Andrew Wakefield’s fraud. I couldn’t speak or write about it, as the BMJ had strongly requested that the story not be made public (“embargoed”) until 4 pm January 5 2001 PST. That email had links to the full text of editorial, article, and references revealed yesterday. As I studied the material and references, one of the things that I kept in mind was the community that has grown up here at The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, and how we have managed to keep talking through differences of points of view and of opinion. I treasure that continued conversation and I believe it is one of the most valuable things…
Liz Ditz http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/ http://lizditz.typepad.com/academic_remediation/ On behalf of my fellow editors, Emily Willingham, Jennifer Byde Myers, and Shannon des Roches Rosa, I’d like to thank all of the 2010 contributors to The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism. What follows is an alphabetical list of contributors, with links to their TPGA posts, their website(s) and twitter accounts (where available — some of our contributors have neither websites nor twitter accounts). Eighty contributors. 120+ posts. Many, many different perspectives on autism. Autism through the lifetime. Thank you all. Kate Ahern, Living the Least Dangerous Assumption. Blog: http://teachinglearnerswithmultipleneeds.blogspot.com/. Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/teechkidz . Presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/teechkidz Kyra Anderson, Bring Everyone Out. Blog: http://kyraanderson.wordpress.com/ Anonymous Special Needs Professional, Why I Can’t Breathe Tonight Emma Apple, If the Scarf Fits Blog: http://www.bluehijabday.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/bluehijabday Devon Koren Asdell, How I Know Vaccines Didn’t Cause My Daughter’s Autism Blog: http://community.advanceweb.com/blogs/ot_9/ . Website: http://dkoren.freeshell.org/. Stacey Ashlund, Comparative Misery and a Born-Again Buddhist…
Liz Ditz http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/ http://lizditz.typepad.com/academic_remediation/ I know we said a break, but… Today, Gary Brannigan PhD and Howard Margolis PhD (the authors of a great book, Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds) published a blog post Stonewalling the IEP. While Brannigan and Margolis are writing about specifically reading issues, their advice can be generalized to all kinds of issues. The blog post is particularly about “Present Levels of Performance” and how many IEP teams skimp this section. Brannigan and Margolis suggest there are four reasons: The school members of the IEP Team don’t know how to develop a Present Levels section that’s complete, meaningful, and functional. The district’s evaluations failed to supplement norm-referenced data from standardized tests with instructionally-relevant functional information. School members of your child’s IEP Team have overwhelming caseloads. (Rarely): To wear parents out and send a message to other parents: “Be satisfied with what we give you.” Brannigan and…
Liz Ditz http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/ http://lizditz.typepad.com/academic_remediation/ The editorial team here all thought we would all take a break until January 3rd, 2011 but I changed my mind. This year, I actually wrote down all the recipes I used so I’d remember them next year, and I thought we could use this time to note down what worked and what didn’t, as far as the holidays, travel, and autism are concerned. Shannon shared her tips and those gleaned from others in Autism and Holidays: Success Through Meticulous Planning (inclused my new favorite seasonal carol, Let Me Stim, Let Me Stim, Let Me Stim. Here are a few more autism & Christmas posts from around the blogosphere: Caren Zucker at the Daily Beast wrote Christmas With My Autistic Son, (also at TheMcGlynn) in which there was a failure of communication, which resolved into increased family closeness. Check out Mickey’s Christmas list! Lisa Jo Rudy…
Here at the Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, we’re about (a) having fun with our families (b) evidence-based approaches to autism (d) innovative fund-raising and (c) social media. So naturally we are participating in The Autism Science Foundation’s campaign, Recipe4Hope. There are a lot of needs in the autism community, but we believe that funding sound autism research comes high on the list. So won’t you join us? Every dollar donated to the Autism Science Foundation from now through December 31 will go directly autism research. This video (1 min 13 seconds) explains the campaign. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Autism Science Foundation, here’s a short statement of its goals: The Autism Science Foundation funds scientific research to find the causes of autism and to develop treatments that will make a difference in the lives of children, teens and adults. This holiday season, outstanding research is…
The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (TPGA) started with a brainstorm in a California parking lot May 27, 2010. We published our first post 9 days later, on June 6: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism (TPGA) is the book and website we wish had been available when our children with autism were first diagnosed. We want to help people with autism and their families make sense of the bewildering array of available autism treatments and options, and determine which are worth their time, money, and energy. Think of us as a little bit of Snopes for the autism community — trusted, accurate, and friendly. Our essays will cover informed approaches to autism and autism treatments, as well as the personal experiences of people with autism and their families. Our attitude is cautionary yet loving — we’re honest, but we’re not interested in negativity. We — the TPGA editors —…