Tag: behavior

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Disability

Ridiculously Misguided Autism Research Strikes Again!

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Ann Memmott annsautism.blogspot.com In the recent Lancet article The gut microbiome in neurological disorders by Cryan et al, confused researchers have mistaken reducing stomach pain for curing autism (yet again). Now, autism researchers, when was the last time you had a hurty tum? How was your behaviour? Having an ‘aha!’ moment now? Thank you. If you want a hint of the joys within the Lancet paper: it references Tomova et al’s 2015 paper Gastrointestinal microbiota in children with autism in Slovakia, which involves nine autistic children ages 2-9, in an unblinded study (meaning they knew which kids got the probiotic supplement) and parent reports of “behaviour.” Apparently after the treatment autistic children showed less “challenging behaviour” which led to the the supposition that “…appropriate… microbiota is required for normal social development.” The problem is that autism isn’t a behaviour, any more than being Deaf is a “behaviour.” The cited quest to…

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Disability

Autism Is Not “Behavioral”

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Cal Montgomery Photo © Teresa Alexander-Arab | Flickr / Creative Commons [Image: A green buoy on the surface of a body of water on a sunny day.] Autism is not behavioral. Atypical behavior is not autism. It is a consequence of autism. It is surface markers by which what is underneath may be suspected, diagnosed, and investigated. Altering behavior doesn’t alter autism. Everything we recognize has surface markers. Fear, for instance, may look like a cold sweat, breathing hard, and dilated pupils, but that is not what fear is. ABA, the most popular monopoly for interacting with autistics, denies the “underneath.” It says that the surface markers are all that matter. It is profoundly dehumanizing. It is also a worldview that is almost impossible to maintain. When you call autism a behavioral disorder—and I am not touching the “disorder” part right here but I also do not accept it—you are focusing…

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Disability

Autism and Biowearables: An interview with Matthew Goodwin at IMFAR 2017

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Carol Greenburg and Matthew Goodwin at the IMFAR 2017 Press Conference [image: White woman with short platinum hair and glasses posing with a taller white man with a shaved head and goatee.] Northeastern University researcher Matthew Goodwin gave an IMFAR 2017 keynote speech about his work on “Wearable Sensor-Based Physiological and Physical Activity Biomarkers for Use in Laboratory and Naturalistic Environments to Assess Arousal and Repetitive Motor Movements in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism’s Carol Greenburg and Shannon Rosa, and Autism Women’s Network’s Corina Becker, spoke to Goodwin after the IMFAR press conference, about the real-life applications of his work, and how they can benefit autistic people. Carol Greenburg: What constitutes a behavior, insofar as it’s something that needs to be mitigated? A behavior like flapping or other “stims” may mean something different to the person who’s doing the intervention, as opposed to the autistic person themselves.…

Disability

NAS Professional Conference 14: Dr. Stephen Tyler on Severe Challenging Behaviour

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NAS Professional Conference 14: Dr. Stephen Tyler Storify by Shannon Rosa Wed, Mar 05 2014 21:04:31 Edit NAS Professional Conference 14: Dr. Stephen Tyler A compilation of live tweets from Dr. Tyler’s presentation Severe Challenging Behaviour: Impact, Perceptions and Support at the National Autistic Society’s Professional Conference 2014 in Harrogate, UK. Any errors or omissions are my own. – Shannon Rosa@shannonrosa Listening to Dr. Stephen Tyler on Severe Challenging Behaviour: Impact, Perceptions & Support. #NASprof14 #autism Tue, Mar 04 2014 16:19:27 ReplyRetweetFavorite Shannon Rosa@shannonrosa Stages of ignorance include: Innocence, where you’re sure you can learn. #NASprof14 Tue, Mar 04 2014 16:20:41 ReplyRetweetFavorite Shannon Rosa@shannonrosa The final stage of ignorance: You know you don’t know, other people know you don’t know, & that’s OK. #NASprof14 #autism Tue, Mar 04 2014 16:22:36 ReplyRetweetFavorite Shannon Rosa@shannonrosa “Challenging” behaviors often happen when #autistic people are caught by surprise. #NASprof14 Tue, Mar 04 2014 16:26:09…

Disability

Behavior Policing’s Effect on Autistic Children

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Michael Scott Monje Jr www.mmonjejr.com Growing up, I might not have had an autism diagnosis, but that does not mean that my parents were oblivious to the differences between my behavior and typical behavior. Sure, when I was very young, they made their mistakes. For instance, my mother thought that the fact that I would sit for hours, focused on my own thoughts, made me an “easy” child. In some ways it did, because that meant that she could leave me unattended and run downstairs to change the laundry without worrying that I’d wander off. To a nineteen year old with a toddler, I’m sure that that had to seem like a blessing at times. Similarly, when I was two or three and I started to get obsessed with organizing and arranging things, that made my parents’ lives easier. After all, a child that can be kept busy sorting a…

Disability

Sensory Issues vs. Behaviors: On the Recent AAP Policy Statement

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Brenda Rothman mamabegood.blogspot.com Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement (1) on sensory integration therapies. The AAP recommended that pediatricians should not diagnose sensory processing disorder as a stand-alone diagnosis, but should refer children for an evaluation for other possibilities, like autism, ADHD, motor, or anxiety disorders. AAP also advised pediatricians to inform parents of the limited amount of research for sensory therapy and to help them set up a program to determine its effectiveness. Stating that we should monitor and judge the effectiveness of sensory therapy seems straight-forward and logical. However, the pediatricians’ statements about the policy reveal an underlying problem. Their argument that sensory issues may actually be behavioral is not untenable. But it also has the potential to cause harm. Given the discomfort, the related issues like emotions, relationships, brain science, parenting, and the risks of treating sensory issues as behavioral, we…

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Disability

Let Me Stim, Let Me Stim, Let Me Stim

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The holidays are upon us, and that means hanging with folks who might need a nudge or a gentle reminder about holiday kindness and accommodation for autistic kids and adults, on being nice about understanding autistic behaviors versus assuming naughtiness. One thing we’ll be seeing in our house as my son adjusts to an atypical schedule is stimming. Lots of stimming. Some of Leo’s stimming needs redirecting, but most of it is functional and self-soothing. Our friends and family get why Leo stims and what he needs, they have his back; Leo will be fine, we’ll be fine. But if you or your child need stimming functionality backup or want to help understand why stimming doesn’t just matter but can be very necessary, I suggest citing Zoe’s About Stimming, or Julia Bascom’s The Obsessive Joy of Autism. Or, you could just sing folks this song, which I came up with…

Disability

I’m Not a Bad Parent … Right?

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Deanne Shoyer www.smallbutkindamighty.wordpress.com   Deanne is the mother of gorgeous twin boys, five years old, who are both on the autism spectrum. I’ve read a number of blog posts where the writer describes the ways that strangers or relatives make them feel their parenting skills are inadequate. This post will not be adding to that number. It is about a struggle I’ve had in dealing with some challenging behaviours from Oliver. My reactions to those behaviours led me to conclude (at least initially) that I wasn’t being the best mother I could be. Oliver had been displaying some pretty aggressive behaviour towards Owen: pushing him hard enough so that he would fall over, kicking him (usually once Owen was on the floor) and pulling his hair. The worst incident happened when Oliver pushed Owen off a chair and Owen fell on his head. It got to the stage that Owen…

Disability

Five Ways to Help Reduce Problematic Behaviors

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Kathi Flynn tips4specialkids.com If you are responsible for a child who has behavioral outbursts, you’re likely looking for ways to reduce both the behaviors and their intensity. As a behavior specialist, I have learned many reactive strategies that help to reduce existing behaviors. Though it’s critical in such scenarios to find the functions of the behaviors by conducting a Functional Behavior Analysis and setting up a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)1, here are five strategies/consequences to try in the heat of the moment: Ignore the Behavior Do not verbalize the behavior that is happening. If a child is doing something dangerous to himself or others, you obviously have to intervene, but you still do not have to draw attention to the actual behavior. This strategy only works if you know that your child is doing this behavior to get attention, even if the attention is negative. You don’t want to reinforce…