Open Society

Background: Controversy regarding the neurodiversity movement (NDM), the social and medical models of disability, autism intervention goals, and causal attributions of disability contributes to divides in the autistic and autism communities. The present study investigates the views of autistic and non-autistic autistic and autism community members on these topics. We explored whether these views are shaped by having close relationships to autistic people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and nonspeaking autistic (NSA) people. Methods: A total of 504 autistic and autism community members (278 autistic, 226 non-autistic) completed an online survey about theoretical models and intervention goals. Participants reported whether they had one or more close relationships with NSA people, autistic people with ID, neither, or both. Results: Overall, there was considerable consensus regarding desired intervention goals: normalization goals were generally opposed, while participants generally supported well-being, societal reform, supportive environment, and adaptive skill goals. While autistic participants reported less support for normalization and adaptive skills goals than non-autistic participants, they expressed somewhat more enthusiasm for societal reform and supportive environments than non-autistic people. Autistic people supported the NDM more and the medical model less than non-autistic people. Those close to autistic people with ID gave higher ratings to adaptive skill goals. On average, participants not close to autistic people with ID saw the challenges of those without ID as being slightly more due to environmental/social factors than the challenges of those with ID; there was no such statistical difference among those close to autistic people with ID. Conclusion: Further research investigating community views, with the inclusion of more autistic people with ID and NSA people themselves, is needed, but the results of this study suggest that the broader autistic and autism communities see NDM-consistent intervention goals as appropriate for all autistic people, including NSA people and those with ID. As autism interventions have often pursued unpopular normalization goals, this suggests directions for reform.

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research is an international peer-reviewed journal aiming to disseminate innovative, high quality, social research on disability, which enables critical reflection on the position of people with disabilities in different societal contexts.The journal’s defining characteristic is a focus on the relationship between people with disabilities and their environments. It is multi-disciplinary in scope, incorporating research from a variety of perspectives - such as sociological, historical, cultural studies, health and social policy - which share a commitment to recognising that disability is not a property of the individual person, but something shaped by social relations and structures.The journal was established by the Nordic Network on Disability Research (NNDR), an association who actively facilitate the sharing and dissemination of social research on disability in the five Nordic countries.Read more about the journal here.

utism aligns with the definition of “profound” autism. Using the National Survey of Children's Health, we sought to (1) estimate the prevalence of parent-reported severe autism, (2) identify child characteristics that are associated with severe autism, (3) compare health care utilization, and (4) compare caregiver stress and resilience between families of children with severe versus mild/moderate autism. Methods: Parent responses on the 2018 to 2019 NSCH were used to compare school-age children with parent-reported severe autism and those with mild/moderate autism. Descriptive statistics, χ2 tests, and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: Among parents of 1,368 US children with autism, 10.1% characterized their child's autism as severe, a prevalence of 1 in 333. Parents of children with severe autism were more likely to report ID (45% vs 12.1%, p 0.001), language delay (88% vs 58.7%, p 0.001), and difficulties in dressing and bathing (67% vs 19.2%, p 0.001). Children with severe autism had more behavioral problems and co-occurring conditions but were no more likely to see specialists or receive autism-specific behavioral therapy. Their caregivers reported more stress and less resilience. Conclusion: The characteristics of “profound” autism and parent-reported “severe” autism significantly overlap, allowing the use of the NSCH for studies of this vulnerable population. Children with profound/severe autism could benefit from more behavioral therapy, specialty care, and family support....

Controversies regarding the neurodiversity movement may be exacerbated by confusion over its meaning. For example, some suggest neurodiversity entails acceptanc...

In this month’s research roundup Ann picks out some of the current big debates on Autistic lives, and showcases new and important research from teams and academics working within the field.

www.thesensoryprojects.co.uk The Sensory Projects run on the principle that with the right knowledge, and a little creativity, inexpensive items can become effective sensory tools for inclusion.

Including motivational variables such as interest in the cognitive load framework is an ongoing process. Of particular interest is the question of how motivational variables influence the investment of mental effort. In this study, we investigated how topic interest affects the investment of mental effort in simple tasks. A total of 1543 students’ judgments regarding invested mental effort, perceived task difficulty, and topic interest for 32 tasks of a chemistry test were analyzed at the task level based on item response theory parameters. Additionally, objective task difficulty was calculated. The Rasch parameters were used for correlation and moderated regression analyses. The results indicated that when perceived task difficulty was low, students invested more mental effort in solving tasks of low topic interest compared to tasks of high topic interest. With increasing perceived task difficulty, the amount of invested mental effort rose for tasks of low as well as high topic interest. However, the difference between tasks of low and high topic interest in the amount of invested mental effort decreased as perceived task difficulty increased and even vanished when perceived task difficulty roughly corresponded to students’ performance capability. These results are in line with flow theory and the expectancy-value-cost model of motivation. When solving tasks that match their performance capability, students can experience a flow situation. However, when solving rather easy tasks of low interest, students can experience motivational costs in terms of additional effort, such as an increased need for motivational self-regulation. The results of this study provide a basis for systematically investigating and better understanding the relationship between interest, task difficulty, invested mental effort, flow experience, and emotional costs.

Research ethic application processes aim to ensure that researchers maintain high ethical standards, integrity, and confidentiality. Despite the importance of ethics applications and the practices they uphold, the process of obtaining a favourable opinion is not...

Interest in the mental health landscape of young people is widespread. This paper focuses in on the emotional wellbeing of students with profound intellectual disabilities and those who work with t...

The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in adults and children who were exposed to applied behavior analysis (ABA) autism early childhood intervention. Using an online questionnaire to survey autistic adults and caregivers of autistic children, the author collected data from 460 respondents on demographics, intervention types, and current pathological behaviors with symptom severity scales. This study noted PTSS in nearly half of ABA-exposed participants, while non-exposed controls had a 72 percent chance of being asymptomatic. ABA satisfaction ratings for caregivers averaged neutral or mild satisfaction. In contrast, adult satisfaction with ABA was lower on average and also tended to take on either extremely low or extremely high ratings. Exposure to ABA predicted a higher rate and more severe PTSS in participants, but the duration of exposure did not affect satisfaction with the intervention in caregivers.,Participants were recruited for an online survey through social media networks, adult gatherings, social skills groups, and autism support groups nationwide. Adult inclusion criteria consisted of autism – diagnosed or self-diagnosed – and an age of 18 or older. A total of 460 respondents, consisting of autistic adults and caregivers of autistic children, completed an online survey. The caregiver entries (n=217) concerned 79 percent male children, 21 percent female children (male to female 3.80:1), and one MtF transgender child, ages 1-38, with an average age at diagnosis of 4.69 years. The adult entries (n=243) concerned 30 percent males, 55 percent females (male to female 0.55:1), and 14 percent other gender, ages 18-73, with an average age at diagnosis of 25.38 years.,Nearly half (46 percent) of the ABA-exposed respondents met the diagnostic threshold for PTSD, and extreme levels of severity were recorded in 47 percent of the affected subgroup. Respondents of all ages who were exposed to ABA were 86 percent more likely to meet the PTSD criteria than respondents who were not exposed to ABA. Adults and children both had increased chances (41 and 130 percent, respectively) of meeting the PTSD criteria if they were exposed to ABA. Both adults and children without ABA exposure had a 72 percent chance of reporting no PTSS (see Figure 1). At the time of the study, 41 percent of the caregivers reported using ABA-based interventions.,The majority of adult respondents were female, raising questions about the population of online autistic survey respondents. Further, the high numbers of reported gender other than male or female in the adult respondents, as well as at least on MtF child from the caregiver respondents indicates that future studies should consider these intersections. These accompanied significant discrepancies in reporting bias between caregivers and ABA-exposed individuals, which highlight the need for the inclusion of the adult autistic voice in future intervention design. Based on the findings, the author predicts that nearly half of ABA-exposed autistic children will be expected to meet the PTSD criteria four weeks after commencing the intervention; if ABA intervention persists, there will tend to be an increase in parent satisfaction despite no decrease in PTSS severity.

Nothing about us without us applies here too you know!! Unreal the risks will impact us profoundly… — Caroline Keep (@Ka81)

A groundbreaking study has provided experimental evidence suggesting a quantum basis for consciousness. By demonstrating that drugs affecting microtubules within neurons delay the onset of unconsciousness caused by anesthetic gases, the study supports the quantum model over traditional classical

Controversies regarding the neurodiversity movement may be exacerbated by confusion over its meaning. For example, some suggest neurodiversity entails acceptanc...

A new study says 48 percent of K-12 educators feel their decline in mental health has impacted their ability to teach.

For decades, education reformers have proposed academic performance, measured by standardized testing, as the solution to inequality. It doesn’t work, and it’s losing Democrats votes. But most important, it’s costing kids the opportunity to learn through play.

In this article, we engage in a critical conversation with scholars of neurodiversity. We emphasize the transformative role neurodiversity has in creating a cru...

Tech companies have been obfuscating the emissions of their AI data centers by using dodgy energy certificates in their calculations.

Michael Tyre offers some insights into how architects and administrators can work together to create better learning environments for everyone.

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) - Autistic advocates are extremely vocal about abolishing ABA and see it as a human rights issue, due to the medical model which perpetuates the wrong narrative that autistic people need to be treated and fixed, and the number of people it has historically harmed. Learn about why ABA dehumanises autistic people here.

Welcome to the Network Welcome to the Social Determinants of Health Network, a dedicated 501(c)(3) non-profit Foundation committed to promoting health and health care in people with mental illnesses. Our mission is to enhance the well-being of individuals with mental illness by addressing the profound social factors that influence both mental and physical

The five insights that change everything