Being Autistic Is Not A Behavior Problem
Download Being Autistic Is Not A Behavior Problem PDF/ePub or read online books in Mobi eBooks. Click Download or Read Online button to get Being Autistic Is Not A Behavior Problem book now. This website allows unlimited access to, at the time of writing, more than 1.5 million titles, including hundreds of thousands of titles in various foreign languages.
Being Autistic is Not a Behavior Problem
Author: Daniel B. LeGoff
language: en
Publisher: Universal Publishers
Release Date: 2023-04-15
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) has become a widely used form of therapy for autistic children without its theories and methods being well understood. This critical analysis of the theories and research on which ABA bases its claim to being an evidence-based treatment is a must-read for everyone who has a stake in the lives of autistic individuals. This book reviews the literature which shows that ABA is not based on scientific research, and that practitioners of ABA are not required to be trained in child psychology, pediatrics, child development, education, family therapy, language development, or scientific research. ABA is not based on any form of developmental science, but primarily on the works of B.F. Skinner whose ideas were first published over seventy years ago. This philosophical viewpoint, radical behaviorism, holds that individual experiences are irrelevant to behavior change because the determining factors of our actions are in the environment; the rewards and punishments that result from those actions. This in-depth analysis of the theories and research of ABA leads to the conclusion that ABA is not an applied science, nor does it promote values consistent with current models of child development and education. Other promising methods based on modern science, including parent-directed early infancy pre-emptive strategies and peer-based LEGO Clubs, also discussed here, are often overshadowed by the media coverage and marketing strategies of ABA-based autism services, despite these messages being overstated and misleading. Simply put, the public trust and investment in ABA services needs to be reviewed in greater detail, and with greater skepticism. The pseudoscientific concepts described by behavior analysts sound convincing to many, but upon closer examination amount to little more than what most educators and parents typically do already, and at the same time, involve costly and invasive services with little or no evidence of meaningful benefit. Some natural strategies such as peer-mentoring and caregiver training do help autistic children and their families to adapt to mainstream settings, the persistent promise of evidence-based autism treatment, has generated an expanding market for ABA services which actually interferes with typical social development. Modern views of child development, social and cultural adaptability, play, and education emphasize integration of individuals and their sociocultural environments. Less costly, proactive, and non-invasive approaches to improving social adaptability and quality of life for autistic children and their caregivers are currently available, but unlike ABA-based services, they are not widely promoted in the public media or offered directly to families by thousands of newly certified providers. A science-based and holistic understanding of the life experiences of autistic individuals recognizes the importance of sociocultural adjustment and long-term quality of life, not behavioral compliance in adult-controlled settings, even when those settings are described as naturalistic. Radical behaviorism was not and will never be compatible with developmental models which view development as a reciprocal and dynamic synergistic process, not the outcome of a successful behavior plan. It is important for those who care about diversity in society to promote the creative contributions of individuals with diverse life experiences and to stop thinking about being different as a behavior problem.
The Neuropsychiatry of Epilepsy
Author: Michael R. Trimble
language: en
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Release Date: 2011-06-09
Research into the neuropsychiatry of epilepsy has become a central focus of interest in the last five years. Comorbidity of epilepsy with behavioral problems is now recognized widely, and the neuroscientific basis for such comorbidity is an active area of investigation. With an expanded international team of authors, this fully revised new edition builds on the strengths of its predecessor, examining in detail the subtleties of behavioral changes in patients with seizure disorders and offering both a diagnostic and a management perspective. New chapters cover genetic disorders, the effects of epilepsy on social behavior as viewed through theory of mind, a discussion of the precuneus, the importance and nature of peri-ictal psychiatric symptoms, depression and the interictal dysphoric disorder, and the relationship between antiepileptic drugs and suicide. This new edition is a must for anyone involved in diagnosing or managing epilepsy.
Contemporary Philosophy of Autism
This volume explores interesting and emerging philosophical questions related to autism. It sheds light on the ways in which cultural attitudes about autism have changed in the decade since the editors published their first volume on the philosophy of autism. So much about autism has changed in the last decade. Cultural attitudes about autism are far more nuanced. Self-identification as autistic has exploded, as have discussions of the political and social implications for being an out autistic person. This volume approaches a wide range of issues that autism raises in social and political theory, ethics, philosophy of social science, epistemology, metaphysics, and law. The issues addressed include moral responsibility, autism and gender, knowledge acquisition, the double empathy problem, social cognition, vulnerability in interpersonal communication, masking, the neurodiversity movement and destigmatization, and the effectiveness of ABA therapy. Each of the contributors, many of whom self-identify as autistic, has a personal connection with autism. Contemporary Philosophy of Autism will appeal to researchers and graduate students working in philosophy of mind, philosophy of cognitive science, epistemology, philosophy of medicine, and disability studies. It will appeal to those working in other academic fields such as developmental psychology, neuropsychology, cognitive psychology, and education.