lANCET: Management of autism in France: “a huge job to be done” [psychoanalysis]

[barbc56]

At times I worked with autistic students throughout my career and the article cited which states that sometimes it would take 10 times before this child would learn a skill is a gross understatement. How about all day, all week, etc.. This was not done in the school setting but several parents did do this at the time at great expense. It's exhausting and It just didn't work. Fortunately, this "therapy" was on it's way out when I started working.

Anyone remember pattering for children with disabilities? This also failed but before my time working. Neuroplasticity, on the whole is very overrated.

Behaviorism might work for dogs and sometimes young children, think stars on a chart. But it doesn't always transfer to other skills, only works in the short term and certainly not to the extent promoted by the ABA.

Don't get me started!

ETA

@Luther Blissett
When I first learned about ABA, it was all about positive reinforcement. Though I don't find it surprsing that aversion therapy was used when first introduced for ABA as well as many other behavior "therapies".

 

[Valentijn]

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, a psychologist at Cambridge University and one of Britain’s leading experts on the condition, said recently: ‘People with autism are just like anyone else and can be capable of learning.
‘This can change the nature of their brains — because when any child learns, this process must make changes in their brain.’

Maybe he's trying (unsuccessfully) to be a comedian, like his cousin Sacha Baron-Cohen

 

[Luther Blissett]

Behaviorism might work for dogs and sometimes young children, think stars on a chart. But it doesn't always transfer to other skills, only works in the short term and certainly not to the extent promoted by the ABA.

Don't get me started!

ETA

@Luther Blissett
When I first learned about ABA, it was all about positive reinforcement. Though I don't find it surprsing that aversion therapy was used when first introduced for ABA as well as many other behavior "therapies".

From Michelle Dawson, an Autism Rights Movement campaigner,

"These ethical and human rights aspects of autism-ABA haven't been addressed, and autistics have been excluded from all committees, panels, boards, etc., charged with developing, directing, and assessing ABA research and treatment programs. Behaviourists are free to act unimpeded on their assumption that autistic behaviours--for example, the way we move and play--because they fail to be like non-autistic behaviours, are useless and worthless. ASAT's information library approvingly reports elaborate behaviour interventions designed to remove autistic behaviours. For instance, the whole ABA repertoire is deployed to prevent an autistic from flapping his hands while he is alone. This article admits that autistic behaviours stubbornly persist even when the autistic is unsupervised. When I told Dr Sallows that I flapped my hands I immediately had to reassure him that I did not do this in public. Then I pointed out that different kinds of people, so long as they're not autistic, are allowed to behave according to their differences in public. But you're not allowed to run down the street with a gun, Dr Sallows said. You are when you're the police, I said, and added that blind people, for example, can wave white canes around or take dogs into restaurants. Dr Sallows replied, but they're blind."

http://www.sentex.net/~nexus23/naa_aba.html THE MISBEHAVIOUR OF BEHAVIOURISTS
Ethical Challenges to the Autism-ABA Industry.

One of the most frustrating documents I've ever read.

There is an disturbing pattern of the powerful trying to turn Autistic people into 'Normals' in all this.

 

[leela]

I'm late to this thread but omg Crocodile Lady!! I thought we collectively left the "refrigerator mothers" theory behind decades ago.
Purée de merde.

 

[barbc56]

@Luther Blissett

Thanks. Very informative but certainly an unfortunate situation in your country. I will definitely read the article, hopefully soon!

As an aside, a friend's son is a therapist in New York city. Not a psychoanalytic therapist. I left a message on facebook asking him if this is still practiced and is it taught at any Universities.

My understanding is the only place you can get psychoanalysis is in New York City, but that may be incorrect.

Again, thanks!