Autism research talk notes
May. 27th, 2022 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flamingswordIntense World Theory - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010743/ (Markram & Markram 2010)
There is a part of mammalian brains that is supposed to pick which stimuli deserve attention. Due to a difference in both the information gathering systems and how this part of the autistic human brain functions, the world is likely to be painfully intense for autists.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a constellation of behaviors plus their root in neurological and psychological differences, but at its most basic, these behaviors can be interpreted as a way to limit and control stimuli.
The fear centers and local neuronal networks of rats with induced autistic-type behaviors were found to be hyper-reactive, as well as exhibiting hyper-plasticity. This likely gives rise to runaway cognitive processes that can cause overwhelming emotions, specializations and intense focus and attention as well as having effects on memory and perception.
When the world is overwhelming, even NT people adopt strategies to limit information intake, like needing dim lighting and quiet environments for people with headaches. Autistic people are not "picky and controlling" about their environments for no reason - we're overstimulated and painfully sensitive. A great many autistic behaviors make sense if this theory is applied.
⬆️ If I could only offer non-autistic academics one thing to read about autism, this would be it. It explains a lot more than it doesn't about the neuro-biological basis for autism, as well as predicting the higher rates of PTSD and the higher stress response as measured by cortisol which were only found years later. [Author's Note: It is a seminal work in the field, having been cited at least 142 times, and if anyone wants me to break down what it says into layman's English, I will do so here on my journal as well.]
Association of autistic traits in adulthood with childhood abuse, interpersonal victimization, and posttraumatic stress (Roberts et al. 2015) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4784091/ (if you're reading between the lines on this you get:)
The cycle of trauma
1. Behavioral and communication differences create the possibility for misunderstandings and social friction to arise.
2. Those problems are often used as an excuse to do something traumatizing to the autistic person.
3. Traumatized autistic people experience trauma more intensely than neurotypical peers and thus are at higher risk for PTSD, and thus develop even more behavioral differences from neurotypical people in response to that trauma.
4. Peers, institutions, and caregivers blame/neglect/reject/bully the autistic person further, causing more trauma.
5. Process repeats.
Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Experience of Traumatic Events: Review of the Current Literature to Inform Modifications to a Treatment Model for Children with Autism - https://www.sci-hub.st/10.1007/s10803-018-3854-9 (Stack et al. 2018)
Lots of assumptions! And some are potentially harmful ones! This is the ranting portion of the talk.
The willingness of researchers to say that therapeutic interventions helped based on reports from persons other than the affected autist is baffling. The autistic kids reported that the therapies did not make them feel better, but scientists were coming up with reasons to listen to NT parents on why their kid appearing more compliant with social norms is beneficial to the child. Way to use therapy to manipulate autistic kids into using their mental resources toward masking their autistic traits, there, folks. (Weiss et al. 2018)
Applied Behavioral Analysis-tainted research and reviews that speak of all autists as though we are badly-behaved children who need to be taught obedience instead of self determination. (Petersen et al. 2019)
Saying that therapists should not practice exposure therapy "when contraindicated” because of the risk of re-traumatization (Cohen et al. 2010), but not acknowledging that the signs of this may not look the same in autistic children. No accounting is made for this possible variance in the literature reviews, even though they admit they are discussing things which could re-traumatize autistic children! [Author's note: I cannot with this bullshit. Cannot!] (Stack & Lucyshyn 2018)
Okay, folks, I think that's what's going to be my notes for this talk. Is there anything that doesn't make sense or that you have questions about that I should expand on? Should I talk about the Broad Autism Phenotype? I feel like that should be a thing that more people should know about, even though it doesn't have as many implications on trauma and PTSD risk ... that I know of.
And if you do the Facebook thing, the salon I'm giving the talk with is going to be on Facebook Live @: https://www.facebook.com/events/689117575693839/ tomorrow/Saturday 3PM 'til maybe 5PM Central Daylight Time.
⬆️ If I could only offer non-autistic academics one thing to read about autism, this would be it. It explains a lot more than it doesn't about the neuro-biological basis for autism, as well as predicting the higher rates of PTSD and the higher stress response as measured by cortisol which were only found years later. [Author's Note: It is a seminal work in the field, having been cited at least 142 times, and if anyone wants me to break down what it says into layman's English, I will do so here on my journal as well.]
Association of autistic traits in adulthood with childhood abuse, interpersonal victimization, and posttraumatic stress (Roberts et al. 2015) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4784091/ (if you're reading between the lines on this you get:)
The cycle of trauma
1. Behavioral and communication differences create the possibility for misunderstandings and social friction to arise.
2. Those problems are often used as an excuse to do something traumatizing to the autistic person.
3. Traumatized autistic people experience trauma more intensely than neurotypical peers and thus are at higher risk for PTSD, and thus develop even more behavioral differences from neurotypical people in response to that trauma.
4. Peers, institutions, and caregivers blame/neglect/reject/bully the autistic person further, causing more trauma.
5. Process repeats.
Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Experience of Traumatic Events: Review of the Current Literature to Inform Modifications to a Treatment Model for Children with Autism - https://www.sci-hub.st/10.1007/s10803-018-3854-9 (Stack et al. 2018)
Lots of assumptions! And some are potentially harmful ones! This is the ranting portion of the talk.
Okay, folks, I think that's what's going to be my notes for this talk. Is there anything that doesn't make sense or that you have questions about that I should expand on? Should I talk about the Broad Autism Phenotype? I feel like that should be a thing that more people should know about, even though it doesn't have as many implications on trauma and PTSD risk ... that I know of.
And if you do the Facebook thing, the salon I'm giving the talk with is going to be on Facebook Live @: https://www.facebook.com/events/689117575693839/ tomorrow/Saturday 3PM 'til maybe 5PM Central Daylight Time.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-28 02:17 am (UTC)I would like to read about the Broad Autism Phenotype, yes.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-28 05:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-05-28 02:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-05-28 04:23 pm (UTC)I don’t know if I need to explain masking and ABA, which means I probably do.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-04 12:23 am (UTC)(Sidebar: I feel like when I am gender dysphoric to the point of being non-functional, the experience sounds eerily similar to autism sensory overload. That's what got me investigating autism supports as something that could help me with transition too, and so far it has.)
no subject
Date: 2022-06-04 05:00 pm (UTC)Have you ever taken one of the tests that measure autistic traits to see if it's more than just information and sensory overload? Here's the one I usually recommend: https://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php because it explains things very well in the results section, as well as being thorough but not as laborious as others. It does take ten-15 minutes for me to do, so it is a bit of a time investment, but if you want to figure out if/where you are on the spectrum and a good way of thinking about this stuff, I recommend it.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-05 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-06 12:32 pm (UTC)I have noticed, in my personal life, that about a third of the trans people I know are autistic or ADHD, so the Force is strong with us because that’s way higher than the general population. We may be the specialest snowflakes, but we make a hell of an avalanche.