Asperger's Conversations

What the world needs now: Validation?

I've blogged before about the differences between individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Neurotypicals with respect to response to reinforcement.  A mistaken notion, though, is that individuals with ASD's are indifferent to social reinforcement and praise... they may like it, but don't have the skills to produce it (you know, basic social stuff like make eye contact, smile at people, say reinforcing things to others).  The mistake caregivers and others may make, then, is to give up and stop delivering high levels of praise and other positives (who reinforces the reinforcer?).

My friend Andy Jacobs passed this one on to me from Amman, Jordan, where he heads up a big film program.  It's funny and instructive at the same time and reminds us all to keep up our high rates of reinforcement.

Light Dark, Interoceptive Conditioning, and Specific Phobias

Live Science recently published theTop Ten Phobias with "fear of the dark" being "number 6."  I've long wondered if there might be an "interoceptive conditioning" issue with people with fear of the dark.  It always seemed to me that persons with panic disorder feared the dark in greater numbers (as evidenced by high use of night lights).  Why would that be that people who experience panic attacks would be fearful of the dark???

The answer might lie in misinterpretation of internal physical sensations (or classically/pavlovian conditioned responses to certain physical sensations).  So, a person prone to panic sitting in a darkened room is more likely to focus on "internal sensations" (a beating heart, muscle twitches, changes in breathing) since there is nothing "outside of the body" (e.g., things to see) to focus on.  So, the panicker's focus turns inward, on those internal physical sensations that tend to automatically elicit anxiety and panic.  The panic patient notices a change in heart beat (internal physical sensation), then catastrophizes by thinking that some harm will befall him (a cognitive reaction), thereby leading to even greater heart rate (a physical reaction), then leading to full blown panic and escape (a behavioral reaction).

This leads to an entirely new conception of phobias...in which one must ask, "what is the person really afraid of?"...is it the dark and all the scary things that might happen?  I think not.  Instead, it may be the fear of unpleasant physical sensations which are conditioned elicitors of anxiety and panic.

Former Keene State College Student Dana Githmark on Peer Mentoring for Students with Asperger's

Walking to the Beat of a Different Reinforcer

Dan Pink's TED talk demonstrates the importance of questioning the universality of reinforcers.  He elaborates on Sam Glucksberg's studies that show that certain tasks are done better when the person is offered monetary incentives, while others (e.g., certain creative tasks) are not.  While Pink goes on to talk about "intrinsic" versus "extrinsic" rewards, I think a big point for those working with individuals on the Autism Spectrum is that these folks may find different types of stimuli reinforcing (thus the idea that "one person's reinforcer is another person's punisher). 

Think of "reinforcers" as being "increasers" and "punishers" as being "decreasers."  Many people I know with ASD's like different kind of stuff, such as working on math problems or statistical problems.  While more typical people may require reinforcement to attempt such tasks, people with ASD's may find those activities to be higher order reinforcers themselves.  Put simply, let some people work on, say complex statistical problems and forget about monetary incentives...they just love it.

When we assume "universality" of reinforcement types (e.g., money as a behavior increaser) we fall in to occasional traps and may, as Dan Pink rightly points out, inadvertantly do more harm than good.

Rethinking Mental Health: Competition for Ideas

Special thanks to Anisha who sent me a notice about a real cool idea arising from a partnership between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Ashoka (the promoter of social entrepreneurship):  A competition for new ideas about improving mental health, community by community (I might pass on an entry myself).  The deadline is October 14 so hit their website and get going.

College is Everywhere; Anywhere

Keene State College colleague Yi Gong moves out of the classroom (got wireless? got whiteboard?) to teach his students in the Dept. of Education.  And why not?  Profs who don't see that traditional chalk talk and talking heads (and overhead projectors) are relics of the past need to watch Yi in action.

Should we tweet, blog, blab...or hide in the woods?: My comments on WMUR

Talking to fellow bloggers never bothers me...but I always wonder what will happen when I speak to mainstream media.  Here I join Microsoft's Jon Udell and author/tweeter Leslie Poston on NH TV to talk about social media.  I haven't had a chance to talk to Jon or Leslie about the final product...what was the story about again?  You can decide...read the text or watch the video clip.

Gastroenterology and Psychology in Telluride Sept. 18-20

I'll be with Dan Rath, MD, Director of Gastroenterology at Dartmouth Hitchcock/Keene to talk about patient decision making in Colon Cancer, Celiac, and the connection between psychology and the gut next week in Telluride.  Even if you're in town just to have fun, connect with us at the Sheraton for informal discussion.  Follow the link and contact us to rendezvous.

Lessons from 9/11: My footage from all those short years ago

When the planes hit I was in Keene but my folks were just a few blocks from the Trade Center and they watched as the planes hit.  They were heading to breakfast at the World Financial Center, strolling from their NYU apartment at Washington Square Village, but that day would change my mother's life.  She developed an acute PTSD reaction that would linger for several years, and died several years later of lung cancer (though she was never a smoker) presumably from breast cancer that had migrated to the lungs (although no tests confirmed they were the same cells and even the radiological interventionist told me that they weren't the same...He said "There's some weird looking purple shit in your mother's lungs that I've never seen before."  Was this a consequence of all that asbestos and chemical laden smoked she breathed in?  I'll never know.

The video sits on a friend's server in Keene (so please be patient for loading time):

http://207.22.26.166/movies/9-11.mov

First They Did Harm: Psychologists Designing Torture

Today's Washington Post editorial sums it up well with regards to psychologists involvement in torture: First They Did Harm.  Here at Keene State College we house one of the largest collections on the Holocaust in Northern New England, our Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies.  The Center is a constant reminder of what we all need to remember:  That when faced with pressure to do awful, unlawful unspeakable acts on fellow human beings, people do have the power to prevent those acts by taking a stand and refusing to comply or participate.  I want my students in Psychology to know that as future professionals in this field remember that foremost, do no harm.