Neurodiversity - The Book

Autistic Individuals Show Strengths in Embedded Figures Task

While autistic individuals are known to suffer from deficits in social communication, it is less often recognized that they possess specific strengths in other areas.  One strength relates to their ability to see details.  In fact, they can pick out details in a more complex visual design better than so-called "neuro-typical (e.g. "normal") people (see examples at left).  In studies of the Embedded Figures Task, people with autism (and "normal" males) are faster and perform better than control subjects. In a sense, one can say that they have difficulty seeing the forest for the trees, but they are much better than average at seeing individual trees in the forest. 

Temple Grandin and the "Squeeze Machine"

Temple Grandin is probably the most famous autistic person living today.  Her life will be chronicled on an HBO special starting in February, 2010.  Among her many achievements is the development of a "squeeze machine."  Because of her autism, she resists the touch of others and doesn't like to be hugged.  But she craves the feeling of being held.  When she was eighteen, during a summer vacation, she saw a herd of cattle being passed through a squeeze chute (a mechanism used to keep cattle still while a veterinarian gives them their antibiotic shots).  "Watching those cattle calm down, I knew I needed a squeeze chute of my own,"  she wrote in her book Animals in Translation. When she returned home from vacation, she recruited a teacher at her high school to help her build her own squeeze chute. "I bought my own air compressor, and I used plywood boards for the V.  It worked beautifully.  Whenever I put myself inside my squeeze machine, I felt calmer. I still use it today." Grandin actually provides detailed instructions for building her "squeeze machine" on her website. It is also available ready-made from the Therafin Corporation.

Claire Danes to Play Autistic Expert on HBO

Starting on Feburary 6, 2010, HBO will lauch a new biopic starring Golden Globe award winner Claire Danes, based on the life of Temple Grandin, designer of livestock machinery, best-selling author, and autistic individual.  Grandin has punctured the stereotype of autism as a disorder locking a person into isolation from the rest of the world.  Instead, Grandin is articulate, inventive (she has designed roughly one third of the machinery used to manage animals in slaughterhouses around the country), and a strong supporter of neurodiversity, or the idea that autism and other mental disorders should be viewed as part of the natural diversity of the brain. Here is the trailor of the HBO show:

 

Professor Demonstrates the Inner World of Schizophrenia through Second Life

The Economist had an article in its September 28, 2006 issue that featured a California psychiatry professor who used the Internet to demonstrate the inner experience of schizophrenia:

"Peter Yellowlees, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Davis, has been teaching about schizophrenia for 20 years, but says that he was never really able to explain to his students just how their patients suffer. So he went online, downloaded some free software and entered Second Life...

Mr. Yellowlees created hallucinations. A resident might walk through a virtual hospital ward, and a picture on the wall would suddenly flash the word "shitface". The floor might fall away, leaving the person to walk on stepping stones above the clouds. An in-world television set would change from showing an actual speech by Bob Hawke, Australia's former prime minister, into Mr Hawke shouting, "Go and kill yourself, you wretch!" A reflection in a mirror might have bleeding eyes and die."

Experiences like this one can help quash preconceptions of schizophrenia as due to "split personality," and assist in creating a sense of empathy for the daily dilemmas faced by many people with schizophrenia.

What Causes Schizophrenia? The American Journal of Psychiatry Provides an Answer

I just read an interesting editorial in the current issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry on schizophrenia.  In particular this paragraph intrigued me:

"What causes schizophrenia? The short answer may be "nothing" or more precisely "no one thing." In most cases, schizophrenia is an end result of a complex interaction between thousands of genes and multiple environmental risk factors—none of which on their own causes schizophrenia. Daniel Weinberger, in his classic paper on brain development and schizophrenia , entertained the "unlikely" possibility that schizophrenia is "not the result of a discrete event or illness process at all, but rather one end of the developmental spectrum that for genetic and/or other reasons 0.5% of the population will fall into." Over 20 years later, this unlikely scenario is looking more realistic. Schizophrenia is increasingly considered a subtle neurodevelopmental disorder of brain connectivity, of how the functional circuits in our brains are wired. Schizophrenia may in fact be the tail end of a distribution of how the estimated 20 billion neurons and their trillions of synaptic connections in our brains are generated, eliminated, and maintained. Schizophrenia may be the uniquely human price we pay as a species for the complexity of our brain; in the end, more or less by genetic and environmental chance, some of us get wired for psychosis."

What strikes me is the characterization of schizophrenia as part of a developmental spectrum.  We've heard about the autistic spectrum, but very little about the schizophrenia spectrum.  In my book, Neurodiversity, I suggest that many neurodiverse conditions, including ADHD, dyslexia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and intellectual disabilities, form part of the continua for attention, literacy, mood, anxiety, and intelligence, respectively.  This is an important point, because it suggests that each one of us is somewhere on each of these spectra, and thus, in a way, linked to those whom we mistakenly believe are suffering from discrete "disorders" or "illnesses."

People With Schizophrenia Fare Better in Developing Cultures

International studies conducted by the World Health Organization over the past three decades, have concluded that people with schizophrenia fare better over time in developing countries compared with industrialized nations.  In the current issue of The New York Times Magazine, writer Ethan Watters has an article entitled The Americanization of Mental Illness, wherein he provides some interesting cross-cultural evidence of why this might be the case: 

"...the anthropologist Juli McGruder from the University of Puget Sound spent years in Zanzibar studying families of schizophrenics. Though the population is predominantly Muslim, Swahili spirit-possession beliefs are still prevalent in the archipelago and commonly evoked to explain the actions of anyone violating social norms — from a sister lashing out at her brother to someone beset by psychotic delusions.

"McGruder found that far from being stigmatizing, these beliefs served certain useful functions. The beliefs prescribed a variety of socially accepted interventions and ministrations that kept the ill person bound to the family and kinship group. “Muslim and Swahili spirits are not exorcised in the Christian sense of casting out demons,” McGruder determined. “Rather they are coaxed with food and goods, feted with song and dance. They are placated, settled, reduced in malfeasance.” McGruder saw this approach in many small acts of kindness. She watched family members use saffron paste to write phrases from the Koran on the rims of drinking bowls so the ill person could literally imbibe the holy words. The spirit-possession beliefs had other unexpected benefits. Critically, the story allowed the person with schizophrenia a cleaner bill of health when the illness went into remission. An ill individual enjoying a time of relative mental health could, at least temporarily, retake his or her responsibilities in the kinship group. Since the illness was seen as the work of outside forces, it was understood as an affliction for the sufferer but not as an identity."

It's interesting to speculate about how these cultural practices influence the brain.  In our fragmented Western culture, it seems that the best we can do for the schizophrenic brain is to provide psychoactive medications.  Yet these other cross-cultural approaches seem to be more powerful in directing the course of the illness along favorable lines.  Western rational scientists would perhaps call this "the placebo effect. "  There's a kind of quiet denigration implied here.  What it really is, is the organization of the entire culture (into a massive cultural placebo if you will), that serves to provide the positive context for healing.   Unfortunately, we can't do controlled studies that have two matched groups of individuals with schizophrenia, one in an industrialized country, and the other in a developing country, because, as Watters points out in his article and his book Crazy Like Us, the Western model of mental illness has been exported to developing countries, and such a study would be skewed toward the Western rational viewpoint.  The individuals in the developing countries cohort would still be viewed by western scientists through the lens of  modern psychiatry. 

A “cure” for Down syndrome? — Reader feedback: Contrarian

In response to news reports that it may be possible in the future to "cure" Down syndrome by intervening early in development using psychoactive medication, Jenn Power, the mother of identical twins with Down syndrome, responded on the blog Contrarian:

"As you know, I have many years of history supporting people with intellectual disabilities. Through my connections with these remarkable people, both personal and professional, I have become more and more convinced of the fundamental human dignity present in each person, the vital importance of diversity among the human race, and the particular and irreplaceable role that folks with intellectual disabilities play in creating a more humane, compassionate, and hospitable society. It is clear to me that, as a society, we need what people with intellectual disabilities have to offer."

via contrarian.ca

Yoga Used to Treat U.S. Soldiers Who Have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Since 2006, Walter Reed Medical Center has been treating soldiers diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) using a healing practice employed in ancient India:  yoga.  Consisting of a series of physical postures, breathing techniques, and relaxation strategies, yoga is seen as instrumental in helping to calm down the autonomic nervous system, or "fight or flight" brain, that has been overly stimulated by traumas due to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. PTSD symptoms include upsetting memories, flashbacks, nightmares, and intense feelings and sensations when reminded of the trauma. "Yoga is a different way of getting in and trying to address these symptoms," said one soldier with PTSD who benefitted from yoga treatment. "Yoga can teach soldiers very concrete relaxation strategies. It's grounded in many of the same principles that therapy is grounded in."

AMC Movie Series Provides Autism-Friendly Environment

AMC Entertainment is teaming up with the Autism Society to create movie experiences on a monthly basis that are autism-friendly.  AMC movie auditoriums will bring the lights up and turn the sound down to accommodate those who are sensitive to sensory input.  There are no previews or advertisements, and families are allowed to bring in gluten-free, casein-free snacks.  Also, audience members are welcome to get up and dance, walk, shout, or sing.  For a list (and map)  of movie theaters cooperating in these Sensory Friendly Films, go to the website of the Autism Society.  

The Adolescent and Adult Neuro-Diversity Handbook

 [Product Description from Amazon.com].   "Increasing numbers of adults are realising that they have been living with an undiagnosed developmental condition, yet most information and support focuses on children. This leaves many adults confused and in the dark. "The Adolescent and Adult Neuro-Diversity Handbook" is a handy first-reference point guide to the full range of developmental conditions as they affect adolescents and adults. Each chapter focuses on a different condition, describing its history, causes and characteristics, its implications for the individual, diagnosis and assessment, treatments and approaches, and strategies for providing support and self-support. A wide range of conditions are covered, including Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD, OCD, Tourette's and Anxiety Disorders. "The Adolescent and Adult Neuro-Diversity Handbook" is an invaluable resource for health and social care practitioners, as well as for individuals who feel that they may be living with an undiagnosed developmental condition."

New Thought Controlled Game Helps Kids with ADHD

Scientists in the United Kingdom have demonstrated the effectiveness of a new computer game (called Play Attention) that helps children with ADHD control their impulsivity.   The child wears a device that looks very much like a bike helmet (see illustration), which picks up the child's brain waves using electroencephalography (EEG).  As long as the child is producing brain waves that are associated with attention, he controls the action of the computer game, but if he stops concentrating, the game stops.  In a controlled study, children with ADHD who played the game three times a week for 12 weeks had significantly lower impulsivity than a similar group that did not use the system.  The system is produced by a non-profit public interest company called Games for Life.

A Mind Apart: Travels in a Neurodiverse World [Book]

Product Description from Amazon:  This beautifully written exploration of "the unusual abilities of those who are differently wired" (Psychology Today) received a Ken Book Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness for outstanding literary contribution to the world of mental health.

In this fascinating literary memoir, Susanne Antonetta draws on her personal experience as a manic-depressive, as well as interviews with people with multiple personality disorder, autism, and other neurological conditions, to form an intimate meditation on mental "disease." She traces the many capabilities-the visual consciousness of an autistic, for example, or the metaphoric consciousness of a manic-depressive-that underlie these and other mental "disabilities."

A stunning portrait of how the world shapes itself in minds that are profoundly different from the norm, A Mind Apart urges readers to look beyond the concept of cures to the gifts inherent in many neuroatypical conditions. Employing a wide-ranging approach to her subject, Antonetta provides a rare glimpse into the wildly varying landscapes of human thought, perception, and emotion

Neurodiversity in Higher Education [Book]

From the back cover:   Neurodiversity in Higher Education: Positive Responses to Specific Learning Differences brings together the expertise of a powerful group of authoritative writers, offering an explanation of how psychologists identify a range of specific learning differences in students. It provides detailed information about the most common types of neurodiversity, and explores them in relation to relevant legislation, institutional policy and the overall learning and teaching implications. It also investigates the most effective computer hardware and programs used by students to help them access the curriculum. This book strikes a coherent balance between theoretical and practical aspects of neurodiversity, identifying the key issues and forecasting future trends. The case studies featured throughout are designed to have a broad international appeal.

UC Davis Researchers Find California Autism Clusters, Los Angeles Times

"UC Davis researchers searching for autism clusters in hopes of finding an environmental cause for the disorder have identified 10 clusters around the state, but the source of the clusters is not exactly what they expected. The clusters, including five in metropolitan Los Angeles and one in San Diego, are centered on regional developmental services centers in areas with highly educated parents, primarily Caucasians, with high incomes. In short, what they found were clusters of increased diagnostic rates for autism. In one respect, the results were not surprising because it has long been known that high-income, highly educated white parents are more likely to have their children diagnosed with autism and more likely to have them diagnosed at an early age."  Read the entire article.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

My Note: Another great example of how disabilities intertwine with social factors like race, education, gender etc.

Who Are You Calling Crazy? Book Review [The Nation Online]

By Melissa Harris-Lacewell. 

"Americans have an interesting history of conflating our political disagreements with diagnosis of mental illness. In a terrific new book, psychiatrist and historian Jonathan Metzl tells one of these fascinating stories. Metzl's book, The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease is exceptional and unexpected.

The text's central argument is that mental illness is not solely (or even primarily) a biological or medical reality; it is largely a social construct. Madness is often diagnosed in those who do not conform to social norms, especially norms governed by identities like race, gender, and class."

via www.thenation.com

Special Olympics Swimmer Andrew Smilley Tops in Open Water

[Cayman Islands, Cay Compass Online - January 4, 2010] "Special Olympics swimmer Andrew Smilley has notched another amazing milestone in his young life by topping an online poll for braving the cold and placing highly in an open water swim last year in San Francisco.

Among an extraordinarily impressive field of outstanding open water swimming heroes, the San Francisco Bay swim of Smilley just out–voted the world record setting relay team of Camlough, Ireland as the 2009 Greatest Open Water Swim of the Year.

Out of 9,133 votes cast by fans around the globe, 2,086 individuals voted for Andrew and 2,003 voted for the Camlough team.

Cayman’s Smilley, 19, placed 107th in a field of 800 swimmers in the RCP Tiburon Mile where the Special Olympics ace also placed third in the 19–29 age in the non–wetsuit division in the San Francisco Bay in his first ever cold–water experience.

Special Olympics CEO and Chairman Tim Shriver said: 'Far too often, our athletes, athletes with intellectual disabilities, are viewed for what they can’t do. But Andrew Smilley is showing the world what he can do and we congratulate his effort for being selected as the Greatest Open Water Swim of 2009.

'Andrew’s performance in the RCP Tiburon Mile is just one example of how Special Olympics athletes are accomplishing great things that many just dream to achieve.'"

via www.caycompass.com

Dan Agin: A New Review: How Your Early Environment Shaped You

"To twist an old quip: Theories come and theories go, the environment remains. The first half of the 20th century was a big bang for the idea that every child was born a blank slate to be shaped by family and social environments. During the second half of the 20th century, the obtuse pendulum of fashion swung in the other direction, until everyone, down to every newspaper editor and science writer, shouted at the public that no, it's not environment but genes and heredity that shaped people. Now the pendulum is swinging the other way (yes, I wrote a book about it), but it may take certain media science pundits another decade before they realize the goose is running away from them at high speed."  Read the entire article.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

My own take on this article is that it helps modify the current belief that genes are everything, but I would argue that genes are something, and that they create the matrix within which environmental influences play out.  A person may be born with a genetic susceptibility to stress-related illnesses such as mood disorders or anxiety disorders, say, but the provision of positive environmental influences, especially during the early years, can tweak  gene expressions to avoid these illnesses in later life.  In the end, its the particular dance between genes and environment that gives us health or disorder.  Ultimately, I think an individual's neurodiversity comes about as a result of nature AND nuture.    

Media dis&dat: New book in 2010 to explore neurodiversity

Monday, January 4, 2010

New book in 2010 to explore neurodiversity

From the description of Neurodiversity: Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and Other Brain Differences at Amazon.com. The author, Dr. Thomas Armstrong, has a blog on Neurodiversity - the book, where you can find out more about his writings. The book is scheduled for release May 2010.

A new term has emerged from the disability movement in the past decade to help change the way we think about neurological disorders: Neurodiversity.

ADHD. Dyslexia. Autism. The number of categories of illnesses listed by the American Psychiatric Association has tripled in the past fifty years. With so many people affected by our growing “culture of disabilities,” it no longer makes sense to hold on to the deficit-ridden idea of neuropsychological illness.

With the sensibility of Oliver Sacks and Kay Redfield Jamison, psychologist Thomas Armstrong offers a revolutionary perspective that reframes many neuropsychological disorders as part of the natural diversity of the human brain rather than as definitive illnesses. Neurodiversity emphasizes their positive dimensions, showing how people with ADHD, bipolar disorder, and other conditions have inherent evolutionary advantages that, matched with the appropriate environment or ecological niche, can help them achieve dignity and wholeness in their lives.

via media-dis-n-dat.blogspot.com

Just noticed this announcement of my book at Media dis&dat.  Here's the link.

Experts ponder link between creativity, mood disorders - CNN.com

#CNN# --"The works of David Foster Wallace, who committed suicide September 12, are famous for their obsessively observed detail and emotional nuance.

David Foster Wallace reportedly battled depression for 20 years.

Certain characteristics of his prose -- hypersensitivity and constant rumination, or persistent contemplation -- reflect a pattern of temperament that some psychology researchers say connects mental illness, especially bipolar disorder and depression, with creativity.

There have been more than 20 studies that suggest an increased rate of bipolar and depressive illnesses in highly creative people, says Kay Redfield Jamison, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and author of the "An Unquiet Mind," a memoir of living with bipolar disorder.

Experts say mental illness does not necessarily cause creativity, nor does creativity necessarily contribute to mental illness, but a certain ruminating personality type may contribute to both mental health issues and art.

'Unquestionably, I think a major link is to the underlying temperaments of both bipolar illness and depression, of reflectiveness and so forth,' Jamison said."

via www.cnn.com

This piece appeared in an April 2, 2009 CNNHealth.com post. Read the entire article.

Children of Bipolar Parents Score Higher on Creativity Test

Researchers at Stanford Medical School have demonstrated that children of bipolar parents score higher on a non-verbal creativity test than children of "healthy" parents.  The study compared creativity scores of 40 bipolar parents and 40 offspring (half of whom had bipolar disorder and the other half of whom had ADHD), with 18 healthy adults and 18 healthy offspring.  The test used was the Barron-Welsh Art Scale (BWAS), an assessment that asks test-takers to determine whether they "like" or "dislike" specific pictures (see examples from the BWAS at left).   Generally speaking, creative individuals dislike simple and symmetrical pictures.  Researchers discovered that bipolar parents had 120% higher dislike scores than healthy parents, and the children with bipolar and ADHD had, respectively 107% and 91% higher BWAS dislike scores than healthy children.   "I think it's fascinating," said Kiki Chang, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and co-author of the paper. "There is a reason that many people who have bipolar disorder become very successful, and these findings address the positive aspects of having this illness." 

I'd like to hear from readers as to whether you think there is a link between creativity and bipolar disorder.     

Trying to Figure Out the Neurodiversity Movement

Here's a post on neurodiversity from the blog Life as the Mother of 4 that  I'd like to share with my readers. 

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Great Divide: Trying to figure out the Neurodiversity Movement

Thomas Armstrong in his essay Special Education and the Concept of Neurodiversity states that the “basic premise [of neurodiversity] is that atypical neurological wiring is part of the normal spectrum of human differences and is to be tolerated and respected like any other human difference such as race, gender, sexual preference, or cultural background.”

He goes on to say, “Consider the issue of inclusion in education. Regular classroom teachers are far more likely to want a "rare and beautiful flower" or "an interesting and strange orchid" included in their classroom than a "broken" or "damaged" child. The use of ecological metaphors suggests an approach to teaching as well. Individual species of flowers have specific environmental needs regarding sun, water, soil conditions, and so forth. Similarly, neurodiverse children will be seen as having their own differing ecological thriving factors, and it will be a key role for a neurodiversity specialist to understand each child's unique needs for optimal growth. The goal will not be to try and "cure" "fix" "repair" "remediate" or even "ameliorate" a child's "disability." In this old model, such kids are made either to approximate the norm (especially for national accountability tests), or helped to cope with their disabilities as best they can (the phrase "she can learn to have a successful and productive life despite her disability" comes to mind here).”

Woman with Down Syndrome Graduates from College

Katie Apostolides, who has Down Syndrome, graduated in 2009 from Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pennsylvania with an associate's degree in science.  This makes her one of the first (if not the first) individuals with Down Syndrome to complete a post-secondary degree.  She has had a number of news articles follow her academic progress, including one in the New York Times,which noted that "she is at the forefront of a wave of cognitively challenged students who are demanding, and gaining, a place on campus nationwide." The article noted that there are over 100 programs nationwide that place cognitively impaired students in post-secondary classrooms and dormitories (note, however, that students with intellectual disabilities still find it difficult to be accepted in residential programs - see, for example the story of one cognitively impaired student who was denied the right to live in a dormitory at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, as a result of a judge's court order).  I'd be interested in hearing of other students with intellectual disabilities who are engaged in post-secondary programs, and/or about to graduate from them.  Stories like Katie's serve as a wake-up call for those who place arbitrary limits on what people with Down Syndrome and other intellectual disabilities can achieve.  It also serves as an inspirational model for all of us concerning what can happen when a person with a cognitive disability refuses to be limited by other people's expectations.

Computer Firm in Denmark Sees Autism As An Asset

A software company in Denmark has created a positive reputation in the industry by hiring people with autistic spectrum disorders because of their special skills.  Seventy-five  percent of the workers at Specialisterne have autism and related conditions.  They specialize in testing computer software and spotting "bugs" that software developers might have missed.  It turns out that their excellent computer skills, their tendency towards exactitude, and their aptitude for intense concentration on highly detailed systems, are all tailor-made for this job.  Most software firms are good at innovation and problem-solving, but they often come up short when actually testing their products for bugs.  This is where Specialisterne (the word means "the specialists") comes in.  Founded in 2004 by entrepreneur Thornkil Sonne, Specialisterne fills in a much needed gap in the computer industry.  Sonne notes, "My staff are motivated all the time.  Our fault rate was 0.5 percent, compared with five percent from other testers.  That's an improvement by a factor of 10, which is why we can charge market rates.  This is not cheap labour and it's not occupational thearpy.  We simply do a better job."   For additional information about this firm, see a recent MSNBC story, an article in the Independent(United Kingdom),a case study from Harvard Business School, and the Specialiststerne web site.

Mention of Neurodiversity Book in Irish Times

I just happened to notice a mention of my forthcoming book Neurodiversity:  Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Brain Differences in the Irish Times. 

"In Neurodiversity: Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and Other Brain Differences (Perseus, May), Thomas Armstrong offers a radical perspective which sees many neuropsychological disorders as part of the natural diversity of the human brain."

Here's the link

Anxious Young People Have Fewer Fatal Accidents

Anxiety can be a crippling disorder.  But in the right quantity at the right time, it can save your life.  A study by William Lee and his colleagues at the Institute for Psychiatry in London in the journal Psychological Medicine, using data from a national British survey of health outcomes, discovered that those individuals who had higher anxiety, as measured in adolescence by teachers and the kids themselves, were significantly less likely to die in accidents before they were 25.  “Our results suggest there are survival benefits of increased trait anxiety in early adult life, but these may be balanced by corresponding survival deficits in later life associated with medical problems”,the researchers said.

Special Education and the Concept of Neurodiversity

  The history of special education in the United States is a dramatic one. Without going into the whole legislative history, suffice it to say that during the 1970's, due in large part to increasing scientific involvement in special needs issues as well as concerted parent advocacy efforts during the 1960's and 1970's, public schools underwent a sea change in providing services for kids with special needs. [1] I was a child of that "wave" when I started working as a learning disability specialist in 1976. Since that time, research in genetics, the brain, human learning and related fields has increased exponentially, bringing in its wake an even greater awareness of the needs of children who have previously been unserved or underserved in special education programs.