Psych 101- Autism

Disorder

disruption in cognition, Associated w/ distress/impaired functioning

-responses that are not typical/culturally expected

• Neurodevelopmental-neurodiversity

Difference in functioning not structure of brain

developmental-

occurs in childhood

Can continue through adulthood

Autism

-symptoms can emerge by 18 months

-can diagnose as early as 2 years old

Characteristics of autism

-difficulties with communication and interactions with people

-Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors

-Difficulties functioning across areas

The amount of people with autism has grown what are possible reasons?

-Increased awareness

-better ways to diagnose (clear criteria)

-more assessment = increased diagnosis

-tests including girls/women (women typically mask better so they are harder to diagnose)

now seen as a spectrum

-assortative mating {people choose people who are similar to them to have kids with, so many autistic people will have kids with other autistic people} (tech/stem fields)

Psychologist: Doctoral level degree (PhD)

PhD (Dr of Philosophy): academic (research/teaching) (professors across subjects earn PhDs)

Clinical Psychologists (PhD and /or PsyD)

PhD: focus: academics (can practice therapy, trains future psychologists)

PsyD (Doctorate of Psychology): focus: practice therapy (some do research/teach)

Both Long time commitment: minimum of 5 years (includes year- long internship

Therapist: (Masters level)

• Masters in Counseling/Clincal/Educational Psychology

• Other: Marital & Family Therapy; Music/Art therapies

• Masters in Social Work (MSW)

• Shorter (approximately 2 – 2.5 years), many different job opportunities

Medical degrees: (biological focus – prescribes medication)

• Psychiatrist: MD with additional training, doesn’t do psychotherapy

• Physician Assistant (PA) = 2 year program, works under Dr

• Nurse Practitioner (NP) = RN with 2 extra years training

Defining science ( 2 ways)

1. “systematic study of the structure & behavior of the physical & natural world through observation & experiment” (Oxford dictionary)

2. science: 1 way of answering questions about phenomena not the only way to derive answers:• religion – based on faith • philosophy – based on reason

b. answers questions using scientific method

c. science is a METHOD, not a belief system!

1) science is value - free

2) you can have a religious belief system AND be a scientist: based on different “realms”

3 characteristics of science

1. systematic empiricism (Science cannot answer questions if we cannot observe & measure phenomena being able to measure and observe phenomena and compare it to other observable phenomena)

2. public (scientist peer review each others )

   • information is shared and can be replicated (reproduced): want to make sure your findings are not “outliers”

3. solvable problems (questions can be answered by using measurements/tests that are currently available (might change over time as technology evolves)

systematic empiricism:

a. systematic: structured and methodical

b. empiricism: observation & measurement using the 5 senses

c. Science cannot answer questions if we cannot observe & measure phenomena

Ex: 1) question: “do humans have a soul?”

2) “soul” = construct – not physical entity, Cannot be seen or measured

3) religion offers explanation based on belief

science builds on previous findings = very rarely to find information that disputes all previous knowledge

Critical thinking: when considering info ask these questions

1) What is the source, and is the source credible?

2) What do reliable sources say about the information?

3) Has the information been scientifically evaluated, and what has been forund?

4) Do I have any cognitive bias that interfere with my ability to critically examine the information?

Cognitive Bias

Confirmation bias and Anecdotal evidence

• systematic error in thinking (happens when processing info, the brain’s attempt to simplify in making sense of the world)

Everyone does it

happens because the brain seeks patterns/ relationships/ colorations

confirmation bias:

we are more likely to pay attention to information that confirms our original belief (and disregard information that disconfirms that belief)

anecdotal evidence:

we give personal stories more weight than statistics

outlier: doesn’t reflect average/majority of other experiences (“my grandpa smoked all day for 50 years and he never developed lung cancer!”

What is autism?

1. A psychological disorder

• disruption in: cognitions, emotions, behaviors

• associated with: distress/impaired functioning

2. A Neurodevelopmental disorder

a. neuro = biological basis (difference in functioning (not structure) of brain)

• prenatal/early environment potentially could “turn on” genes to allow expression of disorder

b. developmental = occurs in childhood (continues through adulthood)

• symptoms can emerge by 18 month and can diagnose as early as 2 years

• symptoms must have been present in childhood, although person may not be diagnosed until adulthood

3. A spectrum disorder

• wide variation in type & severity of symptoms

• range from “high need for support” (non-verbal, intellectual disabilities) to “low need” (difficulties with social interaction)

4. Characterized by (must meet all 3 criteria):

a. Difficulties with communication and interaction with other people

b. Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors (“stimming”) 

c. Difficulties in daily functioning across areas (school, home, job, social)

Issues regarding Autism

1. Increase in rates of Autism

   • due to inc awareness and assessments, expanded to a spectrum, tests, diagnosis, and observations include women, assortative mating

Assortative mating

(people with autism marry each other, increasing probability that children will have autism)

Do childhood vaccines “cause” Autism?

no, there was a link between vaccines and autism but vaccines weren’t the cause of autism

• the real truth is that the age that kids were getting their vaccines is the age that kids also start showing signs of autism (between 18 months and 3 years)

Facilitated Communication

1. Facilitator “assists” client’s communication by holding arm, elbow or hand while child types on keyboard

• Theory: “intelligent mind imprisoned in bad bodies”

• If body is steadied, then client can express themselves through typing on keyboard

Doug Bickland

brought Facilitated Communication to America from Australia. he believed the problem was physical and not mental/intellectual

red flags of FC”: what should cause skepticism?

• Bickland: “everything we know about Autism is wrong”(remember, science builds on past findings)

• Some facilitators appeared to be actively guiding client’s hands to certain keys

• Some clients (children) did not look at keyboard while typing and were not engaged in the work

• clients had no/little regular classroom instruction, but were quickly doing “advanced” work: algebra, writing poetry, science

• Client’s communications were more sophisticated than expected for their actual age (correct spelling, grammar, deeper themes)

• doesn’t track developmentally: kids can’t do advanced math without learning basic math first, same for spelling, science, and other subjects

• When parents were “taught” to do FC, they could not achieve same results working with their children as the facilitators did

• When Bickland was challenged, he replied: Autism is “special” and follows different rules, Children had been exposed/immersed in “language rich” environments, even without prior classroom experiences

Why not just accept these findings?

other people were happy with the results (therapists, teachers, and parents) but they

• Could result in no longer seeking other treatments that would benefit children/clients, children weren’t really saying anything to their parents or family facilitator was making it up

The Case of Betsy Wheaton

Question: Who is the real author of these accusations?

Accusations: Betsy’s entire family was sexually assaulting her

Hypothesis: The client is the author of the communications

Alternate Hypothesis: The facilitator is actually the author

Tested with “double blind” test

Tested with “double blind” test ( Betsy)

• single blind: subjects do not know what condition they are in, but experimenter does know

• double blind: neither subjects or experimenters are aware of the condition

• Prevents experimenter bias

• Experimenter does not know which pictures Betsy and facilitator are seeing

  Researcher showed pictures to both Betsy and facilitator. Sometimes they saw the same picture, other times they saw different pictures

Results: every time: Betsy typed what the facilitator saw (If both saw picture of a hat, Betsy typed hat, If facilitator saw boat, and Betsy saw hat, Betsy typed boat)

Message Passing test:

• experimenter took Betsy out of room, put key in her hand

• experimenter returned key to pocket, then both returned to testing room

• Betsy was asked to type what she saw – could not type “key” (facilitator had not seen key)

• experimenter then showed both Betsy and facilitator the key, and Betsy typed “key”

Conclusion: Facilitator, not Betsy was authoring the communications

Cannot generalize (might be an outlier) - need for replication

because one test doesn’t prove all facilitators are wrong so he replicated the tests

• 180 trials with clients/facilitator pairings: every time the client typed what the facilitator saw

• provided evidence for Facilitated Control, not Facilitated communication!

Facilitators were devastated –did NOT know they were controlling the communication – it was unconscious

Why did Betsy’s facilitator allege sexual abuse?

1. Facilitator did not consciously know she was the author

2. She had just been trained about symptoms to look for if client has experienced sexual assault (SA)

   • Told: symptom was responding negatively to touch

   • Betsy unhappy, became aggressive during FC (which requires ongoing physical contact)

Alternative explanation: many with Autism do not like physical contact (overstimulating/unpleasant) so Facilitator misinterpreted Betsy’s behavior as symptom of SA

Context: 80s/90s: belief there was an epidemic of SA that women had experienced but “repressed” (and could not remember: repressed memory) – people looking carefully for signs of SA

Bickland’s response

• “doubled down” on defending FC

  • “facilitators not doing FC correctly”

  • “children can’t demonstrate abilities when they are being judged in a negative environment”

Bickland had significant investment in FC: reputation, career, income, fame