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Right Peeps, this squirrel is shagged! So off to bed to read some more on ASD .

Shout out to @VulcanTourist , you can come out now , peace brother! 🫶

Shout out to the overnight peeps too, have a great day you lot 😁

#GoodNight, sleep tight & remember bedbugs love a cuddle at night 😜

😊🫶🐿️🖖

@MaJ1

@dramypsyd

Have you heard of this excellent theory/paper?

"The Intense World Theory – a unifying theory of the
neurobiology of autism
Kamila Markram* and Henry Markram
Laboratory of Neural Microcircuits, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland"

(2010).

I got this recommended by a researcher in Scotland who has several family members with ADHD or autism.

frontiersin.org/articles/10.33

@VulcanTourist

@HistoPol @MaJ1

spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewp

Read about just exactly how they reached those conclusions. TL;DR: it's a stretch, to say the least. It confirms biases for a lot of people, though, which is why it's so appealing.

Spectrum | Autism Research News · Intense world theory raises intense worriesBy Anna Remington

@VulcanTourist @HistoPol @MaJ1

Hi, I'll be interested to here anything you have to say about Intense World Theory, but I think the opinion piece you just linked to is very weak & doesn't actually engage with IWT but a straw man.

(I can give my reasoning later if I remember, but if I tried to get into it now I'd be late for attending a theatre performance. 😬 )

@VulcanTourist @HistoPol @MaJ1

IWT of autism boils down to neural functional groupings being (relatively) over/ under connected leading to processing variations eg being hyper/hypo-reactive to a stimulus.

As the brain is highly plastic, the hyper reactivity itself reinforces the uneven (spiky) cognitive profile (think feedback loops/creating a rut).

Remington complains IWT ignores the hypo side, but IWT talks a lot about cognition being fragmented with parts being shut down/gated/isolated.

@VulcanTourist @HistoPol @MaJ1

The IWT authors speculate that autistic kids may develop in a more balanced way in an environment that avoids sensory extremes/shocks that may overwhelm their hyper reactive neurology.

It doesn't suggest neglecting kids or sensory deprivation as Remington fears, but, during early learning, introducing new things cautiously looking for signs of distress i.e learning at the child's pace rather than forcing them to cope with what the average child usually likes.

@VulcanTourist @HistoPol @MaJ1

Paying attention to your unique child's specific needs rather than taking the ABS route of forcing them to conform doesn't seem too dangerous to me.

The IWT authors speculate there are developmental windows where avoiding overload is especially important. Remington doesn't like this because parents who've missed the window might feel bad - but that's hardly an argument about the validity of the claim.

Ditto to whether or not the IWT is 100% +ive about Autism.

HistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴

@FrightenedRat

"ABS route of forcing them to conform"--You are saying that the standard method of including children with autism spectrum disorders in class is to make them do things like any of the others, despite their neurodivergence?!?

"Remington doesn't like this because parents who've missed the window might feel bad"--ludicrous, in fact

"Ditto to whether or not the IWT is 100% +ive about Autism." Could you rephrase this, please?

@VulcanTourist @MaJ1

@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1

If an autistic kid finds something "normal" upsetting eg change or eye contact, an instinct of care givers can be to toughen them up by repeatedly exposing them to the situation so they can "get used to it".

While we CAN get used to things we find tough, if not done sensitively at our own pace & with consent the trauma can be counter productive.

...

@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1

"Ditto to whether or not the IWT is 100% +ive about Autism."

Remington says some people like IWT because it talks about autistic strengths. Then says that it also mentions weaknesses so isn't as Autism positive as it first appears.

But

1) the validity of IWT has nothing to do with whether it's positive or negative about Autism, the test is whether or not it's accurate.

2) most would agree Au IS a mixed bag of strengths & weeknesses

@FrightenedRat

Ah, thanks, now I understand.

Sounds reasonable.

@VulcanTourist @MaJ1