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
@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.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2010.00224/full
https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/intense-world-theory-raises-intense-worries/
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.
@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.
(1/2)
Very interesting. Let's have a look at #PeterAutism hypothesis in addition, as phrased in "Autism and the predictive brain."
First, though, still being a novice re/ #IWT, I will just take your summary "as is:"
"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."
That made a lot of sense to me. Peter, however states..
@FrightenedRat @VulcanTourist @MaJ1
(2/3)
... quite the opposite, quoting Dr. #TempleGrandin, another autism expert, in my understanding*
What it really comes down to, is this: we should focus much more on bottom-up learning than the classic top-down learning that typifies education. In practice, this indeed comes down to what #Temple promotes so hard these days: ‘exposure‘. Expose children to many and above all different experiences."
What am I missing?
...
@FrightenedRat @VulcanTourist @MaJ1
(3/3)
...*I have not read his book, just this article of his about it:
https://petervermeulen.be/2022/10/24/does-temple-grandins-brain-work-like-a-computer-or-a-human/
//
@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1
Both IWT & the extract you quote agree that since autistic kids learn differently you need an educational approach that centres the childs' unique needs rather than a one size fits all strategy. Let kids explore what fascinates them BUT ALSO be cautious about what overwhelms them.
IWT suggest an environment as enriched as a child is comfortable with but warns against overload & suggests predictable routines may be more helpful with this than chaos.
(1/n)
#IWT vs. "LLM/AI view" in #autism.
Thank you, @FrightenedRat.
So, semantics is of real importance here.
The way you sum it up, the only difference b/w the two approaches boils down to this:
Autistic children should be exposed to new experiences using "predictable routines".*
Begs, the question, what are "predictable routines" that can be used? Probably not (just?) learning at the same desk at the same hours...?
*I am excluding the...
@FrightenedRat @VulcanTourist @MaJ1
(2/n)
..."overload" aspect, as my feeling is that neither #PeterAutism, nor #TempleGrandin would object to this assertion, I would think.
However, the citation from Dr. #Grandin regarding the comparison to LLM's and providing as much data as possible for differentiation, makes me things that at least she does not share this point of view anymore. (correct?)
The consequences that parents and teachers can deduct from these--at face value--opposing...
@FrightenedRat @VulcanTourist @MaJ1
(3/n)
...perspectives, are quite staggering:
"LLM view": provide as many experiences / stimuli as possible to a child.
"IWT view": always make sure that you do not trigger a hyperstimulation/overload response.
Using your recent story about the theater visit:
Theaters provide a unique learning experience. Every play/performance is different.
All theaters make often exptensive use of lighting. Lighting is known to cause "hyperstimuli" in (some)...
@FrightenedRat @VulcanTourist @MaJ1
(4/4)
...neurodivergent people.
What should our fictitious parent do?
PS: not sure if the term "hyperstimuli" is used in scientific circles or not.
@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1
What you do is look for signs of overload beginning and try to head it off.
(I took my kids to a lot of plays - normally it was fine, but on the times they told me they needed to leave, we did.)
Predictable routines: it's not about stopping variety or repeating stuff till it's boring, but giving the kid enough stability for them to not feel too at sea & out of their depth. Letting them make sense of one situation before tossing them into the next one.
That is sound advice.
So, your "early-warning signal" as a parent would be your kid telling you, correct?--Trying to second guess an autistic brain with regard to what might "upset" it as a non-neurodivergent adult might cause "overload" in the parents.
@HistoPol @VulcanTourist @MaJ1
With smaller kids it's just watching for signs of distress - unhappy rocking, covering ears or eyes, hiding/averting gaze, difficulty with speech, etc etc.
It's just doing what all parents do to look out for their kids, but with a keen understanding that your kid might be pushed to their limits by things that don't bother other kids. [Getting irritated at their being "unreasonable" & telling them to stop "making a fuss about nothing" is unlikely to help.]
Thanks, that would have been my inference from what you said:
"It's just doing what all parents do to look out for their kids, but with a keen understanding that your kid might be pushed to their limits by things that don't bother other kids."
Smaller kids-- younger than 4?