MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research' source. Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:57:44 +0100 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/10/aba-and-misrepresentation.html Every few years the issue of whether ABA is quackery or not kicks up on the Hub. It seems to be cyclical. It is a debate I have been a part of before and seems that I have the opportunity to do so again. Recently some discussion along these lines has popped up again. I believe the dissenter’s criticism can be summarized as one or more of the following:1. ABA is best summarized as quackery.2. ABA does not have affirmative research.3. ABA destroys or reduces a different autistic style of learning.4. ABA is emotionally traumatic to autistics.5. ABA intrinsically leads to physical or emotional abuse.Criticism can be good, it is certainly necessary that criticism be given, but not all criticism has merit. It is our job (that means all of us) to scour what is said for merit. Because the five p... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1908843 Mon, 27 Oct 2008 05:20:00 +0100 1908843 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-did-chicken-cross-road.html This is blog is 3 years old today. For the last two years I have done something special and lighthearted on this anniversary and this year will be no different. And what do I intend to do? Well…. I plan to shamelessly steal a theme Skeptico used a few years back for his Blog’s Birthday.And so…. let's ask some folks enagaged in autism internent debate....Why did the chicken cross the road?Maria: You say that the evidence does not suggest that the chicken crossed the road. However, the researchers did not in fact assess this question with the permutations of anti-icing surfaces, humidity control, cloud coverage, breed of chicken, maturity of said chicken, relative wind velocity, relative traffic that day, the traffic consisted of a hybrid vehicle, the quality testing of said vehicle, a... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1794454 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:35:00 +0100 1794454 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/09/proud-of-hub-3-years-later.html Tomorrow this blog will be 3 years old. I suppose that this would be a good opportunity for reflection. I have seen lots of writing, lots of effort, lots of really good discussions, and a few highly interesting disagreements. It has been very educational for me and I would hope that one or two others have taken some sort of benefit from this blog as well. It is both frustrating and sad that I no longer have the time to blog as actively as I once did. However, I am happy that so many new blogs have joined the Hub and are actively participating.I am happy too, that the core values of the Hub remain intact. When the Hub was first formed a few years back it was somewhat smaller than it is today. When this blog was invited to join the brand new (at the time) Hub, it was only with some trepidati... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1791674 Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:43:00 +0100 1791674 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/07/much-better-msn-feingold-article.html After a highly credulous Feingold article last summer, MSN manages to get someone who knows what they are talking about. Our favorite online news-source medical expert….Dr. Rob does a reasonable job providing factual information about food sensitivities and ADHD.For the casual reader, the Feingold diet was an elimination diet that gained some popularity in the 70s and 80s as a treatment for hyperactivity and ADHD. There was some early research that indicated it might be useful, but by the mid 90s it was clear that the larger, better controlled studies were not showing an effect.As always none of this deterred the believers, as the comments from last year show. But that is another story for another day. Thank you MSN! (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1657224 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:13:00 +0100 1657224 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/07/criticism-and-behavior-analysis.html Well here we are again, in what is quickly turning into a very broad disagreement. Christschool's latest response "But this is Sparta!" in response to my "Not Sparta" is out. My reply will be in point and counterpoint style."My Rebuttal: I never stated that there hasn't been group studies in which non Lovaas behaviorists have done. What I stated, which is contained in the quote you used was that the 47% myth has "never been replicated independent of Lovaas' small group of behaviorists"."Oh I see. A little bit of verbal dexterity is required here to make this work. There has been a replication that produced 48% by a Lovaas student and there has been other non-Lovaas students who produced statistically significant research in this regard. But there have certainly, not been non-Lovaas student... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1582986 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:25:00 +0100 1582986 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/07/not-sparta.html The following post is offered as a reply to Christschool's recent post "Skinner Confuses Science with Terminology". - Noam Chomsky". My responses to Christschool will be in a point by point basis."It's been my experience that behaviorists are quick to recoil and become defensive with inquiry that challenges their "science". From my observation, behaviorist's reaction to skepticism is very similar to the alternative/biomed advocates."I think it first necessasry to draw a distinction between the science of behavior analysis and the philosophy of behaviorism. These are not quite the same thing. It is possible to practice the techniques of behavior analysis and not philosophically be a behaviorist. I would argue this happens regularly in clinical psychology.Some may ask; doesn't it seem strang... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1582051 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:45:00 +0100 1582051 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/07/peer-review-in-hub.html Christschool and I seem to be getting in our fair share of disagreements these days.Recently he critiqued and old article on punishment that I had done. I responded here, with a rebuttal and some criticisms of my own. Our main bone of contention was the defintion of torture. In response to the article and to our subsequent discussion, Christschool retitled his article, it now begins in part with "Interverbal defends Matthew Israel". A hand grenade tossed into a debate, if ever there was one.Also, in the comments here on my rebuttal, the topic began to shift from whether physical aversives = torture, to the problems of behavior analysis. This has led to a new article from Christschool that addresses some of the broader problems he sees in behavior analysis. It also features quotes from your... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1577359 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:55:00 +0100 1577359 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/07/so-lincoln-or-darwin.html I just finished reading an outstanding comparative piece, lookingat Lincoln and Darwin. It asks who was the more influential man.Despite being an inherently absurd question and leading to the inevitablepeeing contest in the comments, the article is simply just excellent. It is alsomostly accurate.Coming from a scientific and skeptical viewpoint, it is excellent to see Darwin'slife presented correctly in a major media source. Also, the comments are great dealof fun. Put on a hard hat and grab some popcorn and have at it! (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1563974 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:56:00 +0100 1563974 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/07/reply-to-christschool.html Way back in November in 2006, I wrote a somewhat controversial article detailing a portion of the history of behavior analysis and aversives. Some people liked it and some people didn't like it one bit. However, no one has challenged its factual basis. Until now..... Christschool is the maker of excellent and well known autism advocacy YouTube videos. He is also a fellow AutismHub member. Very recently he wrote an article criticizing my post for inaccuracy. Specifically, he writes: "Contrary to Interverbal's analysis that Professor Skinner was "strongly against punishment" and the "behavior analytic community abandoned Skinner's argument", B.F. Skinner was not only an advocate of extreme aversives, but he was literally the architect of the aversives that led to the death of Mr. Milletich.T... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1556401 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:11:00 +0100 1556401 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/06/being-indigo-not-just-foolish-its.html If you are familar with current autism news, then you probably have heard of the New Age Indigo/Crystal Children. And what are Indigo Children? According to this site they are: "extremely powerful children, whose main purpose is to take us to the next level in our evolution, and reveal to us our inner power and divinity. They function as a group consciousness rather than as individuals, and they live by the" Law of One" or Unity Consciousness. They are a powerful force for love and peace on the planet." Most of us would recognize this as a bunch of twaddle and move on. However, there is a problem here and that problem is that children with autism and ADHD are often said to be Indigo Children. As the author of the site quoted above makes clear: "In my book "The Care and Feeding of Indigo... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1551454 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:33:00 +0100 1551454 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/02/mark-blaxill-and-looking-at-data.html Some people are pretty mad at Do’C and me right now. They are furious, because we wrote a critique and several follow-up critiques of DeSoto & Hitlan (2007). These authors noticed several data entry errors in the Ip et al. paper on mercury levels in the blood and hair. DeSoto & Hitlan point out these errors, but exceed this and use a new statistical analysis and argue for a reinterpretation of what these data mean.On first glance this issue looks like a healthy textbook example of the corrective nature of science. That Do’C, myself, and others may not be happy about loosing a proof of what we support is irrelevant. Our first obligation is to science, personal feelings don’t play a part, or rather, shouldn’t. However, things aren’t so simple in this case. We noticed some g... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1207493 Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:17:00 +0100 1207493 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/01/critique-of-desoto-hitlan-2007.html Do'C and I have published part 3 of our reponse to DeSoto & Hitlan (2007) and their FAQ page based on our previous criticisms. Please go take a look atwhat we wrote. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1184706 Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:41:00 +0100 1184706 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/01/recognizing-our-errors.html It is good to recognize the errors others have made, butit is just as important to recognize the errors that we asindividuals make. Please go see a joint post by Do'Cand myself citing some of our own errors concerningour analysis of the DeSoto & Hitlan article. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1174944 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:29:00 +0100 1174944 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2008/01/onion-and-thimerosal.html I think everyone knows that The Onion provides satire or parodyconcerning news. They also have "interviews" where people reactto current events.Go see their take on the recent autism and thimerosal study.Only the first one is funny, but parody is rarely this accurate. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1146465 Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:35:00 +0100 1146465 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/facilitated-communication-further.html This study involved a single participant; a 13 year boy diagnosed with autism and severe mental retardation. The authors concluded the the young man’s communication was genuine.I listed this study as a support for FC after having read the authors abstract. It is usually a dangerous policy to offer a review on an article having only read an abstract. I did so in this case, because I had already read many of the articles I cited in my review. And because I simply couldn’t imagine that the Weiss et al. article would be so methodologically poor as to cause me to not even inlcude it in a review.I received a tip in the comments section of my previous post that several of the supporting research articles for FC, had significant problems. Some especially damaging points about Weiss et al. were... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1062899 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:43:00 +0100 1062899 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/tall-tails-and-stats.html Do'C and I team up to critique DeStoto & Hitlan (2007).Please go read A Tale of Two Tails. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1034663 Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:32:00 +0100 1034663 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/educational-technique-5-stepping-back.html Stepping backI am going to make the claim that one of the universally agreed upon concepts in special education (or regular education for that matter) is scaffolding. Scaffolding is the idea that a learner begins in a situation of high prompts and high control and as s/he demonstrates mastery the prompts and controls are removed. One doesn’t usually hear of critiques of scaffolding. Yet, despite its popularity, fading the scaffold can be difficult.There are multiple reasons it may be tough to fade a prompt back. Probably the biggest reason is habit. If we help a student practice writing their name with hand- over- hand guidance everyday then this might be difficult to be as vigilant as we should. This is especially true if we are in a hurry. And good scaffolding is very progressive. We w... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1034320 Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:02:00 +0100 1034320 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/formally-reviewing-facilitated.html ConclusionThe data support the comment that FC may lead to authentic communication for some individuals with autism. The research suggests that these are the minority of cases. The research suggests that facilitator influence is an active factor in FC.Caution is advised towards FC. I do not advocate the total dismissal of it. However, until safety guidelines are employed, there is reason to doubt the authenticity of communication by those who use it unless there other forms of communication also in use by the individual and at comparable levels.ReferencesCardinal, D, N., Hanson, D, & Wakeham, J. (1996). Investigation of authorship in facilitated communication. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Mental Retardation. 34(4), 231-42.Calculator, S.N. & Singer, K.M. (1992). Pr... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1025414 Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:06:00 +0100 1025414 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/facilitated-communication-and-how-it.html Before I begin this series I would like to first have a Look at the Hub. For the unaware the Autism Hub is an aggregation of bloggs by autistic person, parents of autistic persons, and professionals. The Hub offers diverse views, but focuses on advocacy, rights, acceptance of autistic persons, and a positive outlook towards autism.Facilitated Communication is one of those divisive issues lurking under the surface at Autism Hub. The issue tends to pit the strong science/skeptic types in the Hub against the self-advocates and those well known for being their allies. Of course it is not really that simple. Some of the self-advocates are also notable skeptics and/or scientists.I think this is one more reminder that we members of Autism Hub are not lockstep.... we are not monolithic. It is inev... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1022232 Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:42:00 +0100 1022232 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/dealing-with-criticism.html On of the occupational hazards on blogging on science issues, is that some people will disagree, and not just disagree but they will frame the disagreement with some teeth. Bloggers of science issues, tend to deal with this in various ways. Some of us take mom’s advice and “don’t argue with an angry person”. Some people make fun of the dissenters. Some people offer one liners and snappy rebuttals. Others try to sincerely answer the points.It’s tough to know what the right response is. In the autism realm the issues often concern deeply personal issues like the health of one’s children. Emotions are inevitably going to run a bit high in such circumstances.I am really not sure I know the best response in such cases. However, it is my choice to attempt to deal with such disagreeme... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1019397 Sun, 11 Nov 2007 21:51:00 +0100 1019397 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/educational-technique-4-backwards.html Backwards ChainingA lot of educational activities are in fact a chain or sequence of behaviors. Taking off your coat, typing a word, writing you name, all consist of a series of small finite behaviors. For young students, some of these chains can be quite hard. Finishing a puzzle or learning one's phone number comes to mind.In backwards chaining we first learn to do the very last step, then the second to last, then the third to last, etc.If I were to use this technique to teach a child to write her name, then I myself would write all the letters in the childs name except the last one. "Susie" would then have to write the final "e" on her name. As she progressed she would learn to add the final "ie" to "Sus", etc. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1018930 Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:40:00 +0100 1018930 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/hidden-horde-found.html Matson, J, L., Wilkins, J., Boisjoli, J, A., Smith, K, R. (2007). The validity of the autism spectrum disorders-diagnosis for intellectually disabled adults (ASD-DA). Research in Developmental Disabilities. [Epublished ahead of print]. 50% of the adults in this study were rediagnosed with an PDD.Abstract"Psychologists interviewed direct-care staff using a battery of assessment measures including the autism spectrum disorders-diagnosis for intellectually disabled adults (ASD-DA), the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II (DASH-II), the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Individuals with Severe Retardation (MESSIER), the Socialization domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS), and a checklist containing criteria for autism and PDD-NOS from the DSM-IV-TR and I... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1010462 Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:22:00 +0100 1010462 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/educational-technique-3.html TinkeringOne of the techniques that I have come to embrace in what I call tinkering. Tinkering is taking aformalized lesson plan that gets used the same way day after day and systematically changing various aspects of it.The advantage of tinkering is that we sometimes land on alteration that immediately improves the number of correct answers, or improves the level of student's attending, or the rate of their reponses. Another advantage is that it can help promote generalization by altering the stimuli used in the lesson.For example, I used to teach a calender group. The old lesson plan had me labeling months or the days of the week. I tinkered with this plan by mislabeling different dates at random. The students thought it was pretty funny. It increased their amount of attending. It also g... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1002302 Sat, 03 Nov 2007 15:51:00 +0100 1002302 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/11/radical-behaviorist.html There seems to be be some misinformation floating around the blogs of late. I would like to take a minute and try to correct some of this.Myth #1: B.F. Skinner advocated punishment.At no time in his carear was Skinner an advocate of punishment. This is directly said both in his early and later books.Myth #2: Radical Behaviorists believe in using punishment.That's funny because I am a radical behaviorist and I don't believe in using punishment. Skinner was the first radical behaviorist and he didn't believe in using punishment. Radical behaviorists are not "radical" because we are really, really behavior analytic, or because we condone punishment. We are radical because we seperated from earlier forms of behaviorism, namely in that we consider thoughts and feelings to be objects worthy of f... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=998681 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:20:00 +0100 998681 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/comparing-group-design-and-single-case.html One of the claims that I hear from the more scientifically oriented readers or other commenters in the blogosphere is that the way to be really certain of an answer in science is to use some variant of the blinded methodology with random assignment.My thoughts are “Well…. not exactly”. The group designs are the right tool to assess certain scientific questions, but not others. It really depends on the nature of the question. Below I have created a brief list of some of the differences between single case design and group design research logics. My objective is not to thoroughly explore the differences, but merely to be a brief introduction.Group Design Single Case DesignUses deductive logic Uses inductive logicTests the null hypothesis Answers research questionUses inferential statis... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=985964 Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:19:00 +0100 985964 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/education-technique-2-taking-break.html Starting about the 1st grade (ages 6-7) the general pattern in a classroom is work….. then recess. This often works well for both typically developing student and student with autism. Sometimes however, it just doesn’t shake out. The student does alright for the first little bit, but eventually they start to go down hill. Maybe this happens during a particularly hard activity for the student, or a particularly long one.One of the ways I think is beneficial to work with this situation is to re-think my approach to breaks. I find that allowing the student frequent small breaks, is often more meaningful in terms of preventing tantrums and maintaining the student’s contentedness, than infrequent large breaks, such as recess.If a teacher or parent decides that this plan is appropriate in ... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=983936 Sat, 27 Oct 2007 17:48:00 +0100 983936 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-beard-can-teach-about-autism.html The fallacy of the beard (fallacy of the spectrum) is to claim that because two points exist on a continuum, that they are indistinguishable, due to the fact that at some point they both blend. The famous example is that of a man with a beard is indistinguishable from a man with a clean shave, because it can be hard to tell at some point what exactly is still a clean shave and what is a beard.With that in mind I like the reader to consider autism. Persons meeting criteria for Autistic Disorder seem distinct from persons who are typically developing. Many of us, on different sides of the debate would go so far as to consider autism and typical development, entities in and of themselves.However, the criteria for autism and the categories have not been static. These have changed and expanded ... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=982595 Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:08:00 +0100 982595 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/making-fun-of-homeopaths.html The 72nd Skeptic's Circle is up. The circle is mostly focused on Homeopathy this time.It makes an informative read about alternative medicine though. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=980573 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 03:11:00 +0100 980573 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/do-old-teachers-claim-epidemic.html One of the more interesting claims from our friends in the biomedical advocacy camp is “That if one talks to a veteran special education teacher then they will tell you that the rise in autism is real and not due to changing criteria”.I certainly have seen this claim a number of times and I suspect that many of my readers will have as well. It seems fair to put this to a test. After all, the way the point is usually written tries to reflect the opinion of most/all the special educators and not just one or two special educators.Recently I attended a meeting with 20 or so special education teachers. A total of 6 of them had 25+ or more years of experience. The opportunity as not lost on me and I took a moment to ask: “Is the prevalence of autism increasing, decreasing, or staying stati... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=976411 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:49:00 +0100 976411 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/education-technique-1.html This is the first installment of a series I will run every Saturday through November. The series will be on educational techniques that have used in the past.Education Technique #1: High Probability ResponseI am philosophically committed to trying to minimize the use of exclusionary or aversive techniques to the extent reasonable in a child’s life. I offer this technique as an alternative to “time-out”.The use of a high probability response uses the idea of behavioral momentum. This is the general observation that the types of behavior we engage in tends to continue in the same direction for a time. Off task or inappropriate behavior tends to precede more off task behaviors, and on task behavior tends to precede more on task behavior.The technique here, involves the attempt to disrup... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=965906 Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:12:00 +0100 965906 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/my-answer-to-charge.html One of the most interesting aspects of being a blogger is the feedback I receive. Take for example my previous post “Are Hub Science Blogs are Unfair”. The feedback of course, showed many different opinions. Some commenters felt that the autism science bloggers, myself included, may be quick to jump on the logical errors or bad science of others, but showed a reluctance to do so for theories that we support. And others thought that our pattern of analysis was reasonable, within the confines of our interests.Probably the most interesting question that emerged from the comments concerned if what the authors write about should be determined in part or whole by the readership’s interest. I think there are some good reasons to do so, the most obvious reason is, that if you don’t produce... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=965229 Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:35:00 +0100 965229 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/are-hub-science-blogs-unfair.html Some helpful anonymous person expressed the idea to me that Autism Hub bloggers are very unfair. We only tackle mercury and ignore other autism science. This person proposes that we should criticize all autism science.I put up this thread in the hopes that this person would have a place to have his/her/it’s concerns discussed. And that if so, then the so called “autism science” blogs will really be shown to be totally one sided and really un-critical in the nature of their reasoning.So, how ‘bout it, anyone want to agree/disagree that the hub blogs that focus on science are not critical of bad science that supports what they think?Any takers? (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=958922 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:48:00 +0100 958922 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/cdds-quarterly-reports.html (CLICK TO MAKE LARGER)Well its that time again. Let's have a look at the incidence data in the 3-5 age group in the California Deparment of Disability Services. These "incidence" data (the CDDS says you can't use their data to calculate incidence, but who pays attention to little things like that) are from the CDDS system which some people like to say is the "gold standard" in autism epidemiology (its not) and only measures Autistic Disorder (it doesn't). Anyway, let's look at the most recent datum point on the graph.So..... the expected autism decrease has not appeared. You know it has been a while since autism was removed from childhood vaccines. The only thing really left is flu shots for pregnant mothers. So, when are we going to see the numbers drop? I mean if you take a way the cause... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=956144 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:58:00 +0100 956144 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/kev-is-closing-his-excellent-blog-left.html Kev is closing his excellent blog Left Brain/ Right Brain. This is a blow, because not only was LB/RB an interesting and very readable blog, but it was by far the most popular autism blog. The really sad part however is why it is closing. An individual named John Best runs a blog called “Hating Autism” (I refuse to link to it). He has over the course of the last several days written several articles from the imagined pro- quackery viewpoint of Kev’s autistic daughter.The health of one’s children is obviously an extremely important and emotive issue. Some folks, put great stock or faith is questionable theories like the vaccine etiology of autism or quacky therapies like HBOT. Pointing out that these may not be good things, even when done to the nth degree of politeness does not alw... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=952163 Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:39:00 +0100 952163 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/allyship-my-story.html Returning visitors here know that I usually write objective reviews about science in autism. Today’s post will be quite different. This will be a subjective article about experiences with autism advocacy. Specifically this is my journey. It is the brief tale about learning to be an ally and my experiences with the philosophy of nuerodiversity. In the post I try to define some difficult concepts. Others may disagree with the way I have defined such. I should say that my objective here is not to offend or to speak for the group, but to speak for myself.My story begins as university Sophomore. A friend talked me into… well actually she made me… be a volunteer in a local special education school to get some “resume building” done. It wouldn’t be so bad she suggested, it was just tw... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=949932 Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:39:00 +0100 949932 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/parable-of-shoe.html We usually require that children tie their shoes, as to prevent possible tripping. No research needed here in my opinion. Maybe kids who do not tie their shoes don't actually trip more often than kids who do; however, the issue is so petty, that it doesn't seem worth the effort it would take to research it.But now let's say that I was a concerned advocate. I noticed a massive increase in ankle and knee injuries among students. I notice a trend among kids to wear their shoes untied. I suspect based on my own knowledge and experiences that the two are linked. Being a concerned person I advocate a law be passed that would require kids to have tied shoes. To enforce this law, a small fine can be assessed if a child is caught with untied shoes.Maybe my observation that when kids have untied sho... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=948596 Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:20:00 +0100 948596 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/behavioral-progression-paradox.html It has been a while since I have done a behavior analytic post. So, below I will dabble with a concept that really deserves much more than a brief blog entry. I hope that readers will find it at least mildly interesting.I have previously written about a well known paradox in behavior science. That whenever a reinforcement contingency occurs, a shadow contingency of aversive control is simultaneously established. This theory implies that there can be no purely positive interventions or education.And this theory is broader than just ABA or some other application of behavior analysis. Anytime a consequence is given (whether appreciated or not) and this consequence affects the rate or likelihood of a behavior, then the above paradox is put into play. There doesn’t have to be behavior analyst... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=947974 Sat, 13 Oct 2007 02:21:00 +0100 947974 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/10/review-of-challenge-dechallenge.html Most of the readers here are probably familiar with testimonials that claim a given treatment was implemented for a young child and then caused drastic improvement. Many of us on the skeptical side of the argument would correctly note that this is a post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy and that just because a change was noted after the treatment doesn’t mean the treatment caused the change.I think it goes it without saying that pointing this out doesn’t always go over well. These issues deal with the core of what different people consider to be acceptable evidence. It also inevitably ties into an extremely emotive issue; their children’s health and wellbeing. Sometimes though, the people the people who have been accused of using such a fallacy do take the criticism to heart. They want ... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=945365 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:55:00 +0100 945365 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/09/woo-happy-birthday-interverbal.html Woo! Happy Birthday InterverbalWell this blog is two years old. We are just shy of 30,000 unique visitors. Not bad for a blog that was meant to practice my writing and critical thinking skills.So, what should we do for my birthday hmmmm….Write a poem?Try to do a post about some deep issue?Make some more autism graphs?Ah, well, you know what…. let’s just play Bingo! But this is a very special type of Bingo! This is autism woo bingo. The rules are simple. All you have to do is try to get one straight line (horizontal or vertical) filled in with chips, goldfish crackers, pennies, or whatever based on what you see in an website. Now, the rules state that it has to be on a single screen or part of the same article/post. You can’t flip around trying to win.When you get a straight line fi... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=913618 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:02:00 +0100 913618 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-philosophy-of-education.html Recently I was asked to write my philosophy of education. This is a copy of the answer to that question:My philosophy of education can be summarized as: An effort to move a student towards as much independence as can be attained. The philosophical goal of special education that I embrace is social mobility, which is to provide students with maximum personal choice as to what their goals are, and to provide them with the training and credentials necessary to achieve this.I hold that education should always move towards increased choices and freedoms for the student. So, while I support and utilize non-naturalistic reinforcement and non-naturalistic teaching, I temper this with Vygotsky’s scaffolding, which is the progressive removal of supports and prompts as the student demonstrates mast... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=909415 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 01:49:00 +0100 909415 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/09/nejm-study.html This study authors concluded that there is no association between neuropsychological disorders and thimerosal in vaccines.Even before this study was released yesterday, there was publicized dissent from advocates from the idea of a mercury etiology of neuropsychological harm. Incredibly, one of them came from a well known advocate Sally Bernard, who was invited to be a collaborator in this study. It seems that she was involved in the planning of this study, but withdrew her support after the results began to be circulated.That is not how science works. If you have a problem with a study design then you dissent before you begin collecting data. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=908633 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:52:00 +0100 908633 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/08/skeptics-circle.html The newest circle is up, go check it out. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=832598 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 22:33:00 +0100 832598 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/08/review-of-goals-of-education-in-united.html Introduction Almost no aspect of education is free from controversy. Simply put, this is because we as a society disagree what the goals of education should be. I argue that by reviewing the history of education in the United States one can see that conflicts are inevitable In essence, these conflicts occur, because our community, State, and Nation, do not agree what the goals of education should be. This post is specific to the US and is not a review of the goals of education outside of that context. There are three distinct large scale goals involved in this conflict; these are social mobility, social efficiency, and democratic equality. There is an additional; fourth goal in the field of autism education that must be named because of its popularity. This is the ecologic argument at the ... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=830021 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0100 830021 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/08/state-of-autism-science-in-france-could.html Just one more example of how bad science, hurts people. Taken from: HHK online medical/health news:"A French treatment for autistic children with psychiatric problems which involves wrapping the patient in cold, wet sheets from head to foot is undergoing a clinical trial for the first time, which critics hope will see an end to the controversial practice. The treatment, known as "packing", involves wrapping a child in wet, refrigerated sheets in order to produce a feeling of bodily limitation and holding, before psychiatrically trained staff talk to the child about their feelings. Critics have called the procedure cruel, unproven and potentially dangerous, but its proponents say they have seen results.Pierre Delion, is head of the child and adolescent psychiatry unit at Lille Regional Univ... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=828185 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:31:00 +0100 828185 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/08/giant-robots.html What the..... Oh it's Bronze Dog nevermind.BD is a fellow child of the 80's D&D playing,old school nintendo type. I don't know how hemanaged to mix skeptics and robots, but it was awesome. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=803707 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:45:00 +0100 803707 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/07/skeptics-circle_19.html A 4th grade class will be visiting the Museam of Skepticism.You can too. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=744859 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:00:00 +0100 744859 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/07/im-gonna-buy-me-one-of-bens-t-shirts.html This morning, I was reading the daily web news and generally minding my own business when I came across this little gem on that bastion of internet truth, MSN. Well I will be hornswaggled, thought I, that’s the diet was put on in the 80’s for hyperactivity. And here’s a nutritionist in 2007 recommending the Feingold Diet for ADHD and hyperactive kids.This was perhaps a little surprising considering how much research shows the Feingold Diet doesn’t help ameliorate ADHD or hyperactivity and that most serious science in the field doesn’t give the Feingold Diet the time of day anymore. But that can happen when the last piece of serious on the subject was published over ten years ago.Krummel et al., (1996) are pretty direct when they say: “Numerous double-blind studies of the Feingo... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=738961 Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:32:00 +0100 738961 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/07/cdds-autism-zombie.html I have already written extensively about the California Department of Disability Services autism data. Its getting to hard to imagine that there is something to still say.But at least 4 times a year, I find myself writing something about the latest CDDS report. This is because the CDDS issues a quarterly report and a group of individuals who advocate a vaccine etiology of autism analyze the data in manner that inevitably supports their theory. This happens every quarter. This happens no matter how many times we criticize the use of the CDDS data because it is not supposed to be used as epidemiologic data, as the CDDS themselves clearly state. Just like Ouija Boards and astrology, there are always a few who resurrect this undead creature, and send it growling off towards public consumption.... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=733823 Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:22:00 +0100 733823 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/07/mmr-shenanigans.html For those of you who may have missed the recent hoopla. A study by Simon Baron-Cohen’s lab has been leaked to the British press. It describes a prevalence of 1 per 58; using a tool that lacks evidence showing that it is appropriate for use in the general public. It seems that a research assistant in the study who now works for Andrew Wakefield had attempted to connect the 1 per 58 number to the MMR. I have learned via Bad Science that a connection to the MMR is not the study authors’ conclusion. Seems like there is some funny reporting going on. (Source: Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research) Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=720448 Sun, 08 Jul 2007 23:31:00 +0100 720448 http://interverbal.blogspot.com/2007/07/7-myths-of-science-following-are-7-most.html 7 Myths of ScienceThe following are the 7 most common myths about science and research that I have seen. I have attempted to refute them in brief, even while recognizing that short answers to such widely held ideas are almost never satisfactory. As always, your comments are welcome.1 Anything can be proven with statistics; therefore such-and-such a study which did/did-not show an expected result is bogus because the authors could have shown anything with their stats.Reply: A knowledgeable statistician can arrange a situation so that it appears as if a negative result is actually a positive. However, this is one of the reasons for peer review in scientific journals. It is one thing to get statistical manipulation past the general public; it is another to get it past one’s peers who have a... Interverbal: Reviews of Autism Statements and Research blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=719840 Sat, 07 Jul 2007 20:42:00 +0100 719840