In my post on facilitated communication (FC), I mentioned that I had not done much research on the topic. I presented my impression of it on the basis of a trial run with my brother, Michael. For those of you who have not been following my blog, Mike is my older brother who is autistic, […]
My search to understand my older brother, Michael, who is autistic, very low functioning, and nonverbal has led me in many different directions. I have read about epistemology, the study of what is knowable; theories of consciousness; anatomy of the brain; principles of neuropsychiatry to get some idea of what could be going on in […]
Michael is my older brother who has never spoken and is autistic and low functioning. He was a patient at Willowbrook, a state mental institution, which used to be on Staten Island, New York, and was home to 6,000 patients. After Willowbrook was shut down for widespread abuse, my brother was placed in a group […]
No, this is not about me asking for help – far from it. Today I’m looking at acceptance of help, and what are the barriers for me personally to ask for it. I feel really great when I can help someone else, and really terrible when I need help myself. I avoid asking for help […]
Definition Here is my working definition of confidence: comfort and ease doing what one does. Stories abound of comedians getting their start through the enormous pleasure derived from laughter they evoke from their family at living room performances. Confidence in one’s self grows from situations like these. False confidence Why do some people, of limited […]
Diagnosis of autism I discussed the history of autism diagnosis a previous post. As the science matured, the psychogenic origin (blame for autism on the ‘refrigerator mother’) was replaced by consideration of the premise that autism could arise from biological origins. Both versions of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) use behavior as […]
Autism, The Invisible Cord A Sibling’s Diary, by Barbara Cain Published by the American Psychological Association http://www.apa.org/pubs/magination I came across the author of this book while browsing through Twitter profiles. I compulsively look for tweeters with ‘autism’ in their profile description and hit the jackpot when I came upon Barbara Cain’s. Not only did she […]
I think it was Woody Allen who said, “Time is nature’s way of preventing everything from happening at once.” He’s a very smart guy. Different phases Time is different for everyone, I think… or should I say perception of time is different. When I was growing up, it seemed that there were three phases to […]
I just started reading ‘The Book of Woe’ by Gary Greenberg, about the generation of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5, the document that physicians will use to diagnose the mental illnesses of their patients and to receive reimbursement from insurance companies. The first several chapters outline the […]
First reaction When I first heard of this malady a couple of days ago, I must admit, it appealed to my macabre sense of humor, especially when Wikipedia[1] described Americans afflicted with strokes speaking with English accents after recovery, a Norwegian shrapnel victim in 1941 suddenly speaking with a German accent, and so on. It […]
