Showing posts with label Michelle Dawson. Show all posts

Autism Self Injury and Aggression Can Occur Quickly With No External Provocation

The pictures set out below this commentary were taken in May 2012 and posted on   Saturday, May 26, 2012 under the title Conor's Autism Reality: From Joy To Self Injurious Behavior In A Flash.  I was taking these pictures of Conor enjoying a swing on the playground of his old grade school, Nashwaaksis Memorial School.  It was early Saturday morning, no one else was around; there were no loud noises or disturbances. The weather was pleasantly cool and mild.  Conor was loving his time on the swing and then ... just like that ... he was engaged in self injurious behavior as set out in the last two pictures of this set ... with no external factor whatsoever.  Whatever prompted the head hitting and hair pulling of the last two pics was purely internal. His self injurious behavior in this instance was not an isolated occurrence.  It has happened before and since.  Nor is it always self injurious.  There are times when Conor has been aggressive with his mother and father.  I have  never believed for a second that he actually intends to hurt either of us. Some times he is reacting to external stimuli such as the sound of a phone ringing. It is my belief that when he is aggressive to himself or others he is most often  reacting as he did in these pictures to internal disruptions of some kind.  

I am not generalizing from Conor's reality to those of other persons with autism symptoms or disorders. I was, from the beginning of my understanding of Conor's condition, and during the early days of my autism advocacy, annoyed with people like Michelle Dawson and Dr. Laurent Mottron whose affidavit evidence as an autism expert supported her application for intervener status when she appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Auton case as an "autistic" to oppose government funded Applied Behavior Analysis treatment for other people's children.  I never accepted that  my son with severe autistic disorder and profound developmental delays could be represented even indirectly by this person capable of addressing Canada's highest court. 

Nor do I subscribe to the unsubstantiated belief that persons with autism are responsible for planned violence like the horror committed in the Newtown massacre by a person rumored to have autism/Aspergers.  I do acknowledge though that, at least in my son's case, unplanned, spontaneous, "reactive" aggression  to use CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta's term, can occur and can occur in a flash.  Depending on the setting, for example sitting in the back seat while Mom or Dad are driving, the consequences could be very, very serious.  Even in ideal circumstances such as the Saturday morning playground depicted below aggression, whether directed toward himself or those with him, can be serious and frightening. 

There may well be persons with autism disorders whose symptoms do not include self injurious behavior or injury to others. Great, I am happy for them.  But the public at large should not believe for a second that it is not present in some persons with autism in ways that are not always present in non autistic persons.  It is, for many persons with autism, a fact of the brain disorder(s) which manifests  in symptoms that we call autism.   Research is needed on the internal causes of self injury and aggression in persons diagnosed with autism. Treatments need to be developed.  Pretending such internally provoked or aggravated aggression is not part of autism won't make these realities disappear. 

Instead of spending years trying to streamline autism symptoms and disorders into one neat package it would be much more helpful if the aggressive component of the heterogeneity of autism symptoms were acknowledged and addressed through research and improved treatments. 

















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Neurodiversity Author and Ideologue Steve Silberman ALMOST Acknowledges Low Functioning vs High Functioning Autism Reality


Neurodiversity autism author and ideologue Steve Silberman ALMOST acknowledged the common sense reality of differences in autism function levels but at the last minute he turned and walked away once again. In an article at Scientific American  titled Contributors Lee Billings and Steve Silberman talk autism, space travel, and extraterrestrial life (Part 1)  Silberman talks briefly about the realities of low functioning autism and how the challenges they present COULD lead one to conclude that there really are differences in functioning levels. Then he abruptly struts away and denies those same differences. He, once again, takes the decidedly Non-Scientific American  ideological perspective that parents and clinicians who recognize differences in functioning levels are simply wrong and that the high functioning autistic persons he knows and adores  who claim that HFA and LFA are meaningless labels are right:

Lee: Is there any emerging consensus about the wide variations in the severity of autism?
Steve: I would say that one emerging consensus is that the idea that there is a single, unified condition called “autism” is little more than a useful fiction. This fiction allows us to address certain similarities across a very broad and diverse spectrum of conditions, and enables government agencies and insurance companies to offer services based on a single box labeled “autism” that can be ticked on a form. But that monolithic notion doesn’t reflect the actual reality, which is much more complex. What we call autism is probably a cluster of many different conditions, rooted in a wide variety of genetic predispositions and epigenetic triggers, which exhibit themselves in many different ways, including variations in severity.  The truth is that there are many “autisms,” rather than one “autism.”
Lee: Could you talk more about the problematic distinctions between “low-functioning” versus “high-functioning” people with autism? What alternative is there to this classification structure?
Steve: Obviously, the language of “high-functioning” versus “low-functioning” is very tempting to use, and most people—that is, parents and clinicians—use it. If you have a kid who can’t talk or use the toilet, rarely seems to connect with the people around her, appears to be profoundly intellectually disabled, and bangs her head against the wall, it seems appropriate to classify her as “low-functioning.” On the other hand, if you have a guy with an Asperger diagnosis who has a job writing code or fixing luxury cars and has a wife and kids of his own—it seems easy to call him “high-functioning.” But the autistic adults I know hardly ever use those two terms, because they know better. Even people who are classified as high-functioning—like John Elder Robison and Temple Grandin—really struggle with some aspects of life that most neurotypical people don’t have to struggle with.  At the same time, some research into “low functioning” individuals in recent years indicates that they may have much more going on inside them than is usually visible from the outside. That’s one reason why the development of alternate forms of communication for people who have difficulty with spoken language—and we’re talking about iPads here, an “assistive technology” that many neurotypicals find indispensable these days—is so important. I’ve interviewed some autistic people who would be written off as “low-functioning” by most people, but once they get an iPad with text-to-speech apps in their hands, they become as eloquent as poets.
Personally, I avoid using the terms “high-functioning” and “low-functioning” because I think they’re both misleading. The term “high-functioning” makes certain kinds of challenges invisible, while the term “low-functioning” makes certain kinds of intelligence and capability harder to see. Many “low-functioning” kids will eventually learn self-care skills and be able to communicate with some form of assistive technology. Once they can make their thoughts visible to others, you find out that they have very rich inner lives, and were always listening to what was being said around them. We need to find out what has worked in the lives of people like Robison, Grandin, and Stephen Shore—a guy who was considered low-functioning when he was young, and whose parents were told to put him in an institution. He’s now a professor at Adelphi University, and a delightful person. Once we find out what has worked for them, we can apply those lessons to the next generation of autistic people. That’s why Jenny McCarthy’s claim that “there were no autistic adults, it’s all now” is not just wacky and incorrect, it’s dangerous, because it deprives the huge population of autistic kids of visible mentors and role models whom they can learn from."

Silberman's claim is that because some persons once considered low functioning went on to communicate and excel in life it is therefore wrong to distinguish between low and high functioning autism disorders. This claim is absurd and lacking in common sense. As he has stated some persons with LFA have difficulty with the most basic functions in daily life like toilet training. Some engage in serious self injurious behavior. He could also have mentioned the autistic adults who live their lives not with assistive technology but in assisted living in varying levels of residential care including full time 24-7 institutional care. The realities of life for these people by any common sense measure are fairly described as low functioning compared to the very high functioning Friends of Silberman club ...  the Robisons, Grandins and Shores. 

Steve Silberman either lacks common sense and can not distinguish between these different functioning levels or he has simply chosen to turn and walk away from that truth in the interest of promoting his career and books as a leading author of the irrational ideology known as Neurodiversity. His public denials of the challenges, the more severe challenges facing low functioning autistic persons puts  him in the group of people who are obscuring public discussions about the natue of autism disorders and the needs of those who suffer from low functioning autism. 

I have visited Low Functioning severely autistic adults living in psychiatric hospitals. I have talked by phone with Michelle Dawson and I have met John Robison at the recent IMFAR conference in Toronto.  I have met very capable persons with High Functioning Autism and Aspergers here in New Brunswick.  These people are much higher functioning in their abilities to function in the real world than those living in residential and institutional care and Steve Silberman should know that. 

Shame on you Silberman.

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The Aurora Horror and Michelle Dawson's Bizarre Anti Autism Advocacy Rhetoric

As an autism advocate in Canada I am very familiar with Michelle Dawson's angry rhetoric in which she attacks autism organizations advocating for autism treatment for autistic children. She has campaigned vigorously and persistently against provision in Canada of ABA services for autism disorders. With the recent horror in Colorado many people have, rightly in my opinion, criticized Joe Scarborough for his irresponsible linking, even if unintended, of autism disorders to the alleged perpetrator of the massacre. I was curious to see what different high profile autism commentators were saying on the issue and was startled, even given Ms Dawson's history of negative criticism of, largely parent driven, organizations seeking ABA treatment for their children, to read her comments at her QuickTopic discussion forum "The Misbehaviour of Behaviourists": 



I have never seen an autism organization, let alone "the most important" autism organizations, describe persons with autism as "natural born criminals". I have to assume that Ms Dawson has read a critique from somebody representing an autism advocacy group who has made such a statement but I never have. 

To many in the US and around the world it may seem of no importance that Michelle Dawson would make such a bizarre statement accusing the most important autism organizations of "promoting" autistics as just naturally violent, natural born criminals.  In Canada though some of our major institutions, including the CBC, the federal government of Stephen Harper and even the Supreme Court of Canada have given her a platform to speak on the premise that she is an "autistic" and that her views are relevant to important policy and legal decision making processes.  As Jonathan Mitchell, the Autism Gadfly, has pointed out in the past the views of Ms Dawson do not prevent her and her colleague Dr. Laurent Mottron from seeking, and receiving research funding from, one of "the most important autism organizations" ... Autism Speaks.  

I assume that Autism Speaks is not one of the organizations which Ms Dawson alleges to have promoted autistic persons as naturally born criminals or, with her lofty principles, she would presumably have refused to participate in Autism Speaks funded research.  Her bizarre angry rhetoric though calls into question her ability to conduct objective autism research and should disqualify her from providing counsel to future media, government and legal decision makers.

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US Federal Judge: ABA Proven and Highly Effective Treatment of Children with Autism

It is hard to believe that in 2012 a government agency with responsibilities for the provision or administration of health care could take the position that ABA is an "unproven" treatment for autism.  That was the justification though of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration in refusing to provide Medicaid coverage for ABA treatment for three persons with autism.   As reported  by the Miami Herald US Federal Judge Joan Lenard disagreed and ordered the FAHCA to provide the Medicaid coverage for the applied behavior analysis treatment: "U.S. Judge Joan Lenard ruled Friday that applied behavioral analysis be covered by Medicaid....Lenard held that ABA was a proven and highly effective treatment of children with autism."

Apparently the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration is not familiar with authorities from the US Surgeon General to the American Pediatric Association and  a number of state agencies that have reviewed the scientific literature and found ABA to be the most evidence based effective treatment for autism.  Or perhaps they   accidentally  subscribed to updates from anti-ABA activists Michelle Dawson and Laurent Mottron who have appeared (often) in the media and in Canadian legal and political proceedings in a prolonged and determined effort to prevent Canadian autistic children from receiving ABA treatment for their autism disorders.    Regardless, US Federal Judge Joan Lenard, in addition to issuing an order directing the agency to provide Medicaid coverage for ABA, has also educated the agency on the benefits of ABA treatment for children with autism disorders. 

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Michelle Dawson (2008): Autism Is A Disability, A Neurodevelopmental Disorder


Photo from Nature Magazine, November 2 2011,  Shows High Functioning Autistic, 
Researcher and Anti-ABA Activist* Michelle Dawson and High Functioning 
Autism Expert  and Anti-ABA Activist* Dr. Laurent Mottron
It may seem surprising to some to learn that Michelle Dawson, the central image of the "Autism is an Advantage" campaign of  high functioning autism researcher and anti-ABA activist Dr. Laurent Mottron has herself formally declared that autism is a disability and a neurodevelopmental disorder.

Dr. Mottron and Ms Dawson were featured recently in Nature magazine promoting the autism is an advantage beliefs of Dr. Mottron and Ms Dawson.  Yet,  in another very formal context,  Michelle Dawson has described autism as a disability.  In fact she used her autism disability as the basis for a human rights complaint against her former employer Canada Post**.

In Dawson v. Canada Post Corporation, 2008 CHRT 41 (CanLII) Ms Dawson brought a complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act against her former employer Canada Post alleging that Canada Post had discriminated against her and harassed her on the basis of her autism disability contrary to the provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act.  The Human Rights Tribunal found that she had substantiated most of her claims and found that Canada Post had contravened sections 7 and 14 of the Act.

A complaint pursuant to the Canadian Human Rights Act is brought under one of the grounds listed in section 3 of the Act. The Tribunal decision listed the grounds as  race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability and conviction for which a pardon has been granted. In Ms Dawson's case she alleged discrimination, harassment and retaliation against her by Canada Post on the basis of disability ... autism ... as set out in several paragraphs of the CHRT decsions:

[2] In her complaint, dated August 9, 2002,  Ms. Dawson alleges that the Respondent discriminated against her on the basis of disability, in breach of section 7 of the Canadian Human Rights Act in that it failed to accommodate her disability (autism).

[86] Ms. Dawson testified that autism is a neurological disability and that people generally do not have a good understanding of this reality.



[90] Ms. Dawson testified that  autistic persons compared to non autistic people process information very differently, at a very basic profound level, really low level.

[95] In her testimony, Ms. Dawson also referred to people with Down Syndrome.  She testified that Down Syndrome is in the  same classification as autism.  They are both developmental disorders or neuro-developmental disabilities.



[220] The Tribunal thus finds that Ms. Dawson’s disability was an important factor in the way she was treated by the Respondent in relation to the above mentioned events and that the  Respondent’s conduct amounts to harassment and contravenes section 14 of the Act.

Contrary to those who assert that autism is an advantage Ms Dawson, as indicated in the CHRT decision,  testified that autistic persons compared to non autistic people process information very differently, at a very basic profound level, really low level.  Ms Dawson also testified about a serious deficit which afflicts many with autism disorders  SIB, or Self Injurious Behavior.  She gave evidence before the tribunal about her own Self Injurious Behavior. I commend Ms Dawson for having the courage to speak openly and honestly about her own very serious autism deficit, her self wounding:


[97]In her testimony, Ms. Dawson spoke about her self-inflicted injuries. Ms. Dawson testified that, at the very worst, there was probably a week or two weeks where two weeks in a row, she would have something, that she would injure herself. She added, however, that this would be rare. According to her, she would self-injure about once a month and never more. She testified that for cuts, it would not be more than one small area affected and not more than one or two cuts, but they would be in the same place. 

A Mysterious Dr. M testified about autism and self injury generally indicating that self-injury is linked to autism. He also talked about having diagnosed Michelle Dawson, having written letters on her behalf and having observed the results of her self injurious behavior:


[103] For Dr. M., the idea of curing autism is meaningless. Violence is absolutely not a problem that is attached to autism. According to Dr. M., what characterizes autism is that the specific part of the brain which is in charge of social activities is broken in an autistic brain. According to Dr. M., self-injury is linked to autism.


[110]Dr. M. testified that, while the ordinary person will become aggressive when anxious, autistic individuals will sometimes self-injure. This is especially the case, according to Dr. M., when an autistic person cannot understand a situation or cannot get an answer to a question. According to Dr. M., self-injury is the most extreme response to a psychological impasse that has no solution. It is a response to a disorganization of the world. It is the way for an autistic person to respond to negative situations whereas non autistic persons will show anger. Dr. M. stated in his testimony that he was aware of Ms. Dawson self-injury behavior. He had seen one of the wounds she had inflicted upon herself. For Dr. M., a self-inflicted injury is a sign of a deep psychological suffering.


[111] According to Dr. M., autistic people will also have a self-injurious behavior when experiencing internal pain of physical or psychological displeasure. So, if an autistic person finds himself or herself in a situation where he or she cannot escape, or experiences a feeling of disorder, he or she may self-injure, such as biting one's arm or hand. Dr. M. added that it is very difficult for a non autistic person to understand this type of behavior.
[130] Dr. M. testified that Ms. Dawson had told him that the injury that she self-inflicted helped her psychologically. For Dr. M., Ms. Dawson had the habit of self-injuring. Dr. M. interpreted these acts of self-injury as a sign of major psychological suffering, a way for autistic individuals to cope with anxiety. He stated in his testimony that he personally saw one of the wounds that Ms. Dawson had inflicted upon herself and stated that the wound was impressive, and would have been impressive for her coworkers.


Dr. Mottron's opinion piece in Nature magazine emphasized what he considers to be the advantages of autism and spent little time discussing the serious deficits that can accompany those with autism disorders.  Even Michelle Dawson described in the CHRT proceeding as intelligent and high functioning can suffer from serious Self Injurious Behavior. This father of a severely autistic young man with profound developmental delays who has engaged in serious self injurious behavior has no doubt that autism is a disability, a neurological disorder.  Especially for those like my son who do not share Ms Dawson's communication and high functioning abilities and intelligence self injurious behavior is a very serous reality, a deficit, not an advantage.


It is unfortunate that Dr. Laurent Mottron who has built a fine reputation for himself conducting studies and writing articles about high functioning autistics, persons with Aspergers and autistic savants, would downplay the serious deficits that accompany autism disorders.  He,  and his colleague Michelle Dawson, have opposed government financing in Canada of ABA treatment for autism, to this date the only solidly evidence based intervention for autism.


Almost annually a naive, autism ignorant mainstream media swallows the Mottron Mantra and paints a picture of autism as something other than what it is ... a disability ...  a serious neurodevelopmental disorder. In doing so Mottron and the MSM do a great disservice to those most severely affected by autism disorders.

*Ms Dawson made representations as an "autistic" to the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark Auton Case in which the SCC overturned British Columbia Court decisions which had required the BC government to fund ABA treatment for autistic children. Her application to the Court for intervenor status was supported by an affidavit from Dr. Laurent Mottron. In her representations to the Supreme Court Ms Dawson opposed ABA therapy.  See Auton (Guardian ad litem of) v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2004 SCC 78, [2004] 3 SCR 657, paragraph 5, "Indeed one of the interveners in this appeal, herself an autistic person, argues against the therapy."

**Note: I was an in house labour lawyer with Canada Post in Ontario between 1993 and 1997 but had never heard of Ms Dawson until after my return to private practice in New Brunswick. My son was diagnosed with Autistic Disorder a year after I returned to private practice and I become active in autism advocacy in New Brunswick.  Ms Dawson contacted me by telephone to ask for access to a legal opinion concerning autism which she heard had been provided to the Autism Society New Brunswick of which I was president at the time. 

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Severity and Everyday Functional Impairment in the DSM5's Autism Spectrum Disorder



In his recent Nature  journal article Dr. Laurent Mottron repaints autism disorders in the image of his mentor Michelle Dawson, and the handful of high functioning autistic persons (represented by Mottron as being typical autistics) who are also providing research assistance to Mottron and his research team. Almost all media coverage of the Mottron commentary has consisted of breathless expressions of admiration for Dawson and Mottron. The media has by and large accepted the Mottron commentary without critical analysis and without reservation.  I was interviewed by Sara Boesveld of the National Post about the commentary. She was very courteous and provided an opportunity to offer some counterpoint to the Mottron comment even if my input was reduced to the following paragraph which was then, apparently, provided to Michelle Dawson for rebuttal:


"Harold Doherty is a New Brunswick labour lawyer whose son Conor is “severely autistic,” barely communicates and expresses odd behaviour. He’s sure Conor will never be able to work and he’s worried what will happen to his son should he ever die and be unable to care for him.
“You can’t talk to a parent with a severely autistic child about the ‘power of autism.’ That’s nonsense,” he said. “And what they’ve done is they’ve tried to paint autism in a way that’s not realistic across the spectrum and they’ve misled the public by doing so.”
Ms. Dawson said it’s unfair to categorize someone as low functioning or high functioning. She and Dr. Mottron believe many tests that are used to determine level of functionality are inappropriate. Less commonly used tests such as Raven’s Matrices, which doesn’t require verbal instruction to complete, can actually reveal very high intelligence levels."
I had tried during my discussion with Ms Boesveld to indicate to her that functioning levels in autism disorders are not simply related to IQ tests, that they relate to the functioning levels in the real world, in daily life. I gave as a specific example the fact that autistic children have a tendency to wander away from home and school, sometimes with tragic consequences.  That information did not appear in the National Post article. The article noted my description of my son as severely autistic in quotation marks and published Michelle Dawson's personal opinion  that it is unfair to categorize someone as low or high functioning. 
Neither Michelle Dawson, nor the National Post, appear to be aware of the description of the new Autism Spectrum Disorder in the  proposed new version of the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Health Disorders, the DSM5, which is published by the American Psychiatric Association.  The DSM5 combines the various disorders referred to in popular discussion as the Autism Spectrum, including Autistic Disorder, PDD-NOS and Asperger's into one Autism Spectrum Disorder. Although the DSM5 creates one new Autism Spectrum Disorder it includes as a mandatory condition of receiving an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, in Condition D,  the requirement that a person's "symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning" The DSM5 then  divides the new Autism Spectrum Disorder by severity:


I describe my son as severely autistic and low functioning because the professional assessments and diagnoses "autistic disorder, profound developmental delay" support those descriptions. I describe my son as severely autistic because of his limited communication, his limited demonstrated understanding of the world or the dangers the world presents in daily life.  I describe my son as severely autistic and low functioning because I have cared for him 24/7 over a period of almost 16 years, because his safety, security and well being depend on receiving 24/7 care and because I love him too much to hide the daily and serious functional challenges he faces in life.
I do not think it unfair to speak honestly about the severity of my son's Autistic Disorder.  Apparently the drafters of the DSM5 do not take issue with my use of such language even if the "learned" Michelle Dawson does. 

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No Autism Advantage for My Son As He Slaps His Head and Bites His Wrists


The pictures above were taken of my son Conor during our early morning walk yesterday.  We have enjoyed many such walks and yesterday was a beautiful fresh fall morning that we both enjoyed.  Most of the rest of the day was also great.  Conor is a lot of fun, notwithstanding his Autistic Disorder. I enjoyed every moment with him ... except as the day drew to an end.  

At about 7:30 pm last evening Conor started to repeat the phrase school on Sunday, school on Sunday, school on Sunday .... endlessly.  He also began slapping his head and biting his hands, wrists and legs.  My attempts to communicate with him and modify his behavior, which apparently Dr. Laurent Mottron, and his mentor Michelle Dawson, would consider advantageous behavior, were only mildly successful.  I tried to get him into his bedtime routine in the downstairs washroom, to get him brushing his teeth, washing his face etc. The immediate result was a full scale meltdown which I overcame simply by loudly commanding him to begin brushing his teeth.  

As Conor completed his bedtime preparation he calmed down.  At 8:00 pm he went to sleep on the living room couch as he often likes to do.  I placed pillows under his head and covered him with lots of thick heavy blankets, then stayed nearby working at a computer in the adjacent kitchen.  Conor made some gentle singing and whistling sounds but engaged in no more self injurious or loud behaviors as he quietly went to sleep.

I  was thankful, for his sake and mine, that my son's autism advantage had disappeared for the night, that his slapping, biting and screaming had stopped and that he was able to get some sleep.

I look forward to another beautiful morning walk with Conor today but I hope that his autism advantage does not return. 

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New York State Now Requires Insurers to Cover Treatment for Autism Disorders


While this Canadian autism father is annoyed by media attention given to Canadian researcher  Laurent Mottron's perpetual crusade to recreate autism disorders in the image of his mentor Michelle Dawson, and trivialize the plight of the 70% of persons with Autistic Disorder and intellectual disabilities, there is good news south of the border to brighten the day.  In New York state BuffaloNews.com reports that our sensible American neighbors have passed legislation requiring insurers in that state to cover treatment for autism disorders:

A measure requiring health insurers to cover autism disorders was signed into law Tuesday, making New York the 29th state to enact such coverage mandates for the complex neurobiological disorder ... The legislation, signed into law by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, was approved unanimously by both legislative houses in June.


Dr. Mottron must surely be disappointed that US states are moving to provide insurance coverage for autism treatments that he and his mentor Michelle Dawson opposed at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Auton case where she intervened as an "autistic" in an effort to prevent the British Columbia government from being required to fund ABA treatment for autistic children.  (Dawson's request for intervenor status was backed by Dr. Motton's affidavit in support).


The American Academy of Pediatrics and experts are referenced in the BuffaloNews article supporting early treatment for autism:


"The American Academy of Pediatrics says that there is no cure for autism-related disorders but that children, with treatment, can progress and learn new skills. Experts say early diagnosis is key to helping improve conditions for children afflicted with autism. "


The AAP has previously given clear guidance on effective treatments for autism:



The effectiveness of ABA-based intervention in ASDs has been well documented through 5 decades of research by using single-subject methodology21,25,27,28 and in controlled studies of comprehensive early intensive behavioral intervention programs in university and community settings.29–40 Children who receive early intensive behavioral treatment have been shown to make substantial, sustained gains in IQ, language, academic performance, and adaptive behavior as well as some measures of social behavior, and their outcomes have been significantly better than those of children in control groups.31–4

American Academy of Pediatrics,Management of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The AAP 2007 report  Management of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders was reaffirmed  by the AAP in September 2010:



REAFFIRMED

Clinical Report: Dealing With the Parent Whose Judgment Is Impaired by
Alcohol or Drugs: Legal and Ethical Considerations. Pediatrics. 2004;
114(3):869 – 873. Reaffirmed September 2010

Clinical Report: Identification and Evaluation of Children With Autism
Spectrum Disorders. Pediatrics. 2007;120(5):1183–1215. Reaffirmed
September 2010

Clinical Report: Management of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Pediatrics. 2007:120(5):1162–1182. Reaffirmed September 2010

Unfortunately in Canada the views of Dr. Laurent Mottron and his mentor Michelle Dawson concerning ABA treatment of autism disorders hold great sway with the government of Prime Minister Harper which invited them to the national autism symposiums from which Canadian ABA advocates were banned despite having fought for a national autism strategy which led to the symposiums. 

In Canada the fight for ABA coverage for autism disorders continues though and determined parents and professionals will not give up. Although the mainstream media loves the feel good picture of autism created by Neurodiversity ideologues like Mottron and Dawson a history of the struggle for treatment for our autistic children can be found online at Medicare's Orphans. 

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Autism Functioning Levels Are Important, Reality Based Distinctions, It Is Time To STOP Pretending They Do Not Exist


There are people whose opinions about autism are sought out by members of the media who promote the falsehood that there is no such thing as people who are low-functioning. Those who promote this falsehood should STOP doing so and they should stop right now. They are causing harm. 

We do not do any favors for persons who are severely affected by disorders like autistic disorder, those who have serious intellectual deficits and lack the ability to function independently, by making statements denying that some persons with autism are low functioning because of their autism.  We are hurting them by denying their reality and by assigning blame to them and family members because they do not meet  the high standards of those less severely affected, if at all, by autism. Under the DSM5's new Autism Spectrum Disorder persons who lacks functioning deficits in everyday life activities should not receive a diagnosis  and should not be described as autistic. The proposed wording of the New Autism Spectrum Disorder, despite some questionable components, does make the functioning issue clear in Criterion D of the 4 mandatory criteria to meet an ASD diagnosis:

"D.         Symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning."

The three categories in the New ASD are distinguished based on functioning levels:

"Level 1 Requiring Support


Level 2 Requiring Substantial Support 


Level 3 Requiring Very Substantial Support "

Being positive about facing challenges should not be taken to the extreme of denying that many people have disorders that in fact render them low functioning even to the extent of being dependent on the care of others in order to live. J E Robison, Alex Plank, Ari Ne'eman, Michelle Dawson and most, if any,  of the members of the Board of Directors of ASAN Inc. do not share the deficits, the low functioning levels, of the 80% of persons with Autistic Disorder (DSM-IV) who have intellectual disabilities.  These successful business people, college graduates, researchers and political participants, some who have sufficient communication skills and social abilities to be able to play in rock bands, find marriage partners, raise families, and participate in high level political and corporate environments do not share the challenges faced by the low functioning persons with autistic disorder whose realities they downplay or deny entirely.  The great irony is that it is on THE Spectrum, Autism Spectrum Disorder, where you find persons with an incredibly wide and disparate range of abilities, deficits and challenges that we are most likely to find people denying that functioning levels matter or even exist.

The attempt to deny the importance of different functioning levels among persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders should STOP right now.  It hurts those most severely affected by autism.

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Laurent Mottron's Dangerous Anti Autism Cure Beliefs Resurface

Dr. Laurent Mottron has spent his entire career studying persons with high functioning autism and Aspergers.   Even as the parents of autistic children and good hearted people everywhere feel sadness and grief over the loss of another autistic child presumed lost Dr. Mottron promotes and oversells a study he led which according, to the good Doctor, supports his belief that autism should not be cured.

I have been unable, in the several years that I have been aware of his anti autism cure ideology,  to find any indication that Dr. Mottron has spent any time working with, or studying, those severely affected by autism disorders, whether they be the 75-80% of persons with Autistic Disorder and Intellectual Disability, those who engage in debilitating and dangerous self injurious behavior or those who wander from home and caregivers to danger, and sometimes, death.  The loss last year of James DeLorey in a snow storm, the Australian child who wandered from home into automobile traffic, the still ongoing tragedy  but now presumed death, of Adam Benhamma near Montreal, will have no impact on the entrenched "autism is beautiful beliefs" of Dr. Laurent Mottron. 

I admit straight up that I personally do not subscribe to Laurent Mottron's anti autism cure ideology and do not trust any study by him  like the one now being touted, which he led, concerning "autistic" brains.  I would ask the professionals who actually work trying to help autistic children lead  fuller lives, including those who actually work with autistic children with severe autism disorders, to analyze carefully and critically Dr. Mottron's new study.  I will be very surprised if the "autistic" brain Dr. Mottron reports on is anything other than a snapshot of some of the very high functioning autistic subjects he has worked with for decades to the exclusion of  severely affected, intellectually challenged persons with autism disorders.

Dr. Laurent Mottron is not just a researcher who has devoted decades to studying high functioning autistic persons.  He has also removed himself from the realm of scientific detachment and objectivity and  involved himself in Canada's legal system in an effort to prevent medicare coverage of ABA treatment for autistic children in British Columbia in the Auton case Auton (Guardian  ad litem  of)  v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [2004] 3 S.C.R. 657, 2004 SCC 78  case.  In Auton  Mottron helped launch the career of high functioning autism researcher and anti ABA advocate Michelle Dawson  with his affidavit in support of her intervention, as an "autistic", before the Supreme Court of Canada.   In his supporting affidavit the good Doctor solemnly declared and affirmed the following statement of expert opinion:

5.
Ms. Dawson has a tremendous understanding of both the difficulties faced by autistic individuals in our society, as well as the tremendous inherent strengths of many of these individuals. 


Personally I have never seen Michelle Dawson make any statement that reflects any understanding, let alone a "tremendous" understanding of the difficulties faced by autistic individuals in Canadian society.  I have never seen or heard statements by her acknowledging the existence of the many persons with Autistic Disorder and Intellectual Disability. I don't know how her life experience as a very intelligent, adult diagnosed "autistic" gives her tremendous, or any,  insight into the challenges faced by low functioning, intellectually disabled autistic children.  Nor have I seen her, or the good Doctor, make any statements describing or addressing in any intelligent fashion the many serious behavior challenges faced by those severely affected by autism disorders.  What is clear though is that Michelle Dawson and Dr. Laurent Mottron both believe that autism is a good thing that should not be cured.  They have long held these anti cure, including anti ABA treatment,  autism beliefs. 

Dr. Mottron also appeared as an unidentified expert witness "the mysterious Dr. M" in Ms Dawson's case before a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, Dawson v. Canada Post Corporation, 2008 CHRT 41,  in which he described the idea of curing autism as nonsense:

[86] Ms. Dawson testified that autism is a neurological disability and that people generally do not have a good understanding of this reality. Ms. Dawson stated repeatedly that autism was not a mental illness. For her, a mental illness has an onset, various treatments, and there is a return to the previous state to a greater or lesser degree. Both Ms. Dawson and Dr. M., as will be seen, pointed out that the notion of curing autism was nonsensical. Still many people want to cure autism.

....

b) The testimony of Dr. M

[99] At the beginning of his testimony, Dr. M., who is a psychiatrist, was qualified by the Tribunal as an expert in autism. Dr. M. filed a report as well as three letters pertaining to Ms.Dawson’s condition.

[100] Dr. M. testified on the nature of autism, autistic individuals as well as on Ms. Dawson’scondition. The credibility of Dr. M. as well as the accuracy of his statements and opinions wasnot challenged by the Respondent. The Tribunal finds Dr. M.’s testimony highly credible even if the evidence shows that in recent years, Ms. Dawson has worked with him and has co-authored scientific articles with Dr. M.

And now, surprise, surprise, surprise,  Dr. Mottron has published a study which, according to the good Doctor, supports his long held belief that autism should not be cured.  I wonder how many low functioning, severely challenged, intellectually disabled autistic subjects were included in Dr. Mottron's study? I do not buy what the mysterious Dr. M is selling and I doubt that most parents with autistic children, and most professionals tasked with addressing some of the serious and dangerous challenges faced by autistic children and adults,  will buy it either.  

Dr. Mottron is not necessarily an objective, detached medical professional or scientific researcher.  He has long held a belief that autism should not be cured and his latest study conclusions are used to support  his own beliefs. Given his long held personal beliefs his study, and his public commentaries about what conclusions can be drawn from that study, should be given close, careful scrutiny.   In particular his conclusion that the study supports his belief that persons with autism should not be cured should be given very close examination.  As Dr. Mottron stated in the Vancouver Sun:

""While this study does not conclusively show a causal effect between brain activity and the enhanced abilities of those with autism, lead researcher Laurent Mottron of the University of Montreal said it is the most "robust" evidence yet suggesting a link. He said it adds another argument against attempts to "cure" autistics.

When we try to turn an autistic toddler into a non-autistic toddler, it's painful, it's expensive and it does not work," he said. "We should not try to assimilate or break the difference (between autistics and non-autistics), but just admit that it's a difference that has good and bad consequences."

High functioning autism researcher Dr. Laurent Mottron has been promoting his anti autism cure belief for many years.  Hopefully his latest efforts to thwart treatment and cure of autism disorders will enjoy no more success than his previous efforts.  The chance to improve the lives of autistic children and adults is too big a price to pay for the promotion of Dr. Mottron's personal belief system.

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Autism and the Media: Anti-ABA Activist Michelle Dawson Is Back In The CBC Spotlight Denouncing ABA



To my knowledge no one has ever accused anti-ABA activist Michelle Dawson of shying away from the spotlight  and  Michelle Dawson is back where she has been so often ... in the CBC spotlight. Once again she is peddling, in the name of science, ethics and "autistic people",  her anti-ABA rhetoric.  Ms Dawson repeats previous sermons in which she preaches  that provision of ABA interventions for autistic children lacks scientific support and is unethical. She offers nothing to back up her opinions. The CBC offers little help in that regard beyond pointing out that Ms Dawson is autistic, is a researcher and is, allegedly, an autism"expert". 

Borrowing a page from the heated rhetoric of the vaccine autism wars Ms Dawson asserts that ignorant, ill informed  parents are being duped by lobbyists and ...  in an interesting twist ... governments ... into thinking their autistic children must have ABA.  The CBC article Expert raps Quebec autism treatment makes no direct reference to the numerous reviews, from the US Surgeon General to the American Academy of Pediatrics,  that have examined hundreds of studies over decades of research and concluded that ABA is the most evidence backed effective intervention for helping autistic children overcome many of the deficits associated with autistic disorders:

"Autism expert Michelle Dawson says the Quebec government is wasting its money by funding "Applied Behavioural Analysis", known as ABA — a program she calls ineffective.

ABA is designed to reinforce behaviour through repetition. Dawson, who has autism, says she has evidence that the approach doesn't deliver what it promises.

The program doesn't optimize the overall wellbeing of people with autism, said Dawson, who researches the neurodevelopment disorder at the University of Montreal.

"In ABA you have the problem that these parents have been told by everybody, including by governments, if your child doesn't get this intervention, they're to some degree down the drain," she said.

ABA is one of the few treatments the Quebec government will finance.

"It doesn't have anything to do with science or ethics, or when you look at the well being of autistic people. It's just really effective lobbying by some people, including people who have pretty extensive conflicts of interest, or even they just are true believers, they have very strong beliefs in certain approaches, or very strong beliefs about autistic people that aren't necessarily grounded in science or ethics," Dawson said."

The CBC should  do more homework on the subject before, yet again, giving Michelle Dawson a platform to promote the same tired  anti-ABA beliefs that launched her into national fame in Canada. If it's journalists are too busy to read some of the many reviews, from the US Surgeon General to the MADSEC Autism review  to the American Academy of Pediatrics which have endorsed ABA as the most effective evidence backed intervention for autistic children  they could at least check with some of the actual autism experts and health authorities that she demeans before again giving her the CBC pulpit to promote her beliefs.  

The CBC  might also want to read  Dr. Edward K. Morris's published article about  Dr. Morton Ann Gernsbacher, an occasional co-author with Ms. Dawson and her mentor Dr. Laurent Mottron,  and a  comrade in arms in their struggle to prevent autistic children from receiving the benefits of ABA treatment: A Case Study in the Misrepresentation of Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism: The Gernsbacher Lectures:   

"This article presents a case study in the misrepresentation of applied behavior analysis for autism based on Morton Ann Gernsbacher’s presentation of a lecture titled ‘‘The Science of Autism: Beyond the Myths and Misconceptions.’’ Her misrepresentations involve the characterization of applied behavior analysis, descriptions of practice guidelines, reviews of the treatment literature, presentations of the clinical trials research, and conclusions about those trials (e.g., children’s improvements are due to development, not applied behavior analysis). The article also reviews applied behavior analysis’ professional endorsements and research support, and addresses issues in professional conduct. It ends by noting the deleterious effects that misrepresenting any research on autism (e.g., biological, developmental, behavioral) have on our understanding and treating it in a transdisciplinary context.

Professor Morris pulled no punches in his critique of Dr. Gernsbacher's public misrepresentations of ABA and the effect of those misrepresentations:

Sentiment against applied behavior analysis is not, of course, necessarily anti science. No matter what Gernsbacher’s sentiments may be, her achievements are anything but anti science.What stunned me, then, was how she reached her conclusions: She inaccurately represented research reviews, wrongly characterized applied behavior-analytic interventions, misleadingly appealed to history, inaccurately conveyed research designs, selectively omitted research results, and incorrectly interpreted intervention outcomes. Although misrepresentations often only a minor nuisance in science, they can have harmful consequences, which I believe hers did (and do), both locally and more broadly.

The local consequences included misinforming KU’s community members about ABA-EIBI; hundreds of KU students about a science of behavior and its application; current and prospective ABS majors about course of study at KU (and careers); and KU staff, faculty, and administrators about scholarship in a department renowned for its research in applied behavior analysis. The broader consequences include Gernsbacher’s probable influence on behavioral, social, and cognitive scientists who teach, conduct research, and provide services in autism; funding agencies and foundations who set priorities and allocate resources for autism research and applications; and state and federal agencies that set standards for autism services and funding. She has standing and stature in most, if not all, of these venues: in APS, of course, but also in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where she is a psychology section member at large, and in the National Science Foundation (NSF), where she is on the Advisory Committee for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. Although Gernsbacher surely gained these highly respected positions by conducting first-rate science, the hallmarks of her science were largely absent in this section of her lecture.

In the article conclusion Dr. Morris, after a detailed review of the evidence in support of the effectiveness of ABA as an autism intervention, and after a detailed review of Dr. Gernsbacher's representations of ABA, explains why he wrote the article:

"Mainly, though, I wrote it for the families of children with autism and, ultimately, for those children who need and deserve evidence-based treatments, of which ABA-EIBI so far has the best support. Unfortunately, many parents are dissuaded from using it by misinformed, misguided, or misleading advocates of other approaches. As a result, they often use these approaches until they see their children’s poor progress. When they begin using ABA-EIBI to good effect, they speak of their great regret and guilt for not having used it earlier, when their children had the most to gain and the most time to make those gains. The opportunity cost of not using ABA-EIBI, or any equally effective intervention, is that their children will be delayed in achieving their full potential or never achieve it at all. As a result, their children will need more supportive services and institutionalization later into their lives and perhaps for the rest of their lives at significant personal and social costs to them, and financial costs to us all. This is a crime."

I have been unable to find a public reply by Dr. Morton Ann Gernsbacher to the Morris article, published in early 2009.  Dr. Morris had sent a copy of the article to Dr. Gernsbacher in 2008 shortly before she again presented lectures in which Dr. Morris states she continued to misrepresent ABA.  If Dr. Gernsbacher,  Michelle Dawson, or any of their followers, know of any public replies by Dr. Gernsbacher to the Morris criticisms I ask you to forward them to me.  In the meantime, hopefully, someone will bring the article to the attention of the CBC before it, once again, gives Michelle Dawson a platform to spread her anti-ABA ideology.  Until then the CBC may wish to avoid Michelle Dawson's anti-ABA rhetoric and read at least the following excerpt from the American Academy of Pediatrics 2007 publication, Management of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders:

"The effectiveness of ABA-based intervention in ASDs has been well documented through 5 decades of research by using single-subject methodology21,25,27,28 and in controlled studies of comprehensive early intensive behavioral intervention programs in university and community settings.29–40 Children who receive early intensive behavioral treatment have been shown to make substantial, sustained gains in IQ, language, academic performance, and adaptive behavior as well as some measures of social behavior, and their outcomes have been significantly better than those of children in control groups.31–4"
    

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