Author: Laura Benasaraf
Autism, Abstracted: Disease, Disorder, or Disability?
For the past seventy years, autism has been labeled as a disease, a disorder, and most recently as one of many “normals” in a neurodiverse community. In this paper, I will argue that how people think about autism is a major factor in how they act towards diagnosed individuals and how they choose to address the educational, developmental, and social struggles that accompany an autism diagnosis.
The terms Disease, Disorder, and Disability each have unique connotations in the psychology community. Some have labeled autism as a disease, choosing to search for a cure and looking for genetic causes. Others have considered it a disorder, and thus choose to treat it with a variety of therapies. Autism is beginning to be seen as a disability, and the response to this identification has been to adapt social, educational, and community programs to best benefit individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The identification of autism as a disability has helped humanize autism by identifying that it is not a problem that needs to be “fixed.” Instead, the autism community has shifted its focus to interventions that promote independence and help make the lives of diagnosed individuals easier.
This paper will analyze different identifications of autism in the seventy years since its initial documentation and the development of forms of treatment that relate to those identifications, looking at the different editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, along with articles, papers and webpages from psychiatrists, scientific writers and from within the autism community. Knowing that there is a correlation between the label given to autism and the way the disorder is then treated can help us consciously choose to support treatments that best benefit individuals with autism.
Autism, Abstracted
For the past 80 years, autism has been labeled as a disease, a disorder, and most recently as one of many “normals” in a neurodiverse community. In this paper, I will argue that how people think about autism is a major factor in how they act towards diagnosed individuals and how they choose to address the educational, developmental, and social struggles that accompany an autism diagnosis.
Some have treated autism as a disease, choosing to search for a cure and looking for genetic causes of autism. Others have considered it a disorder, and thus chose to treat it with different forms of therapy. Autism is beginning to be seen as a disability, and the response to this identification has been to adapt social, educational, and community programs to best benefit individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The identification of autism as a disability has helped humanize autism by identifying that it is not a problem that needs to be “fixed.” Instead, the autism community has shifted its focus to interventions that promote independence and help make the lives of diagnosed individuals easier.
This paper will analyze different identifications of autism through time and the development of forms of treatment that relate to those identifications, looking at the different editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, articles and papers from psychiatrists and scientific writers, and articles and webpages from within the autism community. Knowing that there is a correlation between the label given to autism and the way the disorder is then treated can help us consciously choose to support treatments that best benefit individuals with autism.
Autism, Abstracted
For the past 80 years, autism has been defined in many ways. It has been labeled as a disease, a disorder, and most recently as one of many “normals” in a neurodiverse community. How people think about autism is a major factor in how they act towards diagnosed individuals and how they choose to address the educational, developmental and social struggles that come along with an autism diagnosis.
Some have treated autism as a disease, choosing to search for a cure and looking for genetic causes for autism. Others have considered it as a disorder, and thus chose to treat it with different forms of therapy. Autism is finally beginning to be seen as a disability, and the response to this identification has been to adapt social, educational and community programs to best benefit individuals with autism spectrum disorders. The identification of autism as a disability has helped humanize autism by identifying that it is not a problem that needs to be “fixed.” Instead, the autism community has changed its focus to interventions that promote independence and help make the lives of diagnosed individuals easier.
This paper will analyze different identifications of autism through time and the development of forms of treatment that relate to those identifications, looking at the different editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, articles and papers from psychiatrists and scientific writers, and articles and webpages from within the autism community.
Autism, Analyzed: 8 Week Syllabus
Course Description: In this course, we will explore Autism from its initial recognition as a disorder to its perception today. It is estimated that one in two hundred and fifty individuals worldwide has received an Autism Spectrum diagnosis. Just as there is a spectrum of disorders that affect both high and low functioning individuals, there are different ways of seeing Autism, and thus different ways of addressing treatment of individuals with ASD diagnoses. This course will be divided into two parts. In the first, we will analyze three different ways that autism has been defined: as a disorder, as a disease, and as a natural product of neurodiversity. In the second half of the course, we will explore how individuals with autism are being included in the classroom, workplace and community with the new sociocultural move toward neurodiversity. Continue reading Autism, Analyzed: 8 Week Syllabus
Disease, Disorder, or Indifferent? A study of Autism
Course Description: In this course, we will explore autism from its initial recognition as a disorder to its perception today. It is estimated that one in two hundred and fifty individuals worldwide has received an Autism Spectrum diagnosis. Just as there is a spectrum of disorders that affect both high and low functioning individuals, there are different ways of seeing Autism, and thus different ways of addressing treatment of individuals with ASD diagnoses. This course will provide an analysis of three different ways that autism has been defined: as a disorder, as a disease, and as a natural product of neurodiversity.
Continue reading Disease, Disorder, or Indifferent? A study of Autism
A Tale of Two Therapies
For my project, I have chosen to research two of the most common methods used to aid individuals with Autism Spectrum disorders (ASD), Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and the Floortime method. ABA is a conditioning method which uses positive reinforcement and punishment to teach skills to the student. Floortime is a method which emphasizes the formation of a pathway of effective communication with the student as the foundation for learning. My work over the past six years with individuals who have ASD diagnoses has helped me develop an interest in this topic, along with an interest in cognitive behavior and related disabilities. My personal experience has included three years as an ABA therapist and three years as a DIR/Floortime therapist. in addition, I have utilized both techniques with the same child, and this led me to be curious as to which method is more effective.
After my initial research, I have come to the conclusion that people have profoundly disparate opinions as to the best therapy method for individuals with ASD. There are individuals in the “ABA camp” and others in the “Floortime camp,” and the two groups are vying for recognition of each of their espoused methods as the best treatment option for individuals with autism diagnoses. It is apparent that there has been much more research done about ABA, as the technique has been in use for many more years than Floortime, which is a more recent method. I am hoping to find a comprehensive comparison of the effectiveness of the two techniques, and would be interested to discover if anyone has written about trying to integrate the two methods to utilize the strengths of each to more effectively serve these individuals.
A very public or known study that shows a clear benefit of one therapy over the other, or a comparative study done of the two therapy techniques, would provide a springboard for much further research in my topic.
