Learning About the Lived Experiences of Women with Autism from an Online Community

The experience of being an adult female with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been understudied in social work literature. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of females with ASD, from their perspective, by examining content from an online autism community Web site. Using a phenomenological approach, data analysis on content obtained from the forum revealed several themes about the women’s experiences concerning the diagnostic process, managing and understanding symptoms, and the impact of ASD on their personal and work relationships. Implications for social work practice, including creating more effective services for females with ASD, are discussed.     

我国自闭症康复机构干预方法及其影响因素研究

干预方法选择及应用状况影响自闭症康复机构的康复教育效果。本研究采用问卷调查法,调查36家康复机构实施的干预方法及干预过程中的辅助教具应用状况。结果发现:康复机构选择率最高的干预方法是感觉统合疗法,其次是已循证的干预方法,包括回合式教学、自然情境干预和视觉辅助等;康复机构不同干预课程的辅助教具应用相对统一,教师教学能力和经费需求影响康复机构选择干预方法的多样性。     

Observing Tacting Increases Uninstructed Tacts in Children with Autism

The effects of observing an adult emitting tacts on children’s rate of uninstructed (i.e., “spontaneous”) tacts were examined in three children diagnosed with autism. Each participant was exposed to two conditions in four settings each: in condition 1, participants received 20 trials of teacher-initiated interactions in which the child was asked to tact 20 objects during 5 min. Condition 2 was identical to condition 1 except that the teacher also tacted 20 objects interspersed with the 20 tact trials. The number of uninstructed tacts was recorded in both conditions. Children emitted between 1.58 and 2.68 times more uninstructed tacts in condition 2 than in condition 1. These results indicate that teachers’ emission of tacts increases the emission of uninstructed tacts in children with autism.     

How is a sense of well-being and belonging constructed in the accounts of autistic adults?

This small-scale exploratory study sought to develop an understanding of the meaning of well-being and social belonging as represented within the narratives of adults on the autism spectrum. Employing an interpretivist approach facilitated the investigation of potential contributory factors to these lived experiences in order to inform further research regarding both this topic, and service provision for adults on the autism spectrum. The project involved a thematic analysis of issues of the magazine Asperger United (AU). Four broad main themes were identified: meeting personal needs, living with the consequences of an ‘othered’ identity, connection and recognition, and relationships and advocacy. Autistic adults reported many barriers to feeling that they belonged in a number of social spaces and the detrimental effect this had on their wellbeing. Fundamental to positive narratives of wellbeing, were feelings of connection and recognition from others and positive accepting relationships, with autistic-led spaces, particularly the Autscape conference, being frequently cited as of central significance in increasing feelings of wellbeing and belonging. This study has demonstrated a need for less focus on remediation and more on limiting the social isolation of autistic people.     

阿斯伯格综合症与高功能自闭症青少年患者的差异研究

在广泛性发育障碍的青少年患者中阿斯伯格综合症与高功能自闭症的青少年近年有着增长的趋势．因为症状极为相似,学界对他们之间差异的争议由来已久。在结合现有诊断标准、系统梳理已有实证研究报告的基础上,发现阿斯伯格综合症和高功能自闭症青少年患者之间存在着社会交往、言语及语言交流、兴趣与行为模式等方面的差异。此发现可以在诊断体系的规范性与科学性、区分证据的直观性与整合性上为特殊教育和心理咨询临床鉴别诊断阿斯伯格综合症与高功能自闲症的青少年提供参考,更好地服务于患有此类疾病的青少年及其家庭。     

Critical autism studies: exploring epistemic dialogues and intersections,challenging dominant understandings of autism

In this paper we explore how our cultural contexts give rise to different kinds of knowledges of autism and examine how they are articulated, gain currency, and form the basis for policy, practice and political movements. We outline key tensions for the development of critical autism studies as an international, critical abilities approach. Our aim is not to offer a cross-cultural account of autism or to assume a coherence or universality of ‘autism’ as a singular diagnostic category/reality. Rather, we map the ways in which what is experienced and understood as autism, plays out in different cultural contexts, drawing on the notion of ‘epistemic communities’ to explore shifts in knowledge about autism, including concepts such as ‘neurodiversity’, and how these travel through cultural spaces. The paper explores two key epistemic tensions; the dominance of ‘neuro culture’ and dominant constructions of personhood and what it means to be human.     

Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing of Vocalizations: A Systematic Replication

The current study replicated an enhanced stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP) procedure used by Esch et al. (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 42: 42–225, 2009) for increasing vocalizations in children with autism. The enhanced SSP procedure consisted of pairing target vocalizations with high-preference items, interspersed target and nontarget trials, an observing response, and the presentation of the vocalizations in “motherese” speech. Results showed substantial increases in target vocalizations above baseline levels and above nontarget vocalizations for two of three participants.     

‘If I was a different ethnicity,would she treat me the same?’: Latino parents’ experiences obtaining autism services

This article reports on an ethnographic study with 12 Latino families of children on the autism spectrum related to obtaining autism services in Los Angeles County. Using critical discourse analysis of interviews, observations, and records, we consider the experiences of the Latino families in relation to: a discursively constructed ‘autism parent’ subject position that mandates ‘fighting’ service systems to ‘win’ autism services for children, originating from White middle-class parents’ socioeconomic resources and social capital; a neoliberal social services climate that assumes scarcity of available resources and prioritizes austerity in their authorization; and a media and institutional ‘cultural deficit’ discourse that attributes disparities in autism services for Latino children to their parents’ presumed culturally-based ‘passivity.’ We argue that parental discourse about fighting, or not fighting, for autism services is engendered by a tension between a parental logic of care, and the logic of competition of the economic market.     

浅谈中国非政府体制下自闭症服务机构的发展之路

在我们周围生活着这样一群人，他们的容貌与常人无异。但是，他们不会说话或是只有微弱的语言能力；他们不喜欢也不会与人交流，他们表达喜悦的方式是尖叫，表达亲近的行动可能是拳打脚踢；他们常常偏执于一种习惯不能改变。通常他们被归类为精神病或者弱智。他们有一个属于自己的名称：自闭症患者。本文通过对比分析国际、国内自闭症儿童机构的各种服务手法，探寻中国自闭症儿童机构的发展之路，为中国的自闭症机构更好的发展提供参考，为这些遭遇不幸的儿童进一份自己的力量。     

自闭症儿童家庭的社会福利需要——以福州市为个案的研究

在我国,自闭症已经被列为精神残疾,那些被喻为“星星的孩子”的自闭症儿童也因此将可以享有残疾人社会保障政策提供的相应保障。但这类残疾与其他类型残疾不同的特点使该类型残疾儿童、儿童家庭产生特殊的社会福利需要,需要制定相应的社会政策保障他们教育、医疗、就业、生活等方面的权益。评估自闭症儿童的家庭社会福利需要,并倡导制定相应的社会政策,是社会工作者帮助白闭症儿童家庭解决困境的必然选择。经过评估,发现自闭症儿童家庭的社会福利需要主要有经济援助、教育支持、心理援助、健全社会保障体系、建构积极的社会支持网络等。