Vikram Jaswal | |
---|---|
Occupation | Professor of Psychology |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Columbia University (BA) University of Edinburgh (MSc) Stanford University (MA, PhD) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Psychology,Autism |
Sub-discipline | Developmental Psychology,Cognitive Psychology |
Institutions | University of Virginia |
Vikram Kenneth Jaswal is a developmental psychologist known for his work on autism,particularly augmentative communication supports for nonspeaking autistic people [1] using the discredited method of facilitated communication. He holds the position of Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. [2]
Jaswal earned his B.A. in psychology from Columbia University in 1995. [3] He then attended graduate school at the University of Edinburgh where he obtained his MSc in neuroscience. He then attended Stanford University,where he received his M.A. in psychology in 2000,and his PhD in developmental psychology in 2003. [3] As a graduate student,Jaswal's research focused on word learning in young children. [4] Jaswal's dissertation focused on how three and four-year-old children process linguistic labels assigned to anomalous objects, [5] for which he received the National Institute of Mental Health National Research Service Award predoctoral research grant. [6]
After receiving his PhD,Jaswal moved to the University of Virginia in 2003. [2] His early research focused on cognitive development,particularly in the context of young children's learning. [7] Sometime later,his daughter was diagnosed with autism,prompting Jaswal to change his research focus to studying the condition,particularly communication in non-speaking autistic people. [2]
During his career,Jaswal has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council,the Jacobs Foundation,the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,and the National Institute of Mental Health. [3]
In 2016,Jaswal and his wife,Tauna Szymanski,pulled their 7-year-old daughter,who is a non-speaking autistic person, [2] from school,due to concerns that she would not receive the educational environment she needed in a separate classroom for students with disabilities. [8]
Jaswal's initial research focused on learning in typically developing preschool-age children. Some of his early research provided evidence that sad children learn better than happy children. [7] He began researching autism when his daughter was diagnosed with the condition. [2]
Jaswal's recent research focuses on augmentative communication methods,including facilitated communication for non-speaking autistic people. He argues that the belief that non-speaking autistic people have less to contribute,and less intelligence than people who do speak,is ableist. [1] However,several autism researchers,including Howard Shane,argue that the authenticity of the messages produced by facilitated communicators is questionable. Shane himself published empirical work discrediting facilitated communication in the 1990s. [9]
Psychologist Stuart Vyse critiques Jaswal's authorship study stating that Jaswal didn't blind the facilitator to test protocols and the facilitator held the letter board in the air during the eye tracking activities. Flawed methodology with no explanation of why it is necessary to have the facilitator hold the letterboard in the air instead of flat on a table or on a easel. Vyse states "In my opinion,the evidence they offer is not compelling. As a result,they have not met the burden of proof incumbent on them." [10] Drexel University autism program professor Katharine Beals claims that Jaswal's eye-tracking study "is based on faulty assumptions that undermine both its rationale and its conclusions." [11]
In 2019,Jaswal and Nameera Akhtar of the University of California,Santa Cruz published a research article arguing that autistic people long for social connection and engagement,but that their behaviors are misinterpreted as lack of interest in social engagement. [12] [13] This article sparked controversy among autism researchers. [14] Jaswal and Akhtar argue that the assumption that autistic people are uninterested in socializing dehumanizes them. [13]
Jaswal's work challenges assumptions that non-speaking autistic people have less intelligence,a lack of social motivation,and cannot think for themselves. His work has highlighted the experiences of non-speaking autistic people,building an insider-based challenge to the negative assumptions about non-speaking autistic people. [1]
His work also provides alternative explanations of autism. In 2013,Jaswal and Akhtar co-edited a special section of the journal Developmental Psychology on the debate over whether autistic children's development should be changed to fit current developmental norms,or embraced as a naturally occurring part of the human condition. [15] The idea that autism does not need to be "corrected" is the foundation of the Neurodiversity movement. [16]
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome, formerly described a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. The syndrome has been merged with other disorders into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is no longer considered a stand-alone diagnosis. It was considered milder than other diagnoses that were merged into ASD by relatively unimpaired spoken language and intelligence.
Facilitated communication (FC), or supported typing, is a scientifically discredited technique that claims to allow non-verbal people, such as those with autism, to communicate. The technique involves a facilitator guiding the disabled person's arm or hand in an attempt to help them type on a keyboard or other such device which they are unable to properly use if unfacilitated.
Diagnoses of autism have become more frequent since the 1980s, which has led to various controversies about both the cause of autism and the nature of the diagnoses themselves. Whether autism has mainly a genetic or developmental cause, and the degree of coincidence between autism and intellectual disability, are all matters of current scientific controversy as well as inquiry. There is also more sociopolitical debate as to whether autism should be considered a disability on its own.
Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of Trinity College.
Neurodiversity is a framework for understanding human brain function and mental illness. It argues that diversity in human cognition is normal and that some conditions classified as mental disorders are differences and disabilities that are not necessarily pathological.
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Discrete trial training (DTT) is a technique used by practitioners of applied behavior analysis (ABA) that was developed by Ivar Lovaas at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). DTT uses mass instruction and reinforcers that create clear contingencies to shape new skills. Often employed as an early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for up to 25–40 hours per week for children with autism, the technique relies on the use of prompts, modeling, and positive reinforcement strategies to facilitate the child's learning. It previously used aversives to punish unwanted behaviors. DTT has also been referred to as the "Lovaas/UCLA model", "rapid motor imitation antecedent", "listener responding", errorless learning", and "mass trials".
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Autism therapies include a wide variety of therapies that help people with autism, or their families. Such methods of therapy seek to aid autistic people in dealing with difficulties and increase their functional independence.
Pivotal response treatment (PRT), also referred to as pivotal response training, is a naturalistic form of applied behavior analysis used as an early intervention for children with autism that was pioneered by Robert Koegel and Lynn Kern Koegel. PRT advocates contend that behavior hinges on "pivotal" behavioral skills—motivation and the ability to respond to multiple cues—and that development of these skills will result in collateral behavioral improvements. In 2005, Richard Simpson of the University of Kansas identified pivotal response treatment as one of the four scientifically based treatments for autism.
Classic autism, also known as childhood autism, autistic disorder, (early) infantile autism, infantile psychosis, Kanner's autism,Kanner's syndrome, or (formerly) just autism, is a neurodevelopmental condition first described by Leo Kanner in 1943. It is characterized by atypical and impaired development in social interaction and communication as well as restricted, repetitive behaviors, activities, and interests. These symptoms first appear in early childhood and persist throughout life.
Autism, formally called autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by deficits in reciprocal social communication and the presence of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. Other common signs include difficulty with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, along with perseverative interests, stereotypic body movements, rigid routines, and hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input. Autism is clinically regarded as a spectrum disorder, meaning that it can manifest very differently in each person. For example, some are nonspeaking, while others have proficient spoken language. Because of this, there is wide variation in the support needs of people across the autism spectrum.
This relationship between autism and memory, specifically memory functions in relation to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), has been an ongoing topic of research. ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by social communication and interaction impairments, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. In this article, the word autism is used to refer to the whole range of conditions on the autism spectrum, which are not uncommon.
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Stuart Vyse is an American psychologist, teacher, speaker and author who specializes in belief in superstitions and critical thinking. He is frequently invited as a speaker and interviewed by the media as an expert on superstitious behavior. His book Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition won the American Psychological Association's William James Book Award.
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