1. They had already been banned from schools as teachers said they were “too distracting” for other pupils - so they have never learnt to read or write, one of their biggest regrets in life.

Holy shit.

Thank god nothing like that happens now. Thank you, ADA/IDEA.

2. I'm not the most sedentary person in the nation!

3. This study involves some categorization/conception of religious belief that I found pretty interesting. Including this definition and analysis:

Fundamentalism (the belief that there is one set of religious teachings that clearly contain the essential, inerrant truth) was linked both to greater homophobia and racism. So fundamentalist religion generates group cohesion that's sufficiently powerful to overcome the non-racist message of conventional Christianity.

4. Sweet.

This especially kind of blows my mind:

So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from 8% in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists.

Not that I think non-believers should take over and/or start converting. But I can't help but think this will mean increased visibility and therefore increased societal acceptance.

5. So yeah. Old news:

The controversy erupted when media reported that a nine-year-old girl from the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco had had an abortion to remove twin fetuses. The girl and her family learned she was 15 weeks pregnant when she went to hospital complaining of pains.

The girl, who has not been identified, told authorities her step-father had sexually abused her since age six. The 23-year-old step-father is currently in police custody.

Here's the kicker:

Upon learning of the abortion, the regional archbishop excommunicated the doctors, as well as the girl's mother. He did not excommunicate the step-father, saying the crime he is alleged to have committed, although deplorable, was not as bad as ending a fetus's life.

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

Sometimes I truly hate this world.

1. So this incident is pretty old news, and nothing unique, but I did notice this part:

The Police Department has an autism response team, but it was not dispatched.

Really? That's kind of cool, I guess. I'm a little worried about what kind of special training this team receives. Can't they just do some disability awareness for all of the police?

2. Awesome. When are they gonna teach it ASL? (Or BSL, given that it's in the UK.)

3. Contemporary archaeology is a response to the problem of preserving and recording our disposable, rapidly changing culture.

Interesting. Hadn't thought of it from that angle -- the need for archaeology as a response to rapid change (instead of a response to lack of recorded history, etc.)

4. For some reason, my first thought upon seeing this was, "It's snack sized!"

Also, this design just looks man-made to me. Strange that it occurred naturally.

5. The mustang was white all over, with dark spots on his rear, betraying some Appaloosa in his ancestry, but with hooves like dinner plates, suggesting the additional introduction of something more along the lines of a draft horse. He'd been named Dot by the inmates at the Honor Farm near Riverton, where he'd been trained as a wild-born five-year-old. As a result the mustang had both native sense and correctional-facility manners, and you can do a lot worse than that in a horse.

Ha. True.

1. Hey jackass, it's free, so eat the fucking waffles.

2. So this guy apparently got bitch-slapped by Helen Keller:

"I had heard that Helen could speak and I wanted to feel her speak, so I reached out to put my hands on her face, hoping that she would speak to me that way," Smithdas recalls. "But to my surprise she slapped my hand away. I wasn't amused. I thought it was a crude gesture."

And then this....

Journalist Barbara Walters, who spoke at Smithdas' retirement luncheon Friday, said Smithdas was remarkable.

"Truly, the most memorable person I had ever met was Robert Smithdas," she said. "I remember going to Bob's house, and he cooked me a meal. I was amazed he was able to do this and didn't burn his hands."

Okay people. If you're gonna call someone remarkable, do it because of their personality or talents, etc., not simply due to skills they learn to cope with life. People with disabilities don't want to be admired for their adaptations -- they want to be admired for themselves. Focusing on how 'remarkable' someone is for overcoming their disability is basically equating their entire identity with their disability. Get over it and try to find out who the person really is....

3. Sad. (More bus-ad shenanigans.)

In fact, speaking as one myself, I think it shows quite a cheek for Christians to make a fuss about this. We’ve spent decades covering public places with verses from the Bible, and posters promising that if you let Jesus into your life everything will be all right for ever.

Then as soon as the opposition get the money together to do the same thing we’re outraged, and think that God is as cross as we are.

4. Apparently, the Italian atheists violated The Code of Advertising Practice (roughly translated below).

Article 10 — moral, civil, religious and human dignity

Advertising must not offend the moral, civic and religious citizens. It must respect human dignity in all its forms and expressions.

Convenient how non-believers aren't included in this....

And again. Questioning or critiquing beliefs is not the same as offending the people who hold those beliefs.

5. Fuck yeah.

(Anyone who gets PBS have a DVR I could commandeer?)

1. The celebrated and unmentionable Nutrinomicon.

(No reason for that except pure weirdness.)

2. Whoa. Someone's making a movie about Temple Grandin.

I hope to god they do her and the issues justice.

3. An interesting -- if at times infuriating -- article about Australian Aboriginals. Mostly interesting to me due to the parallels with the US government's treatment of Native Americans. Though you don't see that issue getting as much publicity as the Australian counterpart....

Instead the nation was looking ruefully back into the past and apologizing for certain welfare policies between 1910 and 1970, a period when Aboriginal children were sometimes removed from their homes and parents for what was believed to be their own wellbeing, were taken elsewhere to be fostered or adopted, and were ‘brought up white’.

And almost the exact same thing happened to Native Americans....

Most provocatively, and absurdly, the report concluded that the removal policy constituted "genocide".

Well, I agree that exact word doesn't quite describe the situation. No one was killed. But equally strong language is called for here, I believe. The government was aiming to eradicate an entire culture. Possibly with benevolent intentions, but still.

On the front page of the issue for March 14, 2008, readers learnt that tribal elders at a place called Aurukun “are calling for children to be removed in the face of a comprehensive breakdown of social norms.”

Well yeah, but those horrible conditions wouldn't have occurred if the Australian government hadn't put them in that position....

How is it that at the very time when nothing remotely resembling traditional Aboriginal culture any longer exists at places like Aurukun, where the community has fallen into a cesspit of mutually reinforcing pathologies, the Australian intelligentsia adheres to a vision of indigenous culture that exists—if it exists at all—largely in the metaphysical realm?

How? Guilt. They feel justifiably guilty for eradicating indigenous culture and turning it into a 'cesspit of mutually reinforcing pathologies.' Sure, an apology alone won't create tangible change. But it's a start. And possibly a necessary step toward more practical solutions.

Oy. I can't take re-reading that article anymore. So many wrong-headed assumptions. So many misunderstandings.

4. Fucking Scientology. Someone seriously needs to shut them down. How many people have died because of their 'beliefs'?

Regardless of whether the kid legitimately had Kawasaki's or autism or whatever, he clearly had a seizure disorder. Most of those can be medicated to prevent or at least minimize the occurrence of said seizures. What do you wanna bet the Scientologists told Travolta not to give his son those meds? What do you wanna bet he wouldn't have fallen and gotten himself a fatal head wound if he hadn't had a seizure in the first place?

5. Braille's harder than it looks:

The reason why it was necessary to write from right to left was that, in those days, without the sophistication firstly of mechanical and then of electronic Braille production, the dots had to be pressed downwards and, when turned over, would provide a mirror image.

It was therefore not only necessary to write from right to left, but also to reverse the actual letters so that with the exception of letters like A and C, other parts of the alphabet had to be reversed.

Damn. Makes learning to write a tad more complicated....

Invented by Louis Braille at the age of 15, the idea came from a soldier who had served in the Napoleonic army in Poland and had attempted to devise a system that could, with night-time manoeuvres, allow messages to be sent and instructions to be passed from hand to hand.

Huh. Didn't know that.

You can't simply write Braille in large form so that as with print you can "catch your eye" on something that it is absolutely vital to deliver or to emphasise. Underlining is possible, but more out of technical form than in terms of being able to quickly highlight what needs to be referred to and at what point.

Again, never thought of that. Interesting.

1. This is really scary. And dangerous. People actually want the world to become worse and back it up with religion.

2. Ow ow ow ow ow. That poor woman with the paperclips....

3. Cephalopod!

If reincarnation exists, I want to be some sort of cephalopod. Preferrably not a calamari squid. Or one of those giant squids that ends up dissected by scientists live on the internet.

4. A really good idea. Now all they need to do is schedule more of these. Maybe divide them up like they do concerts -- one all-ages, one over-21?

5. Ha. I didn't know Twilight was written by a Mormon.

1. I find this vaguely...disturbing.

Maybe it's the tiny green cowboy hats. I didn't even know those existed.

Maybe it's the fact that the ducks look like they're being choked by their own collars.

Maybe it's the manic, hungry glint in that dog's eye.

2. If Michael Crichton were still alive, I'd suggest he re-write Sphere with one of these things included.

3. Heh. I doubt I'll get an opportunity to use this, but it sounds like fun.

4. Oh shit. Here we go again. I can't really say it any better than this.

Though I do disagree that all segregation is automatically bad. We segregate school children by age. We segregate high school sports players by skill level. The segregation only teaches kids the wrong lesson if they misunderstand its purpose. That's why you explain it to them.

I haven't thought this through as thoroughly as I could, so I might be wrong. But that's where I stand at the moment.

5. Hey. I feel threatened. I think I'll pick up a smaller animal and wave it around to scare away the bad guys.

Or I could try wearing a velcro bodysuit.

1. Baby hippos are slimy.

2. Complicated and dangerous issue, here.

3. I need to read this when I have time. Which will be sometime in the 2020s.

4. The intent is good, but isn't this just begging for the anti-atheists to cry moral irresponsibility? "Stop worrying and enjoy your life" is pretty easy to mis-translate into "do whatever you want without regard to consequences."

5. Silent Hill in North Korea.

1. Michael Crichton died. He was responsible for most of the books I read as an 11-year-old. 'Congo' is still one of my favorite brainless reads (and one of my favorite terrible movies). Maybe now I'll get around to reading 'Next'....

2. Anyone wanna buy me a house? It's for a good cause....

3. Yay.

Even better:

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will also work to change IDEA’s definition of “autism” to Autism Spectrum Disorders to ensure that all children diagnosed with ASD disorders receive the support they need.

Hopefully he continues to tap whatever knowledgeable resources he used to come up with that policy.

4. I need to actually read through all of this at some point. Lord knows I need to assign myself some more homework.

5. Wtf, Missouri?! When will you make up your mind?

1. I like the way this is phrased:

Well, a language is a system of practices, not a designed system, so some things are as they are just because of the way they developed over time; there are plenty of anomalies and irregularities in every language.

2. Plastinated squid!

the 21.2-foot-long (6.5-meter-long) sea beast was drained of its fluids and refilled with a polymer. The process caused the animal to shrink by about 7 feet (2.5 meters).

3. Those poor starfish. Did anyone ask them if they wanted to participate in a photo op?

Also, those things look exceedingly slimy. Is that what all starfish look like when they've recently been taken out of the water or is that some strange antarctic adaptation to cold?

4. Ignoring the fact that the headline is not confirmed truth, this is still a disturbing story.

"There is no physical evidence of abuse or neglect," he said.

Yeah. For the kids who are still alive. Well-intentioned neglect is still neglect. Mary Bass was probably well-intentioned in her own mind, after all. [I recognize that there are difference between the two cases, but still....]

Another source elaborated:

She had diabetic ketoacidosis, which means that had she gone to a hospital, doctors could have saved her. For her to get in this condition, she had to have been exhibiting symptoms for quite a long time, but her parents chose to pray away clear signs of distress - nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness.

I don't like the idea of parents being forced to ascribe to specific medical philosophies and treatments. But when do common sense and preservation of life override one's right to seek alternative 'treatments' in place of more mainstream ones?

5. If this is true:

Her mother said the girl has a learning disability and was "mentally not a regular 11-year-old."

Then the cop who tased her needs some serious talking-to. And that kid needs to be placed in a school environment where her behavior is better understood.

1. Some scientists decided to basically duct tape a camera to an elephant's tusk. This is one of the resulting photographs. I don't know why that amuses me so much. It might be the idea that the boar is staring back at the elephant-camera hybrid and wondering what the fuck is going on.

2. There have been excavations going on at Orcas island, and I wasn't invited!

3. Come on, people. Surely we've progressed beyond this.

At least the guy is doing something reasonable about it and not just throwing lawsuits left and right:

Wade said he wants to make sure all the employees at the restaurant receive disability awareness training,

He said, "Little People of America is going to write a letter on my behalf stating that they do some type of disability awareness training."

According to the franchise owner's statement, all her employees will receive additional training to ensure they serve all customers with respect.

4. Again. Aren't we past this yet?

During an August 1998 episode of the show, Turner reminded Hannity that were it not for the graciousness of the white man, “black people would still be swinging on trees in Africa[.]”

And then:

We’re teetering at the edge of believing that you’re a secret society, a massive collection of sleeper cells just waiting for your chance to do serious harm to the rest of us. You’ve made it possible for us to believe that.

Um, I think the paranoid bigots who want to believe that already believe it, regardless of what black people say or do.

5. Yet another record-breaking find for paleoanthropologists. When is a hominid fossil not a significant finding lately? I don't get it.

But anyway, this one is significant because:

"It is the oldest human fossil yet found in Western Europe," said co-author Jose Maria Bermudez de Castro, director of Spain's National Research Centre on Human Evolution (CENIEH) in Burgos.

I'm a fan of how (relatively) thoroughly the article covers the dating methods used:

The Spanish researchers used three different techniques to date the new fossils: palaeomagnetism, cosmogenic nuclide dating and biostratigraphy.

Also, re: the chart at the bottom of the article, I'm a bit confused. Last I remembered, homo erectus was thought to be direct descendants of homo sapiens, not related side-branch? Maybe I'm mis-remembering.

Another decent job at explaining dating methods:

The complex of fossils allowed scientists to use a variety of methods to confirm the age of the fossils, including magnetic analysis, radioactive dating, and geologic studies of the clustered bones and artifacts—a necessity because the dating of human fossils remains a controversial area of research.

1. Don't kick the baby.

2. I hope this doesn't apply to my Volvo.

3. Yay!

I didn't know Thomas Harris was connected to the case.

4. More bullshit about being so impressed/shocked that Marlee Matlin can dance without hearing the music. Oy.

5. Some covrage of the Expelled vs. PZ Myers incident, for those who haven't already read about it ad nauseum.

1. My first reaction to this:

Bad principal. Bad. No more treats.

Then I realized he's in a really tough situation.

Principal Timothy Voels and a sign language translator were waiting for Cave and Simba at the entrance and laid down the law[.]

First, if the school provided an interpreter at all times, the need for a service dog would be moot. But I can also see how the kid might prefer being more independent, which the dog would facilitate by eliminating the need for a human shadow tagging along all day.

But school officials think the Labrador Retriever could aggravate or serve as a distraction to students with severe allergies and would pose a danger during fire and emergency lockdown drills.

I can understand the worry about allergies. But distraction? After awhile the novelty would wear off. And if the kid knows what he's doing, he won't let people randomly pet and/or interact with his service dog. Lastly, a danger during drills? I don't quite see that. But I'm open to a more specific explanation.

Cave's family countered that the 1,500-student school could be outfitted with air filters.

Now that's a bit excessive, I think. But then again, do they really have students so severely allergic to dogs that they can't stand being in the same classroom with one for, say, one hour a day?

Also, judging by the photo accompanying the article, that dog is not old enough to be done with its training. It looks like a half-grown puppy. I could be wrong about that. And even if I'm right, I'm not sure what the implications for this case would be, other than complicating matters because the dog is in training and therefore not yet an official service animal (though in-training guide dogs are given the same access as trained guide dogs, apparently).

2. Have I talked about this before?

Even if I have, it's worth another mention. I mean, come on. It's Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter.

3. So the church-sponsored month-long sex-fest is over.

If the goal was to improve marriages, I can't say I agree with their methods. I'd wager that most people's sex drives aren't ideally sated with daily sex. In fact, I'd say that's overkill for most people. Can't the married couples just talk to each other about what their ideal schedule would be? Wouldn't that serve the same purpose? And wouldn't daily sex between an already-incompatible couple only aggravate the problem further? Though I suppose from a practical standpoint, that's probably good. If the marriage isn't working, it's probably best to end it sooner rather than later (except where there are kids involved). And I doubt the church wanted this exercise to result in divorces.

Doug learned that Lorena's top need is spending time together. Lorena learned that Doug's top need is openness and honesty.

"We're finding things out about each other that we didn't know,'' he said. "It's really brought us together as a couple.''

Shouldn't they have known that already, without forced sex as a catalyst for disclosure?

The same goes for Paul Wirth, the pastor at Relevant Church. He and his wife of 16 years, Susie, took the challenge to refocus their relationship and inspire others, using the Bible as their guide.

Are they saying the Bible encourages daily sex for married couples? Can I see a citation, please?

4. An interesting discussion of legalization of prostitution. Before, I'd probably say I was for legalization, simply because I don't think government should prohibit victimless behaviors for the sake of moral policing. But there are some compelling arguments here:

The Netherlands formally adopted the legalization model in 2000, and there were modest public health benefits for the licensed prostitutes. But legalization nurtured a large sex industry and criminal gangs that trafficked underage girls, and so trafficking, violence and child prostitution flourished rather than dying out.

And again, Sweden comes to the rescue:

In contrast, Sweden experimented in 1999 with a radically different approach that many now regard as much more successful: it decriminalized the sale of sex but made it a crime to buy sex. In effect, the policy was to arrest customers, but not the prostitutes.

Some Swedish prostitutes have complained that the policy reduced demand and thus lowered prices, while forcing sex work underground. But the evidence is strong that the new approach reduced trafficking in Sweden, and opinion polls show that Swedes regard the experiment as a considerable success.

Interesting approach.

I think that the problem with legalization schemes is that prostitution is more, for the majority of the customers, about buying the opportunity to treat a woman like utter trash.

Sadly, this is often the case, I'd wager. But it's definitely not 100%. And what about male prostitutes? Or dominatrixes? They're paid to be the treater-like-trash, not the treatee.

Which is why I tear my hair out at the people who focus on the exceptions, like Kerry Howley arguing that prostitution is about women who love sex so much they want to make it a career.

Meh. I think that's a weak and possibly false argument. Though there are probably a few cases that would confirm it.

There’s probably a few high class hookers that fit the “love sex so much I do it for a career” model, and probably even more that are just really good looking women who figure it’s easy cash, even if they don’t have any illusions that it’s a great time having sex with the kind of assholes who pay for it.

I'm actually going to come to the defense of people who pay for sex here, strangely. I doubt they're all assholes. What if someone just wants an honest sexual experience without worrying about the emotional pitfalls otherwise (often) inherent in the process? The fact that it's not an experience I would seek out doesn't mean I have the right to condemn those who would seek it.

5. Didn't this already happen a few years ago? Anyone else remember that?

1. We wanted to be able to give the disabled a taxi service that they could use in a light-hearted manner, in much the same way as they'd ride around in a go-kart at an amusement park. With carers and those being cared for, there's always a tendency for a relationship of dependency to build up. We wanted the disabled to be able to use the car without any fuss, so that's why we got the maids in to do the job

An admirable-enough sentiment. But a weird execution.

2. We've been outranked!

[Have I really been here long enough to use the first person plural?]

3. I used to have nightmares about these things showing up in the lakes I swam in as a kid. Now I'm glad I never knew these existed.

4. Does Michigan's Lake Superior State University not have a linguistics department? Because if they do, surely someone would've told them that this is bullshit.

5. This is a clever application of behavioral psychology, though it unfortunately reminds me of Matthew Israel.

I first heard about the Judge Rotenberg Center several months ago. They've been in the news recently for some controversy regarding their use of electric shock as an aversive for behavioral therapy. I'm by no means the first to write about this place and its methods. I know I can't state my opinion with much authority, as I've never worked with anyone with severe/damaging behavioral issues, but I'm still wary. As usual, I can kind of see both sides.

JRC accepts a lot of cases that were rejected everywhere else. That fact alone might be justification for use of extreme measures. But....

The JRC website's FAQ makes a somewhat convincing argument for the ineffectiveness of positive-only programming for severe aggressive/self-injurious behaviors. One wants to give them the benefit of the doubt. But....

But, there are a few programs and methods of theirs I definitely, strongly disagree with (in no particular order):

1. Using food as a reward/punishment.

Yes, primary reinforcers are powerful tools. But I don't think that justifies this:

When JRC employs mealtime food to motivate the students to change their behaviors, the food is used under either of two alternative treatment programs--the Contingent Food Program (in which all food missed through contracts is made up at the end of the day) or the Specialized Food Program (in which the make up procedure is more restrictive). Neither of these programs can be used unless JRC obtains prior informed consent by the parent, prior approval from a physician and prior authorization by the Probate Court as part of an individualized substituted judgment authorization.

Isn't it common knowledge that behavior/mood is affected by energy and therefore nutrition/blood sugar levels? If the kid is already having behavioral problems, giving him chronic low blood sugar isn't gonna help....

Even if the caloric intake is "made up" at the end of the day, they're still running on inadequate fuel for the majority of the day.

At the end of the day, we offer to students who are on the Contingent Food Program a make-up meal that is composed of chicken and mashed potatoes with liver powder sprinkled on top and that will make up all the calories that the student will have missed by not passing one or more of his contracts earlier in the day. This make-up food is deliberately intended to be an unattractive option, however, because we want the student to be motivated to earn the portions of real mealtime food that can be earned by passing the behavioral contracts.

That's bad enough. But just wait....

For students on the Specialized Food Program (currently it is being used with only 3 out of our 245 students) we do not offer make-up food to compensate for food that the student missed by failing to pass his contracts unless he has eaten 25% or less of his normal daily caloric target. If he has eaten 25% or less, he is offered make-up food to bring him up to the 25% level.

They do all kinds of tests on the Specialized Food Program kids to make sure they're healthy on paper, but still....

I don't even know what else to say about that. It defies logic.

2. "Behavior rehearsal" scenarios.

There are certain behaviors that are so dangerous to the student or to others that one wants to prevent them from occurring even one more time, if one can.

In such situations behavior rehearsal lessons are applied as follows. One prompts the student to engage in the first phase of the behavior. For example one prompts a student to pick up a knife and begin to direct it toward his arm as though to cut it with the knife. Then one arranges an aversive stimulus, for example one administers a GED skin shock. This is called a behavior rehearsal lesson. The student is prompted (against his will if necessary) to begin the undesired behavior (i.e., to move the knife in the direction of the arm) and is then receives an aversive stimulus while engaging in that beginning phase of the behavior.

I can see what they're trying to do, but....

I honestly don't know what alternative treatments there could be for such behavior, yet I still don't think this is the best solution.

First, they're casting one of their staff members in a horrible role. The patient will learn to distrust and fear whoever prompts/forces them to behave in ways that get them punished. That distrust/fear might very well generalize to the rest of the staff or even the entire environment.

They also don't mention -- in this context -- any attempt to find possible triggers of the problem behavior. That's a basic strategy of positive behavior programming (aka Functional Assessment, addressed -- insufficiently, in my opinion -- by JRC here). If you can find out what might cause the problem behavior, you can a) begin to teach/encourage acceptable alternative behaviors, and b) possibly use said triggers to set up more naturalistic, less damaging "behavioral rehearsal lessons." And avoid forcing the patients, against their will, to engage in a behavior you don't want them to continue.

(I have more to say about JRC's use of Functional Assessment, but that will have to wait until later.)

3. Eliminating most psychiatric medications.

It's true that "chemical restraints" are sometimes over-used. I'd also agree that, at least in some cases, use of aversives such as skin shock is preferable to drugs and better preserves the individual's dignity and free will.

However, there are some conditions that, I believe, simply aren't effectively addressed by behavioral methods. Sometimes the problem stems from brain chemistry gone awry and can only be remedied by adjusting said chemistry. Expecting someone to modify a behavior that is chemically or neurologically mandated may be too much to ask, and learned helplessness is the probable result.

4. Their brand of speech/language therapy."

All they work on, according to this description, is requesting behavior. Yes, that's a good first step for communication, but it's not enough. I really, really hope their program is a bit more extensive than this.

Also:

Step 2. Good sitting.

The student learns to sit still for 30-60 seconds, with good posture, feet together, knees together, hands folded in lap and making eye contact with the teacher’s eyes. The teacher is sitting directly in front of the student.

If they treat people with autism like they say they do, that's got to be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.

Their visual cortex works differently than yours! There's a reason they avoid direct eye contact. Forcing them to pretend to act "normal" won't help them.

5. Behavioral counseling (JRC's only version of "therapy") as an earned reward.

So now you might have to earn the right to discuss your own behavior with a (quasi?)professional ("The counseling is provided by the student’s clinician, by a social worker, by the student’s case manager, by his or her teacher, by a monitor or supervisor, by a member of the treatment office, or by all of these persons")?

They admit that, for some cases, this may be asking too much. But they still don't eliminate the need to "earn" counseling entirely. They just lower the standards for earning.

6. Use of delayed aversives.

Because JRC has a near-zero expulsion policy, and because we see our mission to treat individuals with severe behavior behaviors and not simply to throw the student into the criminal justice system (which will no doubt make the student worse) we use a stronger consequence than the normal one application of the GED. Typically that consequence involves a period (e.g. a half-hour) during which several GED stimulations are applied at unpredictable intervals during the time period. The safest way to do this is to use mechanical restraint to contain the student, in a prone position, on a flexible plastic restraint platform that has been specially designed for the purpose. JRC currently uses this procedure with eight of its students. In each case the procedure was used with the student less than 1.4 times on average and in each case resulted in dramatic improvement for the student.

I seem to remember a key point of behavioral psychology being that reinforcement must be applied immediately after the target behavior. Not over a subsequent period "during which several [reinforcements] are applied at unpredictable intervals."

-----

I'm not precisely sure where I stand on the general skin-shock-as-aversive issue, because I can see that it could be the most humane, respectful way to deal with truly dangerous behavior that had truly resisted all other treatment methods. But I'm not sure I agree with precisely how they use it. I'll save that mess for a later (possibly never-to-be-written) post.

Also, the authors of the JRC website accuse anti-aversive and positive-only advocates of using misleading and euphemistic language.

Well, the anti-aversive advocates aren't alone:

In such cases we may either use multiple applications of the GED, or we may shift, with court authorization, to the use of the GED-4, which delivers a stimulation that is judged to be two or three times more aversive.

"More aversive" instead of "more painful." Even "more uncomfortable" would've been a step in the right direction if still a bit euphemistic. And they brag about the fact that they're honest and above-the-board about their methods.

Also also, JRC has a Human Rights Committee that they claim is not controlled by JRC itself. Check this out:

JRC Procedures Followed by JRC's Human Rights Committee

13. REMOVAL FROM THE COMMITTEE. JRC may remove a member from the Committee for just cause or for violation of any of the terms of this policy. [Also from the FAQ.]

Now, I'm not a lawyer or even a law student. But doesn't "just cause" basically mean they can kick off anybody as long as they have a reason (any reason -- it doesn't necessarily have to be good or even true, they just have to be able to argue it in court)?

Oy. There'll probably be more on this later.

1. I can see both sides of this one, but I think I'm siding with the outraged parents. An atypical neurology does not equate with a malevolent baby-snatcher.

2. Looks like a good movie. I'm a tad worried it'll mean even more people asking me, "How many languages do you speak?" when I mention I'm a linguist. I think I'll manage.

3. Huckabee, of course, thinks wives should submit unconditionally to their husbands. Wonder if he's a fan of our friends here?

4. Is it just me, or could this just as easily be interpreted as "making fun of" nontheists?

And some more Whining from the Privileged:

He continued, “Christians have always been used to being punch bags but I would have hoped that, in a society in which we are seeking to show respect to all people and beliefs, we might have grown out of this kind of nonsense.”

I have nothing to add. Just found that gratingly amusing.

You know, it just occurred to me that it might all boil down to this: For the first time in history of this country, American Christians are being asked/expected/prodded to explain and defend themselves. Every other religion has had to do this since the inception of the nation. Every other opinion, or value, or school of thought, or political movement has had to do the same. It's not oppression -- it's what's expected of everybody. Simple accountability. But Christians have gotten used to not having to be accountable for their beliefs.

5. This is really, really sad. At this rate the species will go extinct five times over before there's an American president who dares to even hint at not believing in god.

1. Pfft. I refer you to Exhibit A (#4).

2. Fish + skin disease = miracle cure? Keep in mind the fish are actually eating the diseased skin.

Maybe they need to get together with this guy.

3. I want one! Can we expand this technology to other organisms? Glowing carrots? Bio-luminescent crocodiles?

4. So now we're allowing men with the emotional maturity of 5-year-olds to be presidents of city councils? I'm actually not sure yet where I stand on the religious-displays-on-public-property issue. I definitely don't think they should ever be paid for by taxes. But as long as they're relatively neutral and hate-free, I don't really care if they're on public property.

But this council president is just using the nativity scene to blow a raspberry at the FFRA. Lame. I'm sure the city council has bigger issues to deal with.

5. There was a federal insane asylum for Native Americans between 1902 and 1933. Really interesting (if sad) stuff. I suppose it makes sense, given that this was (I think) roughly the era of Native American boarding schools, where similar "assimilation" practices were exercised. Except this has the added charm of the asylum director's desire to sterilize the "mentally deficient" patients before releasing them back into the public. And the very real possibility that many "patients" were only sent there because they got on white reservation agents' nerves, not due to any psychological condition.

1. Can anyone identify which plague is which here?

2. Found out about this site a few weeks ago. Not a bad idea. I just hope it actually works. A few projects I found worthwhile:

Dictionaries for a high school special ed. class.

Sensory integration equipment for a middle school special ed. class.

Video equipment for deaf high school students to record ASL storytelling.

Supplies for a high school special ed. classroom's entrepreneurial endeavor.

3. A Navajo Code-Talker G.I. Joe. Interesting.

4. Oh shit.

A UK clinic has even suggested lowering the autism rate by deliberately eliminating male embryos (because boys are much more likely to have autism than girls) in families where there is a history of autism and ADHD syndromes.

I mean, a line has to be drawn somewhere. I'd say it's morally wrong to create a child who's gonna suffer for their entire life. But then again, everybody suffers. It's a matter of degree. And there's no way everyone will ever agree on what amount of suffering is acceptable, or even what constitutes "suffering" and what doesn't.

For now, I'm gonna have to lean toward people using whatever embryo they want. I know people can be pretty damn evil, but somehow I don't think parents would choose an embryo with the express purpose of maximizing their child's future misery. And that's the only case where I think interference is warranted.

5. Thank god. Hopefully others will follow this example.

1. Sad.

2. I'm fine with studying the Bible in school, if it's treated like any other piece of text. Analyzed. Questioned. It's an important part of American cultural history and obviously still effects current events.

I'm a little worried about the authors of this particular textbook, but I'll -- for once -- try to stay optimistic and just assume it's all right....

3. This article didn't particularly hold my interest, but I love this sentence:

Psychologists Nathan DeWall of the University of Kentucky and Roy Baumeister of Florida State University ran three experiments to study existential dread in the laboratory.

4. The Best Club Ever.

5. An article discussing people with disabilities patronizing prostitutes. I have no problem with it (the article or the concept), but I'm disappointed by the comments from people claiming that prostitution automatically constitutes violence toward women. Pfft. And what about male prostitutes? Somehow I don't think these people would see them as poor, put-upon victims. (I am aware that some women in sex work are there against their will or preference, but obviously they don't comprise the entirety of the industry....)

1. A glove that translates ASL into text? Too good to be true?

Looks like it. Though the article doesn't specify, the video makes it look like all the glove can do is translate the manual alphabet. Which is pointless, because anyone who can use the manual alphabet can just as easily use a keyboard.... And that still means the signer is using a second language -- English -- and not ASL. I'd imagine it'd be a hell of a lot more difficult to make a glove/program that could recognize and translate actual ASL signs (which generally require two hands). And even then, such a device still wouldn't pick up on non-manual cues, which are often essential pieces of grammar. Maybe it can be done, but this device doesn't look like the solution. At least not yet.

2. I saw the words "dense data" here and inwardly cringed. I feel sorry for the poor sucker who has to transcribe that data. While transcribing in general (and transcribing dense data, in specific) gave me a lovely feeling of accomplishment, it was at a bit higher price than I'd prefer to pay on a regular basis.

3. Today's submission to Headlines of the Obvious:

Kids With Obsessive-compulsive Disorder Bullied More Than Others, Study Shows

4. I was a bit concerned about this technology as well until I saw the video. Thankfully they're not expecting people to get all excited about captioning on a PDA they would then have to awkwardly hold up in front of themselves in order to get the proper sightline.

5. It's a shame that this article didn't address the fact that most deaf drivers are not, in fact, raging morons who've had their common sense glands removed. That piece tacitly implies that being deaf is automatically a deficit for a driver, which it isn't.

6. I am not a happy bunny today.

1. This looks interesting. Not only due to the fact that Adrien Brody narrates it.

2. Um, I'm essentially doing the same thing, but I manage to live on my own.... More or less....

3. "The word 'God' is carved into the walls of both chambers of Congress," Turner said in a statement. "The Architect is the custodian of the Capitol and currently maintains several religious symbols in the building. If permitted, removing 'God' from the Capitol flag ceremonies will be the precedent for removing 'God' from the Capitol, and this cannot be permitted."

Why not? I mean, logistically I can see it would be a pain in the ass. And possibly even inadvisable because it is a part of our country's history. But that doesn't mean it has to be a part of our future. Foolish consistency and hobgoblins and all that.

4. Today's Headline of the Obvious:

Playground Politics: Lack Of Athletic Skill Often Means Loneliness And Peer Rejection

5. I understand the anti-disability-awareness-workshop viewpoint -- as these events do tend to inadvertently dwell on differences rather than commonalities -- but if this isn't an argument for a little basic education, I don't know what is....