The autistic dialogic style: a case of Asperger's syndrome

This paper explores the idea of possible proto-experiences of the prenatal child in the context of Bion's model of container/contained. The physical configuration of the embryo/foetus contained in the maternal uterus represents the starting point for an enquiry into the unborn child's possible experiences of its state of being contained in a container. The paper takes into consideration the sensory dimensions of auditory, tactile and kinaesthetic levels of awareness of the prenatal child in relation, respectively, to the maternal voice and the uterine environment. The author's hypothesis is that concrete prenatal experiences of containment may have their mental counterpart in the development of a proto-mental container and memory, the existence of which can be observed in the newborn infant. It is also suggested that prenatal proto-experiences of containment may prepare the child for further postnatal realisations of the pre-conception of containment and represent the experiential basis for the encounter with the breast. Observations of newborn babies in an obstetric ward, as well as the observation of a prematurely born child, seem to confirm the idea that the intrauterine experience of container/contained plays a role in the child's prenatal development. The meaning of prenatal thumb-sucking is explored in terms of the model of container/contained at a part-object level. An observation of the play of a three-year-old child offers material for further thought about the meaning and function of the introjected configuration of container/contained for the development of a sense of identity and symbolic thinking. The clinical case of an autistic child who survived a threatened miscarriage shows how the emotional containment in psychotherapy allowed the formerly inaccessible nameless dread to re-emerge and be represented and shared.     

Working with children with Asperger's Syndrome in the mainstream classroom: A psychodynamic take from the chalk face

There has been considerable discussion by those involved in teaching children with special educational needs (SENs) about how to appropriately categorize children with difficulties in learning. Increasingly, a social inclusion model of SEN has come to the fore in mainstream schools across the developed world. Asperger's Syndrome (AS), however, has presented a challenge to inclusionary approaches. This paper, based on the experiences of a teacher working with a child with AS in the mainstream classroom, explores the role of emotions in relation to the obsessional interests of children with AS. Particular reference is paid to the work of later object relations theorists on the emotional role of rigid patterns of thinking, behaviour and obsessional interest in AS. The possibility that an implicit deficit model may at times be relevant to the development of ‘live’ communication and learning for children with AS in the mainstream classroom is considered. Possible management strategies in the classroom in relation to obsessive interests are discussed.     

An Occupational Therapy Support Service for University Students With Asperger's Syndrome (AS)

Students with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) face challenges, within third-level education, related to the person, environment, and occupation. This study describes an occupational therapy (OT) service that aims to enhance the interplay between the person (i.e., the student) and his/her occupation within a given context (i.e., college environment). A chart review and Student Satisfaction Survey was used to identify the demographics, concerns, and goals of the students using it. It was found that goals and concerns shift according to students' stage in college and recommends that services employ a student-centered, flexible approach responsive to the particular concerns of these students.     

Parents attributions of blame for the birth of a child with down syndrome: A pilot study

Abstract

Attributing blame to others for negative events is consistently associated with poor adjustment. We report here a study assessing whether failure to detect a problem on screening, in this case Down syndrome not detected during prenatal screening, is associated with blame and poor adjustment in parents. Twenty eight mothers and 23 fathers of children with Down syndrome were interviewed. Although no parent blamed themselves or their partner, eight fathers and five mothers blamed health professionals or the health care system in general for not preventing the birth of their children with Down syndrome prenatally. None of the parents who declined testing were blaming. Six of the 11 parents who received a negative test and seven of the 34 not offered a test blamed others. Both mothers and fathers who blamed others reported significantly higher parenting stress. Mothers, but not fathers, who blamed others were significantly more angry and depressed than those who did not.     

Clinical Commentary

This paper describes a lengthy period of psychotherapy with a child. This treatment began only after a prolonged contact with other child and adolescent mental health services during which the child's difficulties, which had initially seemed to be ordinary behavioural problems, had proved puzzlingly intractable to a variety of interventions. Subsequent psychotherapy revealed a profound disorder of development which lay bath the Surface presentation. In a climate where Asperger's syndrome is often felt to be untreatable, this paper argues that some children, at least, can benefit from psychotherapy and can be helped towards real mental growth. Asperger's syndrome in children bears some striking similarities to narcissistic personality disorder as described in the adult psychoanalytic literature and this paper discusses some of the theoretical and clinical implications of the innate origins of Asperger's syndrome.     

Perceptions of adolescent bullying: Attributions of blame and responsibility in cases of cyber‐bullying

Cyber‐bullying (where victims are targeted via online social networking or other electronic means) has gained increased attention in research and the broadcast media, but previous research has not investigated attribution of blame in such cyber‐bullying events. This experiment hypothesized that participants would assign higher ratings of blame to bullying perpetrators when the bullying situations were depicted as having highly foreseeable outcomes (vs. unforeseeable outcomes), and as occurring in school (vs. online). In addition, a significant interaction was predicted between outcome foreseeability and bullying situation, with highly foreseeable in‐school events being rated as the most predictable and attributable to the bully's actions. One‐hundred sixty‐three participants completed surveys containing demographic items, items regarding their past experiences of victimization, and one of four randomly‐assigned vignettes detailing a bullying situation (which participants rated). While hypotheses regarding outcome foreseeability were supported, no cyber‐bullying vs. in‐school main effects (or corresponding interaction effects) were detected. Implications for future research and practice, as well as study limitations, are discussed.     

Autism spectrum conditions among children and adolescents: A new profiling tool

There is considerable debate about the sociocognitive features of autism spectrum conditions (ASC), and a tool for profiling the sociocognitive profiles of children and adolescents with ASC is needed. The aim of this research was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new questionnaire—The Australian Scale for Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASASC). Three hundred twenty‐two parents of children on the ASC spectrum, including autistic disorder (n = 76), Asperger's disorder (n = 188), and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (n = 21), and a clinical group of children with subclinical ASC features and no ASC diagnosis (n = 37). Measures include an initial scale measuring eight potential dimensions of ASC, a related screening tool for autism, and two previously validated social skills questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered online. The ASASC was factor‐analysed, internal and test–retest reliabilities (for a randomly selected 84 parents) were calculated, and preliminary tests of convergent and divergent validity were conducted. The resulting measure (44 items) contained five coherent and reliable dimensions: understand and express emotion, fact orientation, sensory sensitivity, social communication, and rigidity. The questionnaire had good test–retest reliability and convergent/divergent validity. The ASASC enables profiles of ASC symptomatology that should be useful in adjusting interventions to individual needs.     

Psychotherapy among children and teenagers in the republic of Georgia

Psychotherapy was conducted with 103 children and teenagers. Medical checkups and physiological evaluations were performed along with analyses of family relations and social environments. Problems discovered were multifarious and can be classified as those owing to age, those resulting from the Georgian lifestyle (the traditional Georgian family consists of several generations living together and provides the basic structure for the development and maturation of youth), and those that had emerged in the previous 3 years as a result of a hostile social environment. Perinatal pathology (pathological pregnancy, complicated delivery, asphyxia, and prematurity) was revealed in 30% of the cases. Psychotherapy resulted in stable psychological balance in 42% of the cases.     

‘A kaleidoscope of themes’: intensive psychotherapy with a girl on the autistic spectrum

This paper is an account of the intensive psychotherapy of a young girl on the autistic spectrum. It describes her confusing presentation and how this suggested a tendency to oscillate between mainly unintegrated states of mind. Important themes that emerged included the phantasy of inhabiting a claustrum; the use of adhesive identification to defend against the bodily felt terror of separation; and fear of damage to the maternal object. The paper also discusses the trans-generational aspects of her difficulties and considers how her therapy helped growth to take place.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF INAPPROPRIATE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN STUDENTS WITH ASPERGER'S SYNDROME

We analyzed the inappropriate social interactions of 3 students with Asperger's syndrome whose behavior was maintained by social positive reinforcement. We tested whether inappropriate social behavior was sensitive to social positive reinforcement contingencies and whether such contingencies could be reversed to increase the probability of socially appropriate responding. Our results show that social positive reinforcers can be identified for inappropriate social interactions and that appropriate social behaviors can be sensitive to reinforcement contingency reversals.     

间隔学习与测试效应对学习判断的影响

文章两个实验用于研究间隔学习和测试效应对即刻学习判断及其准确性的影响,结果表明：（1）间隔学习促进记忆保持力,降低即刻学习判断中对困难学习材料的高估并提高学习判断相对准确性。（2）重学前预测试具有增强记忆痕迹的功能,在间隔学习的基础上显著提高了学习判断相对准确性。（3）外部线索应当区分,间隔学习和预测试属于不同的外部线索。     

学习判断的研究综述

学习判断是个体对正在学或刚学过的材料的学习程度的判断,它是元认知监控的重要形式。本文从学习判断相关概念、学习判断的影响因素及主要研究范式等三方面进行回顾,对其进行评价,有助于研究者更加深入、精确地研究学习判断以及其他元认知判断问题。     

Emotion recognition of static and dynamic faces in autism spectrum disorder

There is substantial evidence for facial emotion recognition (FER) deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The extent of this impairment, however, remains unclear, and there is some suggestion that clinical groups might benefit from the use of dynamic rather than static images. High-functioning individuals with ASD (n = 36) and typically developing controls (n = 36) completed a computerised FER task involving static and dynamic expressions of the six basic emotions. The ASD group showed poorer overall performance in identifying anger and disgust and were disadvantaged by dynamic (relative to static) stimuli when presented with sad expressions. Among both groups, however, dynamic stimuli appeared to improve recognition of anger. This research provides further evidence of specific impairment in the recognition of negative emotions in ASD, but argues against any broad advantages associated with the use of dynamic displays.     

On not being able to enter Noah's Ark

The paper describes the psychoanalytic psychotherapy of a patient who had originally been referred at the age of 15 because of his social isolation. In fact, he suffered from high-functioning Asperger's syndrome and lived in an almost delusional world populated by a number of imaginary companions, which he used to counteract a deep void and sense of deadliness within him. After five years of therapy, the patient was able to move on, allowing him to be successful in his academic studies, and to abandon his imaginary friends. This paper focuses on a subsequent phase of the therapy when the patient, as a young man, began to show an interest in and attraction to the world of intimate relationships. The paper is grounded in Meltzerian theory, especially his ideas about the role of beauty in the mother–child relationship, and about the world of intimate links as opposed to conventional ones.     

Risk and dynamics of violence in Asperger's syndrome: A systematic review of the literature

The main purpose of this article is to delineate findings from a review of the literature on the empirical basis for the existence of a relationship between Asperger's syndrome (AS) and violence risk. A second aim is to examine whether certain characteristics of the disorder may have a higher violence-triggering potential. Results of this review show that there are very few empirical studies that confirm a stable link between AS and violence. Only 11 studies involving 22 patients and 29 violent incidents met the criteria for inclusion in the review after the search of the literature. However, a qualitative analysis of the studies yielded some indications of possible patterns of dynamics of violence that may prove to be typical of persons with AS. A tentative comparison of AS and psychopathy indicated that there may be qualitative differences in the characteristics of violent behavior between the disorders. Suggestions for further research are presented.     

Impaired Consonant Trigrams Test (CTT) performance relates to everyday working memory difficulties in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often struggle with complex tasks, such as those requiring divided attention (simultaneously completing two independent tasks) that also place high demands on working memory. Prior research shows that divided attention is impaired in adults and children with ASD and is related to ASD and comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, but the impact on everyday functioning is unclear. Because ADHD symptoms are associated with poor divided attention and working memory performance in children with ASD, we also examined ADHD symptoms as moderators of divided attention performance. We examined performance on the Consonant Trigrams Test (CTT) between high-functioning 8- to 13-year-olds with ASD (n?=?28) and typically developing controls (n?=?18) matched on age and IQ. In the ASD group, we also correlated performance with ADHD symptoms and behavior ratings of everyday working memory. CTT performance in children with ASD was significantly worse than in matched controls. A significant correlation between CTT performance and everyday working memory was observed, but CTT performance was not related to comorbid ADHD symptoms in the ASD group. Divided attention with high working-memory demands is a relative weakness in children with high-functioning ASD; this weakness relates to everyday functioning, and it is independent from ADHD symptoms. That ADHD symptoms are not associated with divided attention performance is inconsistent with one prior investigation, which likely results from using different divided attention tasks in the two studies.     

The use of observation in the psychoanalytic treatment of a 12-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome

The author describes some aspects of a once-weekly psychoanalytic psychotherapy of a 12-year-old boy diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. The patient's emotional and cognitive development had been impaired since early life, possibly due to an internal deficit and to the likelihood of inadequate environmental holding. He was unaware of having difficulties but was underachieving academically, was socially isolated and often visibly unhappy in his life. The patient's denial, splitting, and projection of emotion and insight presented the therapist with the difficult task of how to reach him. In order to communicate with him emotionally, the therapist created a modified technique which reflected the patient's development from part-object to whole-object relationships. This development became apparent in the sessions and was interpreted in the transference relationship. An account of the patient's early years was pieced together from a detailed commentary of what was being observed and intuited by the therapist during the sessions, as well as by an understanding of the countertransference. By the end of two years' treatment, the patient's sensitivity and creativity, which had been buried beneath a self-sufficient, autistic-like encapsulation, finally began to emerge in his communications with his therapist.     

Effects of gender and sexuality on judgements of victim blame and rape myth acceptance in a depicted male rape

Relatively few studies have investigated judgements towards male rape, and no published studies have investigated gay men's judgements towards this offence. The current study investigated the effects of gender and sexuality on victim blame and male rape myth acceptance in the depicted rape of a gay man. It was predicted that heterosexual men would make the most anti‐victim judgements, while gay men would make the most pro‐victim judgements. One hundred and fifty members of the UK population read a scenario that depicted a male rape, and then completed a questionnaire that measured blame and rape myths. As predicted, heterosexual men endorsed more rape myths and blamed the victim more than heterosexual women or gay men. Gay men made the most pro‐victim judgements overall. Results are discussed in relation to homophobia and traditional gender roles. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

儿童和青少年的空间—时间隐喻图式

研究考察儿童和青少年是否具有“左-右”空间-时间隐喻图式。以泉州市惠安县4所学校小学三年级、小学六年级、初中三年级和高中三年级共100名学生为被试,完成时态-按键匹配任务。结果发现,各年级被试均对“左-过去,右-将来”的按键匹配比对“左-将来,右-过去”的按键匹配反应更快,准确率更高,表明自小学三年级起,儿童和青少年在时间隐喻图式上表现出和成人一致的模式,未发现年龄发展效应。该发现支持隐喻结构观。     

责任归因、幸灾乐祸与帮助意愿的关系

本研究具体探讨在他人出现不幸时,作为同学、同伴等的归因、责任推断、幸灾乐祸情感反应程度以及想不想提供帮助的程度之间的关系模型。结果表明：内部归因对责任推断具有显著预测作用;消极情感对同情和幸灾乐祸有显著的预测作用;责任程度与幸灾乐祸关系密切;幸灾乐祸和同情对帮助意愿有显著的预测作用。