Autism is perpetual and unrelenting hyperfocus, the state of intense single-minded concentration fixated on one thing at a time to the exclusion of everything else, including one’s own feelings. What causes hyperfocus is a dysfunctional cingulate gyrus (CG), that part of the brain which focuses attention.1 This dysfunctional CG keeps attention fixated in the left frontal lobe (intellectual, logical, analytical) – with no ability to access the right frontal lobe (emotions, spontaneity, social behavior).2
It is not possible to fix that which is not broken. Autism is an inherent neurophysiological difference in how the brain processes information.2 Autistic children live in a specialized inner space that is entirely intellectual, free from emotional and social distractions. They observe their outside world in detail without feeling any emotional attachment to what they see.3 The autistic brain cannot be socialized.4
Therapies for autism are aimed at socializing the child. It cannot be done. It is no more possible to socialize an autistic person than it would be to intellectualize a social person. The autistic brain works in a precise way that cannot be changed. No one can be talked out of inherent hyperfocus.
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the most common therapy that is forced upon autistic children. It is an intensive one-on-one program that aims to improve social skills by increasing desirable behaviors and decreasing problem behaviors. There is a vocal community of adults with autism (many of whom had ABA as children) who say that ABA damages mental health and treats them as though they are a problem to be fixed. There is also a higher incidence of PSTD in autistic children who are exposed to ABA.5
ABA is based on the cruel premise of trying to make autistic people “normal”. Its message is that autistic ways of doing things are wrong and need to be corrected, and that the autistic child is broken and must be molded to be more palatable to non-autistic people. This mistaken belief is destructive of the child’s identity and self-worth.
ABA teaches autistic people that their needs are less important than pleasing other people. This makes autistic children overly compliant, leaving them vulnerable to manipulation and abuse. These children need to be taught how to express and get their needs met, not to be taught that their needs are less valid than the needs of people around them.
References
- Rowland D. Redefining autism. Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research 2020;(2).
- Rowland D. The neurophysiological cause of autism. Journal of Neurology & Neurophysiology 2020;11(5): 001-004.
- Rowland D. How the autistic mind functions – an insider’s report. Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research 2020;(3).
- Rowland D. Autism’s true nature. Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research 2021;(2).
- Kupferstein H. Evidence of increased PTSD symptoms in autists exposed to applied behavior analysis. Advances in Autism, 02 January 2018.