Comments on Natural Variation - Autism Blog: More on What Institutionalization Does To Autistic...

Could be, Alison. But I would think than in countr...

2007-09-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

Could be, Alison. But I would think than in countries other than the US they could've done studies like that. My impression is that in the medical model the only environmental factor determining outcome that researchers are interested in is treatment.

Fortunately, institutionalization has been falling out of favor, and no doubt outcomes will improve. Mark my words, though; the credit will be given to treatment and early diagnosis.

After analyzing Kanner's papers, I'm convinced that the poor outcomes autism is generally accepted to have are artificially skewed in a signficant way by institutionalization. It's a vicious cycle really. Poor outcomes feed medical views of autism, which in turn encourage institutionalization.

Institutionalization isn't good for anybody. That'...

2007-09-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Institutionalization isn't good for anybody. That's why the Olmstead Act was passed. You won't find studies on the outcome of institutionalization on kids and adults with mental illness either even though experts will tell you it fosters dependency and makes it very difficult for people to live on their own if they spend much time in an institution, especially as children.

I would speculate that the lack of outcome studies on institutionalization has to do with the politics of the situation. If studies show that institutionalization is bad for children (and adults), states who rely heavily on it could be held legally responsible for not doing more to get folks services in the community and groups like NAMI and TAC who have a lot of influence would get upset.

In An alternative view of outcome in autism the au...

2007-09-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

In An alternative view of outcome in autism the authors note something along those lines in regards to autistics who did well...

What seemed to be an important predictor of success was that whenever individuals and their families were confronted with challenges, they sought and successfully accessed various supports. For example, when families were told to "place" their young children, their parents sought and created alternatives. Some of the families were the first to push for integration in school and used their natural community and family ties to include and support their child.

I can't help but wonder if this is an arguement fo...

2007-09-22T21:54:00.000-07:00

I can't help but wonder if this is an arguement for integration also. Would children in intregrated settings fare better than children in a segregated facility?