I naturally spend time reflecting upon things. I naturally try to evolve & learn from situations. This is very much a central aspect of who I am.
Over the last several weeks, I spent more time reflecting than I naturally do; this is a resource intensive act, in time & spoons. It also means being horrifically open to being mistaken, so open that you can shake & mould your own sense of identity.
This process is also highly organic, it is not something that is done as part of a "routine".
Why am I saying this?
Some respects, my sense of self identity is back & I am secure in my views. At the same time, I also increasingly unsure what my views are on things, & despite my age & knowledge, there is so much I do not adequately know about.
This including about aspects of myself as a person, like key aspects of my communication style seem to be linked to ADHD, & not autism.
So I am still learning & discovering things while in some respects being (relatively) secure, but also having moments of extreme self doubt & feeling lost on some topics.
It is just a weird place to be in, as a person, coming to the realisation, that a key part of being a reflecting person, is that it is OK to not know things, & it is a constant journey to discover who you are, & learn knew things about the world.
One of my most passionate beliefs in life, is what tends to bring parties down is stagnation, not learning from learnings things. Doing dodgy things over & over again. Classic example is David Cameron & referendums.
I invest so much into reflecting, partly to avoid stagnating as a person.
@Andylowarousal is this a good example of reflective practice?
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Thought experiment to the floor.
Suppose I designed & conducted a PDA research.
I created PDA definitions based on my experience.
Ignore how PDA can be diagnosed at lower diagnosed thresholds.
Ignore how PDA can be diagnosed in non-autistic persons.
...
...
Ignore DSM-5 threshold for when something becomes "pathological", i.e., threshold for PDA.
Ignore accepted understandings anxiety is not a feature autism.
Used ADOS which is not design to assess for PDA features.
...
...
Only diagnosed PDA in persons I thought were autistic.
Only diagnosed PDA in a dual ASD + PDA traits diagnosis.
...
I know I am late to party on this paper @DrMBotha. Currently, & reflecting upon it. Already seeing parallels with it, and my own experiences & observations of engaging with PDA literature & agenda to make "PDA an ASD". frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…
There are parallel processes operating in similar/ same manner to what Monique describes in the paper. First off, there is lack of consideration of it divergent opinions on PDA are welcome or actively embraced.
I know from past experience, of myself & other dissenting voices we tend to be ignored, by "PDA as an ASD" leading experts, while attacked, or excuses made to not take our points credibly.
Something that has been bothering over the last two days. Is how some "PDA as an ASD" supporters seem to be confusing anxiety based RRBI's with autism's social communication issues.
Routed to DSM-5 autism criteria, Category A, social communication issues.
A—Deficits in social communication and interaction
A1—Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity
A2—Deficits in nonverbal communication
A3—Deficits in relationships
(Evers et al 2021).
Context for this: I spend substantial amount of time reflecting upon aspects of myself & actions, to try & better understand myself to regulate potentially problematic features. Some of communication style seems to be due to ADHD.
As I have not engaged much ADHD, & awaiting to be assessed for ADHD, there are potentially parts of myself I lack appreciation of how are viewed by others. Which then makes me on how we go about identifying aspects of persons.
So, yes, I accept that various diagnoses can be used to increase understanding for persons. Like how PDA pathologises different features to autism, hence why some persons find a PDA diagnosis better explains them than autism does.
I am critical of:
Much of its research.
How it is often theorised.
How it is being propagated.
Lack of ethical debate on it.
Generally, situation with PDA is bad. How bad, needs being investigated!
@NDx5fam I think PDA can be validly viewed as:
Rebranded autism.
A pseudo-syndrome made of features from accepted cosntructs.
A common disorder.
I think it is obvious nonsense that PDA is not autism, & it never should have been viewed as such.
@NDx5fam The situation with PDA, is appears akin to ABA, we know its practice & research are extremely shoddy, but we did not know how bad its research ethics necessarily were until research like this: frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…
While I am sympathetic & support the notion of boycotting #StopSpectrum10K, reading it raises more questions than answers for me. So Aucademy is meant to be involved with this.
The statement acknowledges issues dividing autism & makes points I agree with on the topic.
Yet Aucademy platforms PDA is an ASD supporters, i.e., persons which view PDA as a subgroup/ subtype.