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    • THE IMD RULE & ADMIN. ENFORCEMENT OF DISABILITY CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS
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    • University of Chicago: Institute of Translational Medicine
  • Hot Topics
    • What We Want --- SAMHSA Grant Opportunities Due Jan. 22, 2019
    • Anti-Social Personality Disorder >
      • DECONSTRUCTING ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER AND PSYCHOPATHY: A GUIDELINES-BASED APPROACH TO PREJUDICIAL PSYCHIATRIC LABELS [Hofstra Law Review 2013]
      • Personality Disorders -- Unscientific & Vague -- Must Be Reformed
    • Executive Functioning & "Prison Brain" >
      • Job Accommodation Network on Executive Functioning Deficits
    • Medicaid & Medicare Network Adequacy >
      • OIG: STATE STANDARDS FOR ACCESS TO CARE IN MEDICAID MANAGED CARE (Sept. 2014)
      • OIG: ACCESS TO CARE: PROVIDER AVAILABILITY IN MEDICAID MANAGED CARE (Dec. 2014)
      • GAO 15-710: MEDICARE ADVANTAGE: Actions Needed to Enhance CMS Oversight of Provider Network Adequacy (Aug. 2015)
      • CMS: Promoting Access in Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care: A Toolkit for Ensuring Provider Network Adequacy and Service Availability (April 2017)
    • Medicaid Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder Parity >
      • CMS Parity Compliance Toolkit Applying Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Requirements to Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs [Jan. 17, 2017]
      • Frequently Asked Questions: Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Final Rule for Medicaid and CHIP [CMS October 11, 2017]
    • Olmstead Disability Rights >
      • Statement of the Department of Justice on Enforcement of the Integration Mandate of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Olmstead v. L.C. (2011)
      • Comprehensive Olmstead Planning
      • the Logical Long Term Consequences of our failure to provide Intensive Community MH Treatment
      • Olmstead Nation ---State Pages: How Far to Comply with Olmstead?
  • Take A Walk Around Orchid's Resource Block
  • Colorado Abuse & Neglect Scandals Involving People with Disabilities
  • Mental Health By The Numbers
  • New Science Is Amazing AND It Has HUGE Moral Implications for Our Society: NOW
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  • Double V
  • " 'Defund the Police" Means 'Invest in the Resources Our Communities Need' " or Don't Cost Shift to the Police
  • VAGUE OLMSTEAD PLANS, EXPENSIVE LITIGATION
  • Updating & Reforming our Understanding & Treatment of "Anti-Social Personality Disorder" Blog
  • Reform of " Anti-Social Personality Disorder" in Criminal Justice
  • CO HB22-1278
  • New Understandings Matter
  • Mental Health, Ethics & Law
  • CO Olmstead Disability Homeless Law & Policy Project
  • Inflammation, the Immune System, Neuro-Developmental Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders, Substance Use Issues & Chronic Disease
  • Microglia and the Brain's Immune System
  • Substance Issues & the Immune System

Transitional/ Translational Justice Monday





















Neuro-Developmental Differences and --What It Really Means to be PRO-LIFE

8/20/2022

 
Conjecture
  • When we think of "PRO-LIFE" we think of the Abortion Debate ----
  • But in so many ways --- LIFE is a "CIRCLE GAME."
  • We're "CONNECTED" to our parents, grandparents, family tree, society and the environment around us in COMPLICATED WAYS that we "kinda" understand.
 
  • We often are having to ADJUST OUR FOCUS from a "TIME PERSPECTIVE" and from a "MICRO to MACRO" Perspective and everything in between. 
Picture
If we want to get out of the INCARCERATION CRISIS in the US -- we need to do something that feels COUNTER-INTUITIVE and even SCARY given our history of Genocide and Eugenics----
  • Recognize the Large Incidence of Neuro-Developmental Difference in People with an IQ over 70.
  • Without the proper SUPPORT, Work-Arounds and Accommodations ----
    • A small percentage of this population make up a very large segment of the incarcerated and chronically homeless populations.

"WALKING CHAOS" and Diagnostic Manuals THAT ARE missing the "BIG ROCKS"

8/8/2022

 
cha·os the·o·ry
/ˈkeɪˌɑs ˌθɪəri/noun
  • 1. the branch of mathematics that deals with complex systems whose behavior is highly sensitive to slight changes in conditions, so that small alterations can give rise to strikingly great consequences.
Powered by Oxford Dictionaries
Conjecture

I'm going to do some more "Riffing" off of Frank James' video to the right.

In the video, James makes a number of points:
  • People are "Walking Chaos"
    • Yeah, you can predict what they are going to do a lot of the time --
    • But they will throw you a CURVE BALL --- and then you have to revise your theories --
    • But that will ultimately break down and you'll have to revise your theories again.
 
I want to bring actual "CHAOS THEORY" to this:
  • "CHAOS THEORY" isn't saying the world isn't ultimately understandable ---
  • BUT it is saying there are a lot  more "VARIABLES" than what you thought and some of these seemingly "small variables" can have a big effect.  
One of the reasons the FOUNDATIONS of MENTAL HEALTH as articulated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual  are so "SHAKY" is because we're missing a lot of not only the small effects BUT a lot of the BIG ROCKS ---
  • MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION
  • GENETICS
  • EPIGENETICS
  • the IMMUNE SYSTEM
  • the ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
  • the MICROBIOME
  • the INTER-RELATIONSHIPS of these various SYSTEMS with the BRAIN
Frank James
How INFJ Ruins Relationships =  "CONTROLLING"

See also Ramped Up Stress Responses Often Lead to Control Freaks

So we could just "PRETEND" what we're doing is sufficient and not LEGALLY, ETHICALLY and MORALLY CHALLENGED ---
  • and "GOD" knows that's what we are doing.
 
Or one option is to acknowledge the "COMPLEXITY" of HUMAN BEHAVIOR and that we don't have it all figured out and ----
  • THIS IS A PROCESS --- NOT AN EVENT.

 I do think the more we can start meeting people where they really are in terms of STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES ----
  • NOT where some IDEALIZED REASONABLE PERSON should be ---
  • While maintaining SAFETY ---
  • THE BETTER RESULTS WE'RE GONNA GET.

Developmental Difference with IQ over 70 in the Criminal Justice System

8/7/2022

 

(See addition on Brain Injury and ADHD below)

See also:


  • Missed & Misdiagnosed: The Importance Of Screening For Neurodiversity In The Criminal Justice System -- Different Brains (2021)
 
  • Neurodiversity in the criminal justice system: A review of evidence -- UK (2021)


This is going to focus mainly on the BLURRED Neuro-Developmental Differences of ADHD and Autism.

So some people do have a CLASSIC "presentation" --- BUT many don't --- and it can be very BLURRED.

Further, it is not just that OTHER PEOPLE don't understand --- it's that the person themselves and their families don't understand.

I think Developmental Difference cqn be a GIFT ---
  • BUT it can be a NIGHTMARE if you are trying to manage this in IGNORANCE.
The ATTITUDE of the study to the right is pretty standard --- the person with the Neuro-Developmental Difference is being measured on that person's "ADAPTABILITY" to a Neuro-Typical Society.

We are in desperate need of some DOUBLE EMPATHY --- this needs to be more of a TWO-WAY STREET.

 I think if you bring together:
  • Neuro-Developmental Difference
  • Ignorance, and
  • Unconscious Bias
    • You're basically going to get the CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM we have today.
Picture
Further, some of those folks with "BRAIN INJURY" --- may have started out with a DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCE.
  • Do Toxic Synergies of Underlying Etiologies Predispose the Positive Association Between Traumatic Brain Injury and ADHD? (2020) --- Journal of Attention Disorders
  • Conclusion:   The conclusion of this commentary is that the toxicological interdependence of the underlying etiologies for mTBI and ADHD may help to explain their association as found in the meta-analysis conducted by Adeyemo et al. This commentary explores this dynamic further and, in so doing, underscores the need for additional research to validate these important conclusions.
----Now are there people with Developmental Differences at the TOP of this SOCIETY behaving just badly as those in the CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ----- THERE ABSOLUTELY ARE.
Asperger's from the Inside
High Functioning Autism --- It's NOT What You Think

The misnomer of 'high functioning autism': Intelligence is an imprecise predictor of functional abilities at diagnosis (2020)

Affiliations
  • 1 Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Australia.
  • 2 Stanford University, USA.
  • 3 WA Department of Health, Australia.
Abstract

'High functioning autism' is a term often used for individuals with autism spectrum disorder without an intellectual disability. Over time, this term has become synonymous with expectations of greater functional skills and better long-term outcomes, despite contradictory clinical observations.

This study investigated the relationship between adaptive behaviour, cognitive estimates (intelligence quotient) and age at diagnosis in autism spectrum disorder.

Participants (n = 2225, 1-18 years of age) were notified at diagnosis to a prospective register and grouped by presence (n = 1041) or absence (n = 1184) of intellectual disability.

Functional abilities were reported using the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales.

Regression models suggested that intelligence quotient was a weak predictor of Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales after controlling for sex.

Whereas the intellectual disability group's adaptive behaviour estimates were close to reported intelligence quotients, Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales scores fell significantly below intelligence quotients for children without intellectual disability.

The gap between intelligence quotient and Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales scores remained large with increasing age at diagnosis for all children.

These data indicate that estimates from intelligence quotient alone are an imprecise proxy for functional abilities when diagnosing autism spectrum disorder, particularly for those without intellectual disability.

We argue that 'high functioning autism' is an inaccurate clinical descriptor when based solely on intelligence quotient demarcations and this term should be abandoned in research and clinical practice.
Executive Functioning: Looking for a Strength-Based & Equitable Approach
Criminal Justice Index
Criminal Justice and Invisible Disabilities Index
Neuro-Behavioral Disability in the Criminal Justice System

"ANTI-SOCIAL ---PERSONALITY--- DISORDER"

7/31/2022

 
The Immune System, Neuro-Developmental Differences/ Disorders, Ramped Stress Responses, the Challenge of Double Empathy, Social Behavior, Ramped Up Sensory Processing, Epigenetic Changes and ---

SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS &
INACCURATE MAPS

Conjecture

  • Neuro-Developmental Differences/Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders, and "Personality Disorders" [now starting to be CONCEPTUALIZED as Neuro-Developmental Disorders] are often papering over DEEPER INDIVIDUAL & GENERATIONAL IMMUNE ISSUES.
    • Further, this is also occurring in the CONTEXT of CHRONIC DISEASE PROBLEMS --- CANCER and AUTO-IMMUNE DISORDERS ---
      • Those PHYSICAL PROBLEMS may be more ACCEPTED by the SOCIETY in 2022 (they weren't always accepted) --
      • BUT they too OFTEN come with their own PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.
 
  • How that SHAKES OUT can REVEAL a lot of UNCONSCIOUS BIAS.
 
  • And how HIERARCHY was maybe a PRAGMATIC APPROACH to dealing with the CHALLENGE of COMPLEX INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES in COMPLEX SOCIETIES.
    • You didn't necessarily have the BANDWIDTH to UNDERSTAND or ACCOMMODATE everyone --
    • So you did your best to UNDERSTAND & ACCOMMODATE the KING & HIS CRONIES.
    • Or whoever is in POWER.
    • In MODERN DEMOCRACIES -- your POLITICAL GROUP.
 
  • Einstein:  You CAN'T SOLVE PROBLEMS at the SAME LEVEL THEY WERE CREATED.
Picture
"I think everybody's crazy, and if I'm the one being a little direct about it, that's fine by me."
 
----------Ezra Miller, American actor

Picture
Picture
Picture
Professor Daniel Davis, University of Manchester
The Greatest Human Diversity is Within the Immune System

CO Medicaid & Homeless Coloradans w/ Mental Illness

7/20/2022

 
Issues of Harm Reduction, Level of Care, Choice and Economics
THE ISSUE
  • Some Coloradans with Mental Illness who are HOMELESS meet the criteria for CO MEDICAID Long Term Care
  • BUT they don't need assistance with activities of daily living.   This requirement for the CMHS (Community Mental Health Supports) Waiver was put in rule at 8.509.15.A.2

There has been a lot of PLAYING GAMES in Colorado Medicaid Mental Health because it is SO POLITICAL, SO EXPENSIVE & the NEED IS SO GREAT..

There are a lot of moving parts --- BUT this doesn't look like PARITY to us.

We would like to see a STATE STAKEHOLDER GROUP that specifically addressed the needs of Coloradans with Mental Illness who meet the LEVEL OF CARE for Medicaid Long Term Care BUT don't need help with activities of daily living.
  • With special attention to Coloradans who are Homeless and or being released from Jail or Prison.
Further
  • Medicaid Long Term Care generally opens up the possibility of:
    • Nursing Home Care
    • Assisted Living Care
    • In Home Care
Medicaid Home & Community Based Services "Waivers" such as the Colorado Community Mental Health Supports (CMHS) Waiver are designed for people who meet the level of care for a "nursing home" but can be served in the community.

There are many younger people with mental illness in Nursing Homes because there are insufficient services in the Community -- both on locked wards and open wards.

There are even more younger people with mental illness who are homeless and/or incarcerated because there are insufficient services in the Community.

What a Tangled Web We Weave --- What Was Really Going On In HCPF's Change of Targeting Criteria
CO's Mental Health Continuum of Care Hell
Fixing HCPF's Fair Housing Problem
Nursing Homes & Housing
Picture
8.509.15 ELIGIBLE PERSONS

A. HCBS-CMHS services shall be offered to persons who meet all of the eligibility requirements
below:
  . . .

2. Level of Care AND Target Group.
Clients who have been determined to meet the level of care AND target group criteria
shall be certified by the Utilization Review Contractor (URC) as functionally eligible for
HCBS-CMHS. The URC shall only certify HCBS-CMHS eligibility for those Clients:

a. Determined to meet the target group definition, defined as a person experiencing
a severe and persistent mental health need that requires assistance with one or
more Activities of Daily Living (ADL);


i. A person experiencing a severe and persistent mental health need is
defined as someone who:


1) Is 18 years of age or older with a severe and persistent mental
health need; and


2) Currently has or at any time during the past year leading up to
assessment has a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional
disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified
within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM -5); and

a) Has a disorder that is episodic, recurrent, or has
persistent features, but may vary in terms of severity and
disabling effects; and

b) Has resulted in functional impairment which substantially
interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.


ii. A severe and persistent mental health need does not include:
1) Intellectual or developmental disorders; or
2) Substance use disorder without a co-occurring diagnosis of a
severe and persistent mental health need.


b. Determined by a formal level of care assessment to require the level of care
available in a nursing facility, according to Section 8.401.11-15; and


c. A length of stay shall be assigned by the URC for approved admissions,
according to guidelines at Section 8.402.50.

Our backward debates & Justice

7/11/2022

 

  • In Mental Health and Criminal Justice --- there is enough to know our Diagnostic Categories are WRONG or at the very least RESEARCHERS have raised  "REASONABLE DOUBT" about them.
 
  • As hard as it is to accept, those INACCURATE DIAGNOSTIC CATEGORIES are RELEVANT to the LEGAL CATEGORIES we've set up in Criminal Justice.
 
  • Further, this isn't about going back to the FREE WILL vs. DETERMINISM DEBATE.

 This requires a much more sophisticated PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH to CRIMINAL JUSTICE than what we've got.
Over 600 Research Institutions Question DSM Categories
The US "Mental Health" Debate --- Where it "IS" and Where We'd Like to See It Go
PBS NewsHour July 8, 2022
Brooks & Capehart

This is an analysis of the National Debates on Abortion & Gun Rights.

I'm posting this for the troubling discussion of "MENTAL ILLNESS" in the context of the Gun Debate.

What's troubling to me is the DISMISSIVE nature of "MENTAL ILLNESS" and more broadly "COGNITIVE DISABILITY" in the context of GUN VIOLENCE ----
  • Unfortunately that dismissiveness appears to be based on discussions with "MENTAL HEALTH EXPERTS."
 
  • What do we mean by "MENTAL ILLNESS"?
    • The DSM according to NIMH (the National Institute in Mental Health) in 2013 isn't a valid diagnostic manual ---
    • And more and more PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS are being associated with NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS.
 
  • Additionally, it is well documented that BRAIN INJURY is prominent in criminal justice populations around the world, including the US.
 
  • I'm sorry BUT this GUN VIOLENCE is NOT just the result of EVIL PEOPLE even though the acts are EVIL.
 
  • We need experts who understand there is an UNDERLYING BIOLOGY to these violent acts even if we don't call it --- "MENTAL ILLNESS." 

We're Encouraged by this Legislative Session ---BUT There are Some Scary Reminders About How Far We Have To Go

6/20/2022

 
FEDS:  WHERE ARE YOU?
In March 2022, the US Department of Justice issued a "FINDINGS LETTER" to COLORADO re:  people with physical disabilities and nursing homes.
  • There are more "FINDINGS LETTERS" that need to be issued to Colorado and most States.
  • We are on the 100-YEAR PLAN to COMPLIANCE with EXISTING FEDERAL DISABILITY CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS.
 
  • What we really need is COMPREHENSIVE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE and EFFECTIVE UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT.
 
  • I am for INDIVIDUAL STATE INNOVATION, CREATIVITY and Tailoring.
    • There is NOT just ONE RIGHT WAY to comply with:
      • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
      • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
      • Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity
      • Medicaid Network Adequacy
      • Etc.
    • The PROBLEM is there is NOT JUST ONE WAY to NON-COMPLIANCE either.
 
  • We NEED the FEDS to provide more in the way of CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVED  DEFAULT TEMPLATES.
 
  • CMS and others are providing "GUIDANCE" sort of BUT Compliance is:
    • TECHNICALLY COMPLICATED, and
    • POLITICALLY COMPLICATED, and
    • ENFORCEMENT is PATCHY.
 
  • We do need STATES to push to bring down COSTS, BUT Ironically 2 of the things that are going to bring down costs are:
    • BETTER TREATMENTS, and
    • BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS to realizing the INTEGRATION MANDATE in the ADA
 
  • Especially for Cognitive Disability, Developmental Difference with Average or Above Average IQ --- the CURRENT PATHS TO INCLUSION  are more difficult than the MAJORITY appreciates.
    • Further, those people with Developmental Differences involving Sensory Processing and Executive Functioning are more VULNERABLE TO PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.
    • THEIR Strengths and Weaknesses are DIFFERENT ENOUGH that the NEURO-TYPICAL MOLD won't fit.
    • If we really put some CONSCIOUS EFFORT into MAXIMIZING the STRENGTHS and WORKING AROUND the "WEAKNESSES" ---
      • We probably can realize some COST SAVINGS.
 
  • Many people are not going to get into a HOUSE without a 30-YEAR MORTGAGE ---
    • BUT EVERYONE understands that the more YEARS you add to that MORTGAGE --
      • The more you are ULTIMATELY going to pay.
 
  • Well, the INTEREST RATE for SOCIAL EXCLUSION, INADEQUATE TREATMENTS, HOUSING & PLACEMENTS for Cognitive Disability/Difference is MANY TIMES that of the average 3O-year mortgage---
    • BOTH in TREASURE and HUMAN SUFFERING.
Picture
  • Further, we don't seem poised to REACH COMPLIANCE with EXISTING DISABILITY CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS in 30 YEARS or 60 YEARS.
 
  • In fact, it's not clear when we will reach COMPLIANCE.


 We need a Plan -- like an Olmstead Plan with:
  • Measurable Goals
  • Reasonable Time Frames, and
  • Funding to Support the Plan
In the meantime, we would like to see ON-GOING ENGAGEMENT and Yearly Reports of State Protection & Advocacy Offices with States on:
  • Olmstead
  • Parity
  • Network Adequacy
Further, State Lawyers Committees and Pro Bono Efforts should PARTNER with State P&A Offices  conduct "INVESTIGATIONS" in COORDINATION with the US Department of Justice.

Some of that is being done in States like Colorado and others.

If we are NOT going to FUND UNIFORM and EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT --- we need to FUND P&A, Pro Bono & DOJ INVESTIGATIONS and Enforcement Efforts.

As encouraged as we all are by a new Colorado Behavioral Health Administration ---
  • the most DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS have yet to be had, and
  • HCPF's 809.15.A.2 on Target Criteria for Colorado's MI Waiver requiring needing assistance with activities of daily living ----
    • Speaks VOLUMES about where we've been, where we still are and how far we have to go.
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Cloudy Valley Morning --- photo.net

INFLAMMATION REDUCTION as a Civil Rights & Health Equity Issue

6/19/2022

 
Conjecture
  • Inflammation is something of a UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE in Animal Biology and it is coding for an enormous number of things.
  • One of the things that is OBVIOUS --- BUT is
    • Not always obvious to the LAW, or
    • MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS
  • We're NOT making ourselves out of WHOLE CLOTH.
  • We're BORN into this.
 
  • There have been a great number of books written recently on INFLAMMATION and seeing INFLAMMATION as a "ROOT CAUSE" of illness.
    • That also prompts a lot of books to promote an ANTI-INFLAMMATORY "LIFESTYLE" which is good as far as it goes.
    • IT DOESN'T GO FAR ENOUGH
 
Picture
Disparities in Susceptibility to Multisystem Inflammatory ...
https://jamanetwork.com › jamapediatrics › fullarticle

by EA Dennis-Heyward · 2021 · Cited by 3 — In May 2020, the CDC issued a national health advisory for MIS-C, which is now characterized by fever, multiorgan (2 or more) system

  • Certainly when it comes to NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL and PSYCHIATRIC DIFFERENCES or DISORDERS --- the "ANTI-INFLAMMATORY LIFESTYLE" doesn't go far enough.
    • We have to TARGET DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION and DYSREGULATION of MULTIPLE SYSTEMS of the BODY.
 
  • I don't think a MORE FOCUSED EFFORT on addressing the UNDERLYING BIOLOGY of Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders INVALIDATES:
    • Personal Observation
    • Family Observation
    • Social Observation
    • Professional Observation
 But it does give a much needed CROSS REFERENCE, especially for those at the BOTTOM of the HIERARCHY.

Accommodations, Work Arounds and Life Paths for Differences in Sensory Processing

6/8/2022

 
Conjecture

"Impairments in early sensory information processing have been consistently identified in patients with schizophrenia as well as in individuals at high clinical risk for developing psychosis.

"There is increasing evidence that the deficits at these early levels of information processing significantly ..."


Sensory Information Processing Abnormalities in ... - Frontiers

[Question:  Is it a DEF
ICIT or is it an EXCESS, BOTH -- INDIVIDUAL?]



"Social and emotional responses rely heavily on the brain's ability to make sense of sensory information.

"Inaccurate information from processing deficits results in aversive emotional reactions from which maladaptive behaviors grow.
"

Sensory Processing Disorder:  It's Not… Something You Outgrow

[Question Again:  Is this just
DEFICITS, is it also EXCESSES --- does it depend on how we look at it?]



So what does this have to do with ACCOMMODATIONS. WORK-AROUNDS and LIFE PATHS?

  • Differences in Sensory Processing are often something you are BORN with:
    • By and large, the PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE is just to try to fit in as best you can --- on some level MOST EVERYONE is doing that.
    • The PROBLEM comes when YOUR NEEDS and the SOCIETY'S NEEDS or other PEOPLE'S NEEDS are coming into CONFLICT.
 
  • Further, HOW MUCH AWARENESS do YOU, EXPERTS or the SOCIETY really have with regard to MORE FUNDAMENTAL "ROOT CAUSES" of these CONFLICTS?
 
  • Because this is COMPLICATED --- one of the ways we have "RESOLVED" these CONFLICTS is with SYSTEMS of HIERARCHY.
 
  • Those "SYSTEMS of HIERARCHY" are under SCRUTINY by many people and groups of people, including many NEURO-DIVERSE people.

Many psychiatrists now would say ADHD is not an ATTENTION DEFICIT --- it's an ATTENTION EXCESS.

I would say that ATTENTION EXCESS is the RESULT of a SENSORY EXCESS.

Further, we process information through our senses in part by using our EMOTIONS.

On the one hand, we don't REASON without EMOTION --- EMOTION is A PART of the REASONING PROCESS.

On the other hand --- EMOTION is NOT NECESSARILY the END PRODUCT --
  • UNDERSTANDING and AWARENESS can bring CALM
  • A FACADE of Understanding and Awareness --- has its limits
  • And that I think is what PUSHES Human Understanding and Awareness.
  • I don't think 40 years ago the DSM was a FACADE -- it was imperfect BUT it was the best we could do.
  • Today in 2022 the DSM is a FACADE for a profession that is not getting SUFFICIENT TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH SUPPORT.
  • I think if we're not considering the role of DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES/DISORDERS involving SENSORY PROCESSING as they relate to PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS and SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS,
    • We're not likely to be EFFECTIVE, and
    • It won't be COST EFFECTIVE
Florence  + The Machine
Free

Florence Welch is Neuro-Diverse --- she has Dyslexia.

I think a lot of people who are Neuro-Diverse with HYPER-CONNECTED BRAINS but not necessarily DYSLEXIC --- can RELATE to this idea of FEELINGS and EMOTIONS HITTING ALL AT ONCE.

GO WITH THE FLOW
  • Neuro-Diverse people are processing often MORE SENSORY INFORMATION
  • I think that is what makes it EASIER for NEURO-DIVERSE people to PICK UP PATTERNS in DIVERSE DISCIPLINES
    • they have MORE EXAMPLES
  • BUT it takes them LONGER to PROCESS MORE INFORMATION ---
    • Einstein didn't talk until he was 3 --- and most of us aren't Einstein
    • BUT we are bringing our UNIQUENESS to the TABLE
    • Further --- all that INFORMATION in the UNIVERSE is NOT SOMEHOW IRRELEVANT ---
        • Saying you don't have the BANDWIDTH to CONSIDER something
        • Is SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT than saying it is IRRELEVANT.   Leonardo da Vinci was right --- IT IS ALL CONNECTED
  • For many people, processing ENORMOUS AMOUNTS of Information:
    • The Arts
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Social Entrepreneurship
    • Various Forms of Teaching
Can Work.
Neuro-Diverse people can seem CONTROLLING but they are trying to maintain a pretty elusive HOMEOSTASIS.
  • If you are at the TOP of some PYRAMID (PYRAMID SCHEME) -- then maybe you're able to keep it together (sort of)
  • If you are at the BOTTOM of some PYRAMID (PYRAMID SCHEME) -- it is going to be NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE.
    • Neuro-Diverse people need a lot of CONTROL over their ENVIRONMENTS because they are SO SENSITIVE to those ENVIRONMENTS.

Further, the important thing about NEURO-DIVERSITY is the DIVERSITY.  

It's often Neuro-Diverse people who are in CONFLICT while those NEURO-TYPICALS are trying to figure out what all the FUSS is about.
This is about "Equality" and "Fairness" ---
  • But it is not EQUALITY in the sense of we're CLONES -- it's EQUALITY in the sense that we're all living beings and we need ENVIRONMENTS that work for us and there are DIFFERENCES.
  • We have to NEGOTIATE those DIFFERENCES on  an EQUAL FOOTING.

"White Supremacy" --- the EXTREME FRUITS of a WIN/LOSE Society

5/16/2022

 
  • One of the REVELATIONS of being ENLIGHTENED or "WOKE" or a "REDNECK" is you start to realize that WHO WINS depends on HOW THE GAME IS DESIGNED and STRUCTURED.
  • Further, there is a kind of ROUGH DIALOGUE between the MIDDLE and the EXTREMES.

  • Sometimes people with EXTREME EMOTIONS are "LATCHING ONTO" some "IDEA" in the ENVIRONMENT and taking it to its "LOGICAL EXTREME."
 
  • HEY THAT'S NOT WHAT WE MEANT!!!!
Journalist Sebastian Junger
TedTalk (2014)

"Civilians don't miss war. But soldiers often do. Journalist Sebastian Junger shares his experience embedded with American soldiers at Restrepo, an outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley that saw heavy combat.

"Giving a look at the  'altered state of mind' that comes with war, he shows how combat gives soldiers an intense experience of connection. In the end, could it actually be "the opposite of war" that soldiers miss?"

Junger makes the DISTINCTION between FRIENDSHIP and BROTHERHOOD.


The COMPETITIVENESS of a GLOBAL ECONOMY and various DIVISIONS have put into HIGH RELIEF the need for BROTHERHOOD and need to bring EVERYONE into a view of the HUMAN FAMILY.

RELIGION, SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS and SCIENCE are a part of this   --- and they all EVOLVE.

SmartHistory
The Law Code Stele of King Hammurabi



What's the Point? 
  • 4,000 Years Ago ---An EYE for An EYE --- was actually a BIG STEP UP, More Proportional & Compassionate than where some of the PUNISHMENT had been.

Conjecture
  • The challenge of people with EXTREME EMOTIONS going off on Others I would submit is NOT A NEW CHALLENGE.
  • Further, our System of Criminal Justice is focused on the "idea" of PUNISHING EXTREME INTENT when it is accompanied by EXTREME ACTIONS.

HISTORY as A CONVERSATION ACROSS TIME
  • if you look at the CODE OF HAMMURABI -- it is both AMAZING and it SUCKS by MODERN STANDARDS.
  • Understanding ourselves as A PART OF HISTORY that is WOVEN into the FABRIC of TIME ---
    • Can give LIFE MEANING
    • AND it can also take some of the pressure off
      • Whatever we are doing now is the best we can do and all things considered probably is AMAZING or ---
        • With greater knowledge and insight ---- WELL, NO WONDER.
  • Bringing ourselves to scale in the SCHEME OF THINGS, allow us to understand and accept imperfection, keep going and continue to MAKE SAFE SPACES for ourselves and others in an IMPERFECT HUMAN FAMILY.
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    Transitional Justice is a term used by the United Nations and others to describe measures to REDRESS MASSIVE VIOLATIONS of HUMAN RIGHTS.

    ​​Translational Justice as we're using it refers to a PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH to CRIMINAL JUSTICE and is meant to echo TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE.

    ​
    Translational Justice also means listening to those people impacted by our justice policies

    That means going 360
    ° -- that's hard work
    ​



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