Trump and the R-Word

 In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the issue's role in campaign politics.   In the 2016 campaign, a number of posts discussed Trump's bad record on disability issues more generally.   As his actions as president indicate, he has little use for Americans with disabilities.

The already discredited Woodward book, so many lies and phony sources, has me calling Jeff Sessions “mentally retarded” and “a dumb southerner.” I said NEITHER, never used those terms on anyone, including Jeff, and being a southerner is a GREAT thing. He made this up to divide!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018

David Choi at Business Insider:

But audio recordings of previous interviews contradict Trump's claim that he never called anyone "mentally retarded." In an interview with shock jock Howard Stern from 2004, Trump claimed to recall a conversation with his golf instructor:

"I have a golf pro who's mentally retarded," Trump said, according to the Huffington Post. "I mean he's really not a smart guy."

In another interview with Stern in 2004, Trump decried a "negative" news report that scrutinized his financial dealings and threatened to "sue their ass off."

"I was criticized in one magazine, where the writer was retarded," Trump said at the time. "He said 'Donald Trump put up $7 million ... why isn't Donald Trump putting up more money?"

In 2016, the Daily Beast also reported that Trump implied actress Marlee Matlin, a former contestant on his show "The Celebrity Apprentice," was mentally handicapped because she was deaf.

One source told The Beast that Trump, who wrote "asinine" notes during tapings of the show, once wrote: "Marlee, is she retarded??"

"[Trump] would make fun of her voice," a person who worked on the show's set said to The Beast. "Like, to make it seem like she was mentally not there? [It] sounded like he got a real kick out of it. It was really upsetting."

Autism and Personal Experience

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the attitudes of public officials.  Many who get involved in autism politics have had experience as parents or caregivers.

Antonio Planas at Newsday: 

An Islip councilman charged with reviving an advisory board for the disabled hopes to lean on his life experiences raising his autistic son to bring change.

"It's an area that I know a lot about and something I would like to share my knowledge, my abilities and my enthusiasm to try and do something positive," said James O'Connor, chairman of the Town of Islip Americans with Disabilities Advisory Board.

O'Connor, whose 22-year-old son was diagnosed with autism at age 2, was named as the advisory board's chairman on Aug. 21 by Supervisor Angie Carpenter. The councilman spoke recently from his town hall office, which proudly displays his son Matthew's artwork.

"The supervisor of the board, when I was first elected, understood I had a child with a disability," said O'Connor, who began his first term in January. "She asked me if I would be willing to take on the assignment. ... We can serve as a vigilant reminder to the town that there is a disabled community here in the town of Islip and we need to take their 

Postmodernism and the Antivax Movement

In The Politics of Autism, I look at the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.

Brett Bricker and Jacob Justice have an article at Western Journal of Communication titled "The Postmodern Medical Paradigm: A Case Study of Anti-MMR Vaccine Arguments."

This essay analyzes the arguments of the antivaccination movement, arguing that many analysts have misdiagnosed the root causes of vaccine skepticism. It is no longer productive for argumentation scholars to discount scientific skepticism as simply a problem of an ignorant public, religious zealots, or conservative ideologies, because antivaccine beliefs transcend ideology. The authors argue that simplistic accusations of blame on one political or cultural subgroup are inaccurate, and that the emergence of powerful antivaccine advocates points to the power of a conspiracy theory supported by anecdotes.

From the article:

The appeal of antivaccination discourse in its most powerful form is linked to two aspects of the postmodern medical paradigm. First, antivaccination advocates counter appeals to scientific consensus by relying upon anecdotes and highly emotional personal stories. These anecdotes typically involve the firsthand testimony of parents of autistic children who are convinced of the vaccination–autism link and use their own experiences to caution the audience against vaccination. Although educated and scientifically literate audiences may rightfully be skeptical of such anecdotal appeals, lay audiences often find them persuasive because of the sincerity of the featured parents and their seemingly common-sense arguments. Second, antivaccination arguments utilize conspiracy theory rhetoric to discount provaccination counterarguments, alleging a concerted effort by the media, government agencies, and pharmaceutical industry to conceal the truth about the vaccination–autism link. This argumentative technique casts doubt on the scientific consensus, by implying that the vaccination–autism link could be definitively proven were it not for widespread collusion to stifle the flow of information, creating an atmosphere of pervasive skepticism and uncertainty that is not conducive to rational, evidence-based persuasion. In what follows, we describe these two themes in greater detail and, illustrate their form and function within antivaccination discourse.

...
The postmodern medical paradigm is at least partially to blame for skepticism of the scientific evidence supporting MMR vaccine efficacy and safety. Although postmodernism is an intentionally slippery term, when applied to medicine the postmodern medical paradigm has three characteristics:

1. Hostility toward singular truths
2. Aversion to scientific objectivity
3. Decreased trust in expertise

Looking for Rain Man

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the employment of adults with autism and other disabilities. Many posts have discussed programs to provide them with training and experience.

Simon M. Bury and colleagues have a letter in Autism titled  "If you’ve employed one person with

autism …: An individual difference approach to the autism advantage at work."  The abstract:

In this letter to the editor, we comment on the ‘autism advantage’ – the idea that superior skills associated with autism (e.g. attention to detail) present a talent in employment – an example of which is a recent discussion by Austin and Pisano. We welcome advocacy that raises awareness around the strengths and capabilities of people with autism, and also the need to reform human resource management processes that disadvantage them. However, we are concerned that, by highlighting certain stereotypes (e.g. the ‘talented nerd lacking social graces’), the heterogeneity of autism may be overlooked and support needs downplayed. Furthermore, not appreciating individual differences might result in a misalignment between work-profile and employment, pressure to outperform peers without autism and a failure to appreciate the diverse interests of people with autism. We argue that an individual differences approach will prove more sustainable for improving long-term employment outcomes.

From the letter:

We acknowledge that there are areas in which individuals with autism perform exceptionally and appreciate the importance of identifying their strengths and supporting them appropriately. However, it is also important to remind ourselves that not all  ndividuals with autism have superior skills, nor should they have to, to secure employment. The ‘autism advantage’ may prove a double-edged sword; while, it is beneficial in raising awareness, it also has the potential to place unreasonable expectations on average John (or Jane for that matter!). Supporting John, and the individuals who make up his composite, by supporting his uniqueness, including both his strengths and support needs, may prove to be the most sustainable approach to employment in the long term

Antivax and Mistrust of Experts

In The Politics of Autism, I look at the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.

At the 2018 APSA annual meeting, Naomi Scheinerman has a paper titled "Anti-Vaccination in the Trump Era: Mistrust of Experts and the Promise of Democracy."  The abstract:

The case of vaccination policy offers us a perspective of democratic ills that were previously characterized as stemming from epistemic droughts as a problem of science communication, the solution to which is increased democratic deliberation that aligns personal interest with community welfare while instilling greater trust in expert authority.

Today’s political moment is often diagnosed as the spread of disparate information, that our democracy’s ills stem from the condition of two groups of people who consume two divergent diets of facts. Perhaps even more pernicious is the growing sentiment that due to this confluence of seemingly contradictory information that the truth is unknowable. However, closer examination reveals that some ordinarily divisive topics are not so clearly a case of clashing knowledge, but rather a breakdown of communication and interpretation regarding that information. Indeed, the case of vaccination shows that individuals align themselves with groups based on a valued risk assessment and social coherence rather than scientific ineptitude. Better understanding the science of communication can bolster democratic efforts to counteract the rhetoric of “alternative facts” and interpretation of risk that threaten the scientific foundations of good social policy.

Early in 2017, two polarized political camps unearthed common ground when President-elect Donald Trump requested that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. head a commission on vaccine safety and “scientific integrity.” The concurrence of the liberal anti-vaccination movement and the conservative Trump base revealed that no aspect of the political life is immune from the Romantic Era’s successor, what Jean-François Lyotard dubbed the “postmodern condition”: distrust of expert authority in deference to grand narratives cultivated through personal experiences. Whereas the anti-vaccination movement has fought for personal freedoms through attaining “philosophical” (non-medical and non-religious) exemptions from vaccination mandates, the Trump strategy has been to overhaul or even eliminate the regulatory agencies whose legitimacy is based on expertise. Vaccination skepticism emerges in part due to science communication failings and the perennial human need to find meaning in group membership and validation. Anti-vaccination group membership demands both an epistemic alignment with certain facts as well as a moral evaluation of acceptable levels of risk: even as many anti-vaxxers acknowledge the health benefits of vaccines, they perceive the risk of autism and injury to outweigh them.

Perhaps the great irony of democracy as seen through the history of science is that the liberal ideals of freedom of expression, freedom to believe otherwise, and freedom to dispute the status quo, have heralded both benefits to and detrimental attacks on democratic and medical institutions. Further, philosophies of science both advance the imperative of scientific neutrality alongside the need for epistemic communities to inform medical practitioners of their lived and subjective accountings that come from a robust social epistemology. Consider that much of scientific progress comes from recognizing the fallibility of even the most widely held of views. Progress can be both born and killed in moments of skepticism.

Ultimately, progress also requires democratic trust through robust institutions that recognize dissenting views formed from personal accounting alongside an ability to effectively communicate science and educate. Today’s political moment features a JSMillian political tension between desiring epistemic guidance of experts alongside experiential contribution of the average individual whose skepticism may provoke debate and progress. Deliberative politics must embrace this challenge of modulating the right amount of healthy debate. Mistrust of experts and government emerges from the feeling that one has been abandoned and lived experiences denied, and thus both society and the individual could benefit from renewal of the integrity and significance of democratic processes that re-inform epistemic identities in ways that are deeply meaningful and healthy.

Partisanship and Participation Among Disabled People

In The Politics of Autism, I write:  "Support from the general public will be an important political asset for autistic people. Another will be their sheer numbers, since a larger population of identified autistic adults will mean more autistic voters and activists"

At the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Sierra Powell and April A. Johnson have a paper titled "Partisanship and Political Participation Among People with Disabilities."

The abstract:

Scholars have found that having a disability significantly decreases the likelihood one will vote. Here we explore several mechanisms that may be behind the low voter turnout of disabled Americans. Commensurate with the pattern of low turnout among people with disabilities, we ask whether people with disabilities also exhibit weak partisanship, moderate ideological preferences, and inconsistent patterns of vote choice. Analyzing data from the 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Study and the 2012 and 2016 American National Election Studies, we conclude that having a disability is positively related to identifying as a Democrat, to identifying with liberal ideological orientations, and to Democratic vote choice. Curiously, we also find strong partisan attachments among people with physical disabilities, despite their history of low voting levels. We speculate about the differential effect of partisan attachment on voting behavior among those with and without disabilities. Practical strategies for greater incorporation of those with disabilities into the political process are considered.

A Case for State Law on Autism ID Cards

The Politics of Autism includes an extensive discussion of policy initiatives in the states. New York recently enacted ID legislation by Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara. Speaking to Bethany Bump of the Albany Times-Union, he explains the need for state law:

[The] bill, sponsored by Santabarbara in the Assembly and Pamela Helming in the Senate, will create an optional, standardized identification card for individuals with a developmental disability. It could include information about the person's diagnosis, as well as an emergency contact number and address.

The goal, Santabarbara said, is to help vulnerable individuals convey important information to first responders in the event of an emergency or during an interaction with law enforcement.

He pointed to an incident in Arizona last year in which a police officer forcibly restrained an autistic 14-year-old who was playing with a piece of string in a public park, slammed him against a tree and pinned him to the ground, believing his repetitive behavior was a sign of drug use.

It wasn't. It was what's known in the autism community as self-stimulation or "stimming" — a common behavior involving repetitive movements or sounds that helps individuals with developmental disorders cope with their surroundings. The incident caused outrage after body camera footage was released.

"I said look, 'If we don't do something this is going to happen here and nobody wants that,'" Santabarbara said. "It would have been a different situation if, when the officer frisked the teen he found his ID card or had some training."

The ID bill, he said, will work in concert with an earlier bill he sponsored that created a statewide program to train police officers and first responders in recognizing the signs of autism, as well as how to respond to such individuals.

A number of local municipalities and organizations have offered unofficial versions of ID cards over the years, but they don't contain standardized language and may not be readily recognized by first responders, he said.

Yet Another Case of Blaming Autism for Planned Violence

In The Politics of Autism, I write:

There is no evidence linking autism to planned violence, but in recent years, mass shootings by young men have led commentators in the mainstream media and on the Internet to suggest such a connection. After the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, for instance, news reports said that the shooter was on the spectrum. The speculation made little sense to anyone who understood autism. Whereas autistic people have language delays and deficits, the killer had learned English as a second language — and learned it well enough to major in the subject in college. Later on, it turned out that he had an entirely different problem, a social anxiety disorder. Adam Lanza, who committed the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, may have had an Asperger’s diagnosis, but his father emphasized that his behavior stemmed from the psychiatric illnesses that he also had. Nevertheless, the media speculated about Lanza’s place on the spectrum, which worried autism parents. One mother of an autistic child wrote: “This is the first time I'm truly afraid for him. Afraid of what may happen to my son with autism at the hands of a stranger; a stranger who has chosen to buy into the media-fueled misinformation that individuals diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder are dangerous and capable of horrendous acts of terror and violence.”

From Media Matters:

LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): All of them were on some SSRI drugs, anti-depressants, what should we think?

CAROLE LIEBERMAN: Well, it’s not really the anti-depressant's fault, but this isn’t a gun control problem either. It’s mainly a video game control problem and access to good mental health treatment problem.[…]

There is a pattern here with all of these school shooters. David Katz is just the latest one. And that is, first of all, there is some kind of mental illness. David Katz seems like he might be on the autism spectrum --

INGRAHAM: Look at him.

LIEBERMAN: He has some depression, certainly. Yes, if you look at -- yes, all you have to do is look at him.

INGRAHAM: Look at his eyes.

LIEBERMAN: If you look at his high school yearbook, yes, they’re so depressed.

INGRAHAM: His eyes, Adam Lanza’s eyes, something dead in their eyes, the eyes are the giveaway.

LIEBERMAN: Absolutely.

Cuomo Signs ID and Screening Bills

The Politics of Autism includes an extensive discussion of policy initiatives in the states.

Stephen Williams reports at the Daily Gazette [Schenectady, NY]:

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has signed into law two pieces of autism legislation sponsored by a local assemblyman.

On Friday, the governor signed a bill authorizing the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities to create a standardized identification card, and another mandating that early screening for autism be a recommended part of routine early-childhood pediatric exams.

Both bills were sponsored by Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, who has a 16-year-old son with autism.

"Hundreds and hundreds of families go through the exact same challenges that my family goes through," said Santabarbara, who is chairman of the Assembly Subcommittee on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

"It's a big win for my Autism Action Plan, and it's a big win for people with disabilities," he said. "This makes New York a leader in addressing the issues of people with autism."

Autistic Adults Living With Famiy Have Higher Unmet Service Need

Uncertainty is a major theme of The Politics of Autism.  In the concluding section, I write:

A key question in autism policy evaluation is simple to pose, hard to answer: How do autistic people benefit? How much better off are they as a result of government action? While there are studies of the short-term impact of various therapies, there is surprisingly little research about the long term, which is really what autistic people and their families care about. As we saw in chapter 4, few studies have focused on the educational attainment of autistic youths. For instance, we do not know much about what happens to them in high school, apart from the kinds of classes that they take. One study searched the autism literature from 1950 through 2011 and found just 13 rigorous peer reviewed studies evaluating psychosocial interventions for autistic adults. The effects of were largely positive, though the main finding of the review is that there is a need for further development and evaluation of treatments for adults.

Katerina M. Dudley and colleagues have an article at The Journal of Autism and Development Disorders titled  "Understanding Service Usage and Needs for Adults with ASD: The Importance of Living Situation." The abstract:

With the increasing prevalence of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), research examining the service experiences of this population is greatly needed. The current study investigated service use, unmet needs, and obstacles to service access for a large sample of adults with ASD. After accounting for various demographic factors known to impact service usage and needs, living situation was a significant predictor of service use, needs, and obstacles to services. Adults with ASD living with family reported less service use, higher unmet need, and more obstacles to accessing services. With more than half of this adult sample living with family, results have clear public policy implications to support the increasing population of adults with ASD living with aging caregivers.

From the article:

Compared to adults with ASD who lived with family members or lived independently, it may be unsurprising that adults with ASD who lived in supported residential settings, such as supervised housing or group homes, received more services given the array of services offered and delivered through their supported living facility. However, the size of the gap in service access, combined with the clear indication that more services are needed by adults with ASD living with family caregivers or living independently, is staggering. A surprisingly large percentage of families whose adult lived at home (60%) reported needing more services. This result remained even after controlling for a variety of adult and caregiver factors known to impact service usage and needs.

The Ducks Stay

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the  civil rights of people with autism and other disabilities.  Sometimes disputes involve service or support animals.

Lindsey Bever at WP:

Dylan Dyke’s best friends are ducks.

There Dylan is playing cards with “Bill.” There he is swimming with “Nibbles.” In another photo online, the 12-year-old with autism is seen talking to his two animals outside in Georgetown Township, Mich.

Earlier this year, Dylan even drew a picture of a duck and wrote an acrostic, defining his feathery friends as “Determined,” “Undefeatable,” “Caring” and “Kind."

"These ducks are his everything,” his mother, Jen Dyke, told NBC affiliate WOOD. “They’re his whole life.”

That’s why Dylan’s parents said it was so upsetting earlier this summer when neighbors began to complain about the animals, which Mark and Jen Dyke said provide emotional support for their son. It prompted officials in the township, near Grand Rapids, to order them to remove the ducks, saying they violated an ordinance against keeping farm animals in the neighborhood, according to the station.

But after an emotional fight, Dylan’s parents announced that members of the Georgetown Township Zoning Board of Appeals said Dylan could keep his friends.

Russians Have Long Spread Antivax Disinformation

In The Politics of Autism, I look at the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.

Rhys Blakely at The Times of London:

Kremlin-sponsored social media accounts have promoted discredited theories about the MMR jab as part of an effort to sow doubt in the West over the safety of vaccines.

Russian government "trolls" voiced support for a film made by Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who was struck off after falsely claiming that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism.

...

Particular concern surrounds the so-called Wakefield cohort - young people whose parents failed to get them vaccinated as children after false claims by Mr Wakefield. The doctor was struck off by the General Medical Council in 2010 when it ruled that he had acted dishonestly in his 1998 study on MMR. Mr Wakefield then directed the film Vaxxed, which accuses the US government of covering up a link between autism and vaccines.

The messages in support of the film, which can be watched online for a fee, included a call to "let the people see #VAXXED and decide for themselves".

The tweets that promoted the Wakefield film were identified by Renée DiResta, an expert in online misinformation who has advised the US Congress. Some of the accounts that posted the messages have been suspended. A spokesman for Twitter said: "Twitter fights malicious automation strategically and at scale."

In another article, Blakely explains that the Russians have been engaging in this tactic for a long time.

In 1983 Soviet operatives planted a fabricated news story with a friendly Indian newspaper. It alleged that the Aids virus had been developed by the US government to target African-Americans and the US gay community.

A report by the Pell Centre for International Relations, a Washington think tank, documented how the lie spread, appearing in stories in 30 languages.

The distrust it gave rise to festered for years. In 2005 a survey found that nearly half of African-Americans believed that HIV was "man-made".

There is now substantial evidence that Russia has updated these methods to reflect our use of social media. Moscow does not appear to have a sincere aversion to vaccination: Russia claims to have an effective vaccination programme. The aim, rather, is to destabilise the West. Any issue that divides public opinion - from Brexit to genetically modified crops - appears to be fair game.

...
The stunt recalled Russia's efforts to meddle in the US election, which included paying a woman in a cage to dress up as Hillary Clinton in prison garb during a rally in Florida.

It also evoked the cynicism of the Russian military. In 2013 General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces, laid out what came to be seen as a blueprint for a new form of warfare, drawing on the media, hackers, psy-ops and fake news. He argued that even a "thriving state" could be brought to its knees in months if only the right combination of pressures were applied.

Russian Trolls Spread Antivax Messages

In The Politics of Autism, I look at the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.

A release from George Washington University:

Social media bots and Russian trolls promoted discord and spread false information about vaccines on Twitter, according to new research led by the George Washington University. Using tactics similar to those at work during the 2016 United States presidential election, these Twitter accounts entered into vaccine debates months before election season was underway. The study, "Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate" was published today in the American Journal of Public Health.

The team, which also includes researchers from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, examined thousands of tweets sent between July 2014 and September 2017. It discovered several accounts, now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the U.S. election, as well as marketing and malware bots, tweeted about vaccines and skewed online health communications.

"The vast majority of Americans believe vaccines are safe and effective, but looking at Twitter gives the impression that there is a lot of debate. It turns out that many anti-vaccine tweets come from accounts whose provenance is unclear. These might be bots, human users or 'cyborgs' -- hacked accounts that are sometimes taken over by bots. Although it's impossible to know exactly how many tweets were generated by bots and trolls, our findings suggest that a significant portion of the online discourse about vaccines may be generated by malicious actors with a range of hidden agendas," David Broniatowski, an assistant professor in GW's School of Engineering and Applied Science, said.

 Ben Popken and Maggie Fox  at NBC:

An NBC News analysis of over a million tweets sent by identified Russian trolls published by the data journalism website FiveThirtyEight and Clemson University researchers found over 500 examples of tweets that mention vaccines, often spreading misinformation and discredited theories.

“The Vaccine Hoax is Over — Secret Documents Reveal Shocking Truth,” wrote Russian troll _NICKLUNA_ in February 2017. “Autism Rates in California Have Skyrocketed Following Mandatory Vaccination Bill,” tweeted Amelie Baldwin, a prolific Russian troll, in December of 2016.

Jessica Glenza at The Guardian:

“To me it’s actually impressive how well-organized and sophisticated the anti-vax movement has become,” said Dr Peter Hotez, the director of the Texas children’s hospital center for vaccine development at Baylor College of Medicine, and the father of an autistic child. Hotez, who maintains an active Twitter presence, said he struggled to identify whether Twitter accounts were human or bots.

“There are clearly some well-known anti-vax activists that I know to look out for and I know to block or to mute, but that’s a minority,” said Hotez. “A lot of it just seems to come out of nowhere, and I’m always surprised by that.” 

One of the most striking findings, Broniatowski said, was an apparent attempt by Russian trolls to Astroturf a vaccine debate using the hashtag #VaccinateUS. Accounts identified as controlled by the Internet Research Agency, a troll farm backed by the Russian government, were almost exclusively responsible for content emerging under #VaccinateUS.

Some of the Russian trolls even specifically used a hashtag associated with Andrew Wakefield, the discredited former physician who published fraudulent papers linking vaccines with autism, such as #Vaxxed and #CDCWhistleblower.