This
week’s film discussed the topic of disability, art therapy, and education of
the disabled. When I hear about educating people with disabilities, I
immediately want to know exactly what causes this disability and what effects
it causes. I feel like it’s incredibly important to find the root cause of a
disorder first, if you wish to educate someone with it. Autism is an
interesting example to look into. In fact, the documentary from class discussed
autism more than any other disorder.
Autism
is actually a very common disorder and practices in education haven’t really
kept up with the research being completed by institutions. In fact, autism is estimated
to be found in as many as one or two in a thousand children born today. Many of
the issues surrounding autism education are about overcoming the impaired
social interactions that are associated with the condition. I believe that in
order to overcome these issues, we need to understand their root cause.
When it
comes to autism, we need to examine the structures in the brain that are
causing these specific behaviors. Currently, there are many theories that
postulate the neurological origin of the disorder. However, in my opinion, the
most interesting path to pursue is a structure known for its role in emotion.
Currently, there are two camps of thought. The entire debate centers around the
role of the amygdala. The amygdala is a small almond shaped clusters of nuclei
located in the limbic system. Often times, the limbic system and its
surrounding structures are referred to as the “old” or “lizard” brain because
of its primitive origins. It is
responsible for a number of neural processes. The amygdala is the center of emotion
based learning. When we learn to fear or become anxious of something, we learn
to avoid it. This learning is because of the amygdala. However, because of
this, over activation of the amygdala seems to be responsible for panic or anxiety
attacks in humans.
How
does the amygdala play a role in autism? Bauman and Kemper in 1985 originally
noticed that in the brains of post mortem autistic brains, there was severe
abnormality in the limbic system, specifically in the amygdala. Many neuroscientists have postulated that the
amygdala is vital in social interactions. Some researchers claim that
over-activation of the amygdala would is a cause (or potentially symptom) of
autism. They argue that over activation in the limbic system would explain the
extreme anxiety associated with social interactions. However, there is an
alternative explanation proposed by other theorists stating that it is under-activation
of the amygdala that would explain the behavior of social withdrawal and a
limited understanding of proper social cues and reactions.
Assuming
that the amygdala is the source of these issues (which some researchers are beginning
to believe that the amygdala is a victim of a much larger disorder, however the
research is still coming in on that theory), how can we properly begin to
instruct individuals with autism? There is a theory that understanding that
social interactions may be over stimulating the amygdala is the very first step
to fixing the problem. If these individuals are not naturally inclined to
understand complex social interaction, and that it may cause something like
anxiety attacks, it is probably best to instruct these individuals on proper
emotional responses.
The Autism
Research Center, located at the University of Cambridge, has developed a
program that can potentially assist children with autism. This program focuses
around fifteen fifteen-minute long CGI episodes. These shows use everyday
vehicles such as trams, trains, and other rail based transportation to teach children
with autism emotion recognition skills. These rail cars are called The Transporters. Each of the episodes focuses on a
particular emotion in context. The programs use these rail cars with oversized
and over emoted human faces on the front to demonstrate each emotion. The
theory behind the rail based vehicles as characters is that many children with
autism prefer motions that are structured and repetitive. These trains can only
move on their tracks, therefore they are unable to make spontaneous movements.
This program
sounds like many other educational series aimed at children, however this
particular series of exercises has been clinically shown to improve emotion recognition
in children with autism. This research is backed by the Autism Research Center
and more specifically, Dr. Simon Baron Cohen. Dr. Cohen is a well-respected figure
in the autism research field. The fact
that this program has actually shown a marked improvement in emotion
recognition is absolutely amazing. This could be an amazing step towards
helping to integrate children with autism into the classroom. The video below introduces Dr. Cohen and explains the program.
Now
that I have rambled about the limbic system and rail cars with faces, the
question still remains as to how this is going to assist educators. As I said earlier,
many of the issues that educators face when working with children with autism
is their inability to understand emotion. Now, considering that this short program
series (fifteen minutes a day for four weeks) has shown considerable help in
allowing these children to understand emotion, this seems like an absolute no
brainer. More research based on emotion education needs to be completed. We
should be actively searching for a way to assist educationally disabled
children become as well rounded as their non-disabled peers.
What
does the amygdala have to do with autism education? I believe that now that we
can pinpoint neural structures responsible for these behaviors, we can also
begin to assess how to treat children with autism (be it with therapy,
biofeedback, or unfortunately medication). However, I believe that this
information has a much more practical application. If educators understand that
their students are having reactions that are akin to panic attacks, that can
help them begin to empathize with the experience that children with autism go
through. We often, mistakenly, assume that because children with disabilities
are different than us, we cannot possibly understand what kinds of emotions or
thoughts that they are having. However, I believe that neurological research in
this field can help everyone empathize with educationally disabled individuals,
rather than pity them.
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