Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to provide insights into a rapid and effective—but partial—medical treatment for autism or (ASD) and autistic trait disorders (ATD), as well as a rationale for why this treatment works and fails.
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Notes
- 1.
Dabrowski describes five clinically apparent overexcitable neuronal forms: psychomotor, sensual, emotional, imaginational, and intellectual. However, he skips over a possible neurophysiological cause of the neuronal sensitivities—cerebellar mechanisms involving inhibition, disinhibition, and facilitation of specific circuits and signals.
Psychomotor OE manifests as an enhanced neuromuscular excitation resulting in excessive energy and a need for—and satisfaction from—physical action.
Sensory/Sensual OE manifests as an intensified experience of pleasure or displeasure triggered by one or more of the five senses. Conversely, there may be extreme pain and disgust.
Intellectual OE manifests as an extreme desire to seek understanding and truth, to gain knowledge, and to analyze and categorize information. Children with this characteristic frequently love thinking purely for the sake of thinking.
Imaginational OE manifests as an intensified play of the imaginations. Often children high in Imaginational OE do not differentiate between truth and fiction or are absorbed in their own private world with imaginary companions and dramatizations.
Emotional OE is characterized by heightened, intense feelings and responses of various kinds. Children with this characteristic show strong emotional attachments to people, places, and things. They are empathetic, compassionate, and extremely sensitive.
Perhaps the following blog review will be helpful: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/dabrowskis-positive-disintegration/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overexcitability
- 2.
Placebo vs. Non- Placebo —Once again, it’s important to emphasize just how unexpected and specific the favorable response to meds often are. And the same holds true for which symptomatic targets the meds hit. To date, none of the meds have significantly reduced Barrow’s hyperactivity symptom. Yet most all have enhanced his concentration—the antihistamines more so than the stimulants.
Thus, until further clarified by necessary double-blind controlled studies, I will continue to suspect that these responses are non-placebo. And since the responses remain favorable over time, the ultimate verdict doesn’t clinically matter to the patients or their families or their MDs. In fact, Dr. Jana Williams, also having exceptional pharmacological expertise, fully agrees with my views.
Once a med is approved by the FDA for efficacy and safety, clinicians never consider whether the improvements and/or side effects per patient are due to placebo positives or negatives. Importantly, all the CVS antihistamines used were approved for inner-ear symptoms and the stimulants for ADD/ADHD.
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Levinson, H.N. (2019). An Effective Partial Medical Treatment for Autism (ASD) and Autistic Trait Disorder or Pseudo-autism. In: Feeling Smarter and Smarter. Copernicus, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16208-5_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16208-5_22
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