Olmstead, Neuro-Developmental Differences & Psychiatric Disorders Cognitive / Remediation & Work-Arounds to Address Executive Functioning

Conjecture

• When we think about who is INSTITUTIONALIZED or AT RISK OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION we might think of that person who:
  • Has a Developmental Disability & an IQ below 70.
  • Has a Psychiatric Disorder, or
  • Has a Brain Injury

 

• The reality is a lot of people with a Psychiatric Disorder or a Brain Injury are also people who started out with a Neuro-Developmental Difference with an IQ above 70.

 

• This is implicating so many "IDEAS" we have in our SOCIETY that are NOT AS CONNECTED TO REALITY as they might be.

 

• A lot of this is not understanding how connected "TRADITIONAL INTELLIGENCE" is with SENSORY PROCESSING.

 

• Surprisingly, people with Neuro-Developmental Differences and Psychiatric Disorders have HYPER-CONNECTED BRAINS.

• One of the IRONIES of having a HYPER-CONNECTED BRAIN is that EMOTIONAL REGULATION is CHALLENGING ---
  • You're spending a lot of time on that because THINGS ARE HITTING ALL AT ONCE.
    

PARSING OUR APPROACH to "MENTAL HEALTH"

• Right now Mental Health has typically meant Talk Therapy and Medication.
  • There's a role for those
• What seems to be emerging is the need to address EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING as much more THE MAIN COURSE.
• Further, when we think about Olmstead & the Integration Mandate ---- addressing Executive Functioning --
  • is probably one of the KEYS for both people with Neuro-Developmental Differences & Psychiatric Disorders
  • On the other hand, it won't be enough if we don't develop and employ those BIG STRENGTHS that also come from HYPER-CONNECTED BRAINS.

At least in 2022, this needs to be a Hybrid Approach with:

• Occupational Therapy, Cognitive Remediation Therapy and/or Coaching, etc. on the one hand, and
• Work-Arounds and Accommodations on the other hand.
  

By and large, I don't think the current diagnostic categories are FUNDAMENTAL insofar as:

• Most disorders share common genes
• Many to most people with a Neuro-Developmental/Psychiatric Disorder have MULTIPLE DIAGNOSES
  • The University of Colorado has recognized this is NOT HELPFUL.

Recognizing the role of MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION in many cases and the IDIOSYNCRATIC NATURE OF THAT on SHARED GENES --- I think helps to explain the wide variety in the population.

To me, it's about SHARED GENES and at least in many cases MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION --- and the current diagnostic categories are falling apart.

DRAFT:  Occupational Therapy, Cognitive Remediation Therapy & Coaching to address Executive Functioning in Neuro-Developmental & Psychiatric Disorders

In this video, Florence Welch isn't "FREE" in the way we want to believe.

The FEELINGS are HITTING ALL AT ONCE --- A HUNDRED TIMES A DAY.  Further, this video shows the FATIGUE of NEURO-DIVERSITY like nothing I've ever seen before.

Welch has Dyslexia and Dyspraxia and has spoken about Addiction and Severe Depression.

Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (2020)

Grandmaternal Smoking & Risk for ADHD

Gyeyoon Yim, PhD student, Harvard University Speaking on Heritable Hazards of Smoking

Messy, Messy Chic
The Radical History of Women Smoking

History, Neuro-Diversity AND INFLAMMATION

• I don't think that Neuro-Diversity is that new -- but I think the PROXIMATE CAUSES can change, especially since INFLAMMATION seems to be such a UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE -- coding for a WIDE VARIETY OF THINGS.
• So I think Maternal & Grandmaternal Smoking during the 20th Century are BIG DRIVERS of the Neuro-Diversity Explosion we're seeing in the 21st Century.
• That's probably not true historically.
• What I'm trying say is that I think we have HUGE GENERATIONAL, BIOLOGICAL CHALLENGES with regard to NEURO-DIVERSITY in this SOCIETY.
• Further, those CHALLENGES are BIOLOGICAL but they are weirdly SOCIAL in that our IMMUNE SYSTEMS control social behavior and being at the bottom of the Social Heap damages the immune system.
• We are ahead of ANCIENT ROME and their CRAZY EMPERORS --- but we're not as far along as we think ---
  • Whether it's Clinton, Trump or Putin.
  • Or a Legal Profession & a Judicial Bench full of "emotionally intense gifted/asynchronous people" or a modern Mental Health Profession that's not on the top of the research but is happy to testify in CRIMINAL COURT and do their pro-socially competent duty.

 We're being called on to handle "MORE REALITY" than what we've been doing --- and that literally isn't easy --- it takes time and energy to do.