Asperger's Conversations

Psychologists Must Come Clean on Torture Issue

I'm a psychologist who has resigned from my own professional association (the American Psychological Association) in protest to their support for psychologist involvement in unlawful interrogations of prisoners of war.  As a "non-member" of APA it's no longer for me to apply direct pressure but I can always blog...as I've done on this issue in the past.  Here's a new letter heading to the APA and passed on to me by my withholdapadues.org listserve:

Open Letter in Response to

the American Psychological Association Board

On June 18, 2009, the American Psychological Association [APA] Board issued an Open Letter on the subject of psychologists' involvement in abusive national security interrogations. The letter is among the first formal acknowledgements from APA leadership that psychologists were involved in torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. We welcome this progress.

Similarly, the letter acknowledges APA’s member-initiated referendum prohibiting psychologist participation in detention centers that are in violation of international law and overturning APA Council’s repeated refusals to do so. This is an improvement over very recent messages from APA officials that characterized press descriptions of APA policy as supporting psychologist participation in such interrogations as "fair and balanced."

Nevertheless, the letter is profoundly disappointing. It continues the long tradition of APA leaders minimizing the extent of psychologists’ involvement in state-sanctioned abuse as well as APA’s own defense of such involvement. The authors speak as though the information about psychologist’s involvement in torture is fresh news even though it has been available for a long time. Even now, the Board relies on the Bush Administration tactic, employed in the Abu Ghraib debacle, of blaming the abuse on a "few bad apples." This minimization of the greatest ethical crisis in our profession’s history by those who claim to lead the profession is unacceptable. Similarly the APA Board continues to take no responsibility for its own grievous mismanagement of this issue. Instead, the tone of the letter suggests we should all come together and “reflect and learn,” because this has been difficult for all of us, collectively. The Board also presumes the authority to continue to speak for psychologists in the future with neither redress nor evidence of remediation for what they have done:

This has been a painful time for the association and one that offers an opportunity to reflect and learn from our experiences over the last five years. APA will continue to speak forcefully in further communicating our policies against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment to our members, the Obama administration, Congress, and the general public. [Board letter, June 18, 2009.]

Any meaningful approach to this issue must start by acknowledging the fact that psychologists were absolutely integral to our government's systematic program of torture. When the Bush administration decided to engage in torture, they turned to psychologists from the military's SERE [Survival, Evasion, resistance, and Escape] program for help in designing and implementing the torture tactics. This fact was first reported in 2005, within days of the release of the APA's PENS [Psychological Ethics and National Security] report and was officially acknowledged by the Defense Department in its Inspector General's Report, declassified in May 2007. Other psychologists monitored torture to calibrate how much abuse a detainee could tolerate without dying. Nonetheless, APA leaders continued, and still continue, to pretend that psychologists' participation in abuse was the behavior of rogue members of the profession.

Similarly, the APA Board still refuses to acknowledge the evidence of apparent collusion between APA officials and the national security apparatus in providing ethical cover for psychologists’ participation in detainee abuse. This collusion was most notable in the creation of the military-dominated PENS task force. Only a policy that comes to terms with this APA collusion can begin to reduce the furor among APA members, psychologists, and the general public.

APA leadership has much work ahead to begin to repair the harm they have caused to the profession, the country, former and current detainees and their families. At a minimum the APA leadership should do the following:

1. Fully implement the 2008 referendum as an enforceable section of the APA Code of Ethics. This entails a public announcement that APA policy and ethical standards oppose the service of psychologists in detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, Bagram Air Base, CIA secret prisons, or in the rendition program.

2. Annul the June 2005 PENS Report due to the severe and multiple conflicts of interest involved in its production.

3. Bring in an independent body of investigative attorneys to pursue accountability for psychologists who participated in or otherwise contributed to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. APA should also: (a) clarify the status of open ethics cases and (b) remove the statute of limitations for violations involving torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, so as to allow time for information on classified activities to become public.

4. Develop a clear and rapid timetable to remove Sections 1.02 and 1.03 [the "Nuremberg defense" of following orders] from the APA Code of Ethics. [We note that the APA Ethics Committee has stated that they will not accept a defense of following orders to complaints regarding torture; this statement is a welcome improvement but it is clearly inadequate as it is not necessarily binding on future committees nor does it cover abuses falling under the category of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.] Revoke the equally problematic Section 8.05 of the Code, which dispenses with informed consent "where otherwise permitted by law or federal or institutional regulations," and Section 8.07, which sets an unacceptably high threshold of "severe emotional distress" for not using deception in the ethics of research design.

5. Retain an independent investigatory organization to study organizational behavior at APA. Due to potential conflicts of interest, independent human rights organizations should be enlisted to select this investigatory entity. The study should address, among other things, possible collusion in the PENS process and the 2003 APA-CIA-Rand conference on the Science of Deception, attended by the CIA's apparent designers of their torture program [James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen] during which "enhanced interrogation" techniques were discussed. The study should explore how the APA governance system permits the accumulation of power in the hands of a very small number of individuals who are unresponsive to the general membership. It should also propose measures to return the APA to democratic principles, scientific integrity, and beneficence, including restructuring for greater transparency and the assimilation of diverse viewpoints.

These five steps will not remove the terrible stain on the reputation of American psychology. However, by taking these steps the APA leadership would make both symbolic and substantive progress toward accountability for psychologists' contributions to detainee abuse and the APA's failure to adequately respond to the public record. These actions would constitute an important step toward rehabilitating the Association and restoring the good name of the profession itself.

Signed by:

Coalition for an Ethical Psychology

Physicians for Human Rights

Psychologists for Social Responsibility

Center for Constitutional Rights

Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Network of Spiritual Progressives

National Lawyers Guild

Amnesty International USA

Program for Torture Victims, Los Angeles

American Friends Service Committee, Pacific Southwest Region

Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles

Massachusetts Campaign Against Torture (MACAT)

New York Campaign Against Torture (NYCAT)

Does AAA Auto Club think I have autism?

I responded to an ad in my AAA Northern New England Magazine for a FREE credit check service through Experian.  I wondered who would actually read their "Terms" before submitting an application for the "CreditCheckSelect" service?  Here are the terms:

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Summertime for College Profs: Play, Play, Play

It's been a couple of years since I posted a podcast on why kids think adults are boring (they think we don't play enough).  I've taken the advice of then ten or 11 year old Sophie and Annika seriously and now make a concerted effort to play, play, play.  It's been some time since Lewinsohn at U. of Oregon demonstrated that mood is directly related to frequency of pleasant activities and what better time to focus on increasing pleasant activities than in the summertime (well, at least it's summer for us college profs). 

This past weekend's whiffle ball season opener was incredible, as reported from reporter Mick The Quick who was on the scene in Guilford, Vermont for this year's season opener:

PUMILIA'S WALK OFF HR HIGHLIGHTS '09 OPENER

 

Guilford,VT(AP)- Joe "The Toe" Pumilia, better known for his pre-game fireworks display than his offensive firepower, launched a 2 run walk-off home run to give the New Hampshire Chihuahuas a split of their doubleheader with their arch rivals Keets Brook All Stars in the opening games of the 2009 wiffleball season at Bowie Wragtail Memorial Field.  The All Stars won the opener, 1-0, on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth in a pitcher's duel aided by a stiff west wind and some rare fielding gems.

 

  Stars' Mick "The Quick" Durante, playing on one leg in an heroic effort after being mauled by a bear last summer, served up Pumilia's dramatic blast.  He lay stunned on the field after the game and paramedics worked nearly half an hour to revive him.

 

            Game 1

Chihuahuas      0 0 0  0 0 0  0 - 0

Keets Brook     0 0 0  0 0 1  x-  1

 

                Game 2

Keets Brook     0 2 0 0 2 - 4

Chihuahuas      0 1 2 0 2 - 5

Home Runs- KB- J. Hoffman(1); C- J. Pumilia(1)

 

Annika (age 13) caught a slice of the game on tape:

 

 

Lessons from General Motors: Colleges and Universities must "think small" too

A recent article in the NY Times underscores the stress that college students and their families are experiencing with college tuition and fees.  Chris Anderson rightly points out in Wired (The New New Economy) that the days of the "too big to fail" are over, and that big companies like GM or ATT&T would operate more effectively as thousands of small companies, with focused mission and entrepreunerial spirit.  And as Dartmouth Medical School and others unload staff in a desperate attempt to save some dough, why is it so taboo to suggest that the idea of small entrepreneurial models can fit education as well?

Here at Keene State College we spend tens of thousands paying for online courseware (Blackboard) but we all know that free open source programs are becoming available (like Moodle).  Along with other communication and educational programs available for free on the net (blogs, skype, twitter, Prezi, radio lab, NY Times/Bank Street, etc) it's easy to have idea exchange and conversation across geographical areas.  And so we must ask:  Is the time on our watch now for collaborative educational programming in which teams of professors and faculty gather to teach specialty programs independent of their colleges and universities?  Imagine, for example a group of ten top autism experts from across the globe or across a region offering "hybrid" degree programs (a mix of online and in person classes) even though they all have different college or professional affiliations.  Using online conferencing, courseware, skype, students could be taught not by one, but by many of the top people in a designated field.  I have already demonstrated how outside experts can visit my class from afar, or how students can visit faculty from afar, easily at no cost.

One barrier to this "smaller" more focused approach to education will be college administrators themselves, who will raise the issue of regional and national "accreditation" (will these programs be accredited?).  And of course the conflict will be that those very administrators are those that support the current system of accreditation (which rewards "big" over "small" in terms of educational unit size).  But they needn't fear...we need administrators and technology support and many of those people, but we also desperately need a new diversity in approaches to higher education.

The video below is a recent chat I had with two students from two different classes where we talk about how blogging, twitter, Prezi, Skype have all changed their educational experience:

Using Twitter, Skype, and blogs in the classroom from Jenny on Vimeo.

Ben-X: Fantasy vs. Reality in Asperger's

Adolescents with Asperger's are often put on anti-psychotic medication by docs who, understandably, believe they are treating a formal thought disorder.  But we are often left wondering if difficulties walking that line between subjective reality (what's in your head) versus objective reality (what's really happening outside of your skin) is a function of chronic alienation from the brutality of the real world.  I'd like to learn more about the film, Ben-X, which I hear addresses this issue:

Asperger grads love Russia, Asia, South America...New York

Just talking with a graduate of Keene State College today who had participated in our Peer Mentoring Program.  He's thinking of moving to China to teach english and I shared my views on Asperger folks moving overseas...nearly all have had positive experiences!  And I'm wondering why that is so...it seems that many folks overseas are tolerant of more "quirky" types of folks...perhaps chalking up their differences to cultural rather than more "personal" differences.  Put simply, many of my Asperger college students or grads have felt welcomed in their host countries.  I've recently heard that about students visiting New York City as well, where I was visiting myself this past week: Of course New York is such a diverse place...just walking down Broadway in lower Manhattan you can hear scores of languages within minutes.  I often encourage my recent grads with AS to consider moving there:  no need to drive, lots of diversity, lots of folks who might share one's special interests...Heaven!

Psychologists and Torture: The word is out

Along with several of my colleagues at Keene State College I tendered my resignation from the American Psychological Association as a result of past inaction in responding to psychologists involved in torture and unlawful interrogations in GITMO and elsewhere.  I've written about the group of brave psychologists who have lead the movement to expose this to the world and now all this hard work has come to fruition with the recently released  government report on torture (including waterboarding) and today'sfront page story in the NY Times.

I'll continue to Tweet about this and other issues on my Twitter account but Stephen Soldz's blog continues to be my favorite source of information.  My hat is off to all the psychologists of conscience who have persevered to bring this information to light.  This is an important moment in the field of Psychology -much akin to acknowledging Psychology's role in massive discrimination in the early 20th century based on flawed IQ testing.  This group forced a referendum (which recently passed) that forces APA to ban psychologists involvement in these types of unlawful interrogations.  And let's hope the APA shows some serious follow through on this edict.

Today's Times covers the release of the report and points out top-down incompetence in carefully studying the torture issue.  We now know that psychologists support the use of methods which have no empirical support for extracting information from prisoners and that high level government officials, including former President Bush and his cabinet members, failed to access full information about torture procedures before approving their use.

From Today's Times' article:

This extraordinary consensus was possible, an examination by The New York Times shows, largely because no one involved — not the top two C.I.A. officials who were pushing the program, not the senior aides to President George W. Bush, not the leaders of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees — investigated the gruesome origins of the techniques they were approving with little debate.

According to several former top officials involved in the discussions seven years ago, they did not know that the military training program, called SERE, for Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, had been created decades earlier to give American pilots and soldiers a sample of the torture methods used by Communists in the Korean War, methods that had wrung false confessions from Americans.

If military psychologists don't know any better than to participate in  non empirically based and brutal methods such as waterboarding, then it's imperative that regular folks who know better speak out and demand some changes.  And they have.

My  big point today:  Regular folks can make a difference if they work hard on studying an issue and persisting in bringing information to the public.  My hat's off to Drs. Reisner, Soldz, and others who have doggedly pursued this issue.

Forget CNN: Go with the Data when following Fargo Flood Levels

I love that moment to moment data on all aspects of the Red River in North Dakota and Northern Minnesota are readily available online.

 

Of course I've been to Fargo and it's surrounds a number of times and the "human story" is important, too.  But network news rarely provides us with the data...for that we turn to the net. 

It may sound strange to relate this to Applied Psychology (and even Autism or Asperger's) but don't we need a more public display of the data?  With so many parents and professionals looking to do the right thing for affected kids with regards to social skills training and other interventions, we should consider a more "open" approach to outcome data.

Is Twitter Describing Conciousness?

I was skeptical when I first started tweeting on Twitter.   At first I was bored...even with my own postings.  My fascination "grew slowly then all of a sudden."  In following the meandering thoughts and ideas of others -especially of those who interest me, I felt an impact:  How to better heat my home, deal with teenagers, new music, radical thoughts, not so radical thoughts, new video clips, medical information, rental cars, macular degeneration aids...and all this within days.  It was if Twitter was not only "describing conciousness" but even "expanding conciousness." 

My friends and colleagues ask, "where do you get the time to do all this?"  Why don't they believe me when I say all this happens in only a few minutes a day...and most days I don't even bother with Twitter!  My students in my Seminar in Applied Psychology are equally fascinated...many of whom are just beginning to experiement with Twitter (we followed Kirstin during spring break last week as she battled with her fear of flying during a trip to San Francisco:  "I made it" she Tweeted to us...and later reported feeling our "Twitter-like support."

And other web 2.0 experiments have produced amazing results...For e.g., just before break we used Skype to bring my student Danielle in to the class when she was away from school in the Dominican Republic.  She didn't want to miss class knowing that author Shawn Shea ("Happiness Is...") would be coming to talk about her favorite book.  She got to listen in, ask questions, and let Dr. Shea know how much she loved his book, all from her family's apartment in the Dominican Republic...to our class in Keene, New Hampshire.

And, author John Elder Robison ("Look Me in the Eye") continues to post comments on my students' blogs where they posted critiques of his book.  Imagine the excitement when a world reknown author provides online feedback on a student's book report!  While most student papers eventually yellow on the shelf and eventually see the trash can in a prof's office, my students' papers attract responses and stay alive...long after the class is finished (for better or for worse).

From blogging to Twitter...academics should consider these tools for teaching.  And psychology researchers should consider using Twitter to study the daily lives and conciousness of our students.

Thoughts on Culture and Psychology from Santa Fe, New Mexico

Great visit this week to Universty of New Mexico Health Science Center (special thanks to Pat Osbourne who has developed a terrific program in neurodevelopmental disorders).  Here are some thoughts (on video) on culture and psychology filmed in the Square in Santa Fe: