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15 Jan 2004 Al Gore's January 15 Speech on Bush and the Environment: Demagoguery
Amy Ridenour, president of The National Center for Public Policy Research, has released the following comment about Al Gore's speech on the environment in New York today:
"From a scientific and environmental perspective, Al Gore's speech today should be ignored. No serious policy person could give the speech Al Gore gave today.
The speech is full of demagoguery, misleading statements, formulations intended to deceive, unsupported allegations of wrongdoing and hypocrisy.
It is impossible to draw any conclusion other than that Gore is keeping his options open for a future presidential run, and is throwing red meat at the left-wing activist base of the Democratic Party in order to keep his presidential hopes alive.
Time constraints forbid one from commenting on all the speech's inaccuracies.
Despite Gore's wish, the science on global warming is not settled. Even the models and theories of those who support the theory disagree with one another. Climate science is too complex to be settled. But if Gore believes the science is settled, why didn't the Clinton-Gore Administration submit the Kyoto global warming treaty to the Senate for ratification? Gore condemns Bush for not supporting a treaty Bush believes is harmful and unnecessary — yet Gore, holding the opposite view, didn't fight for it where it counted.
It is impossible not to draw the conclusion that Gore is using this speech as an opportunity to troll for votes, yet he hypocritically tells his audience that those who disagree with him have been bought by industry. (Look at the log in your own eye, Mr. Gore.) Gore's speech impugns Bush's motives and those of non-profit organizations and many scientists and policy experts, all with a broad brush.
The "bought by industry" canard is a nice applause line for politicians to use while addressing a left-wing crowd and convenient way to undermine those who sincerely disagree without actually debating the merits of the case. For the record, there is more money available to those on Gore's politically-correct side of the global warming issue. The money and power whores tend to be with Gore. And a serious man wouldn't be afraid to seriously examine the scientific merits of the global warming case.
Gore didn't quite lie when he discussed mercury in his speech, but he intentionally deceived his listeners by leaving the most important facts out. Listen to Gore and you'd suppose the Clinton-Gore administration regulated mercury emissions from power plants, while Bush eliminated or loosened the regulation. In fact, the Clinton-Gore Administration DID NOT regulate mercury emissions from power plants, despite eight years in office. It just talked about doing so. Bush is actually doing it. Gore's actual complaint is that he would have written the rule differently. Why did he waste eight years?
Gore concludes his speech with the thought that we need 'to deal more kindly with one another.' A call for kindness after a speech full of deception."
The National Center for Public Policy Research is a non-partisan, conservative/free-market Washington think-tank established in 1982. Only two percent of its nearly $7 million budget comes from corporate support.


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Bryanna Clark Grogan's Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 21st Century Table: The kitchen journal of a vegan food writer.. I'm on Facebook and Twitter (see links in sidebar at right).
Saturday, October 27, 2012
This post is going to be a quickie, as I'm belatedly making the components tonight for a lasagna to bring to our friends' house where we're going to lunch tomorrow. I also decided to make this recipe with frozen rhubarb (the first year we've grown any) to bring for dessert, so I thought I'd share it with you. I developed them back in 2007 for my old newsletter, the Vegan Feast. These whole grain bars are easy to make, easy to store and easy to transport, so they're an excellent choice for taking along to a potluck or shared meal. Though scrumptious any time of the year, these bars are a perfect fall dessert-- delicious hot or cold with vanilla vegan ice cream (like my Vegan French Vanilla Ice Cream) or whipped topping (here's my Almond Cream Whipped Topping). I think you'll like them!
Printable Recipe
Makes 9 bars
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup rolled (old-fashioned) oatmeal
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or other nuts of choice
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold vegan butter (such as my homemade palm oil-free Buttah), cut into small pieces
3 Tbs organic corn syrup, agave nectar, or brown rice syrup
3 cups diced rhubarb
2/3 cup light granulated organic sugar
2 Tbs orange juice concentrate
2 Tbs water mixed with:
4 tsp cornstarch
grated zest from 1/2 a large organic orange
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 9-inch square baking pan.
Combine the flour, oats, nuts, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the vegan butter and drizzle in the syrup. Mix until crumble, using your fingers. Pat half the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside the rest.
Combine the rhubarb, sugar, and the orange juice concentrate and water mixed with the cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring, until the mixture is thickened. Pour it into a bowl to allow it to cool slightly, and add the orange zest and vanilla. Spread this Filling evenly over the crust in the pan.
Sprinkle the remaining crumbled mixture over the rhubarb mixture evenly. Press down slightly.
Bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot or store in the refrigerator.
Nutrition Facts
Posted by Bryanna Clark Grogan at 9:41 PM
Labels: oatmeal, orange, rhubarb, Rhubarb/Orange Oat Bars, rolled oats, whole grain
3 comments:
- Matt said...
they look lovely - so sticky and moist. I'd love to try them with something other than rhubarb too - it's very expensive, and very sour and astringent, here!
- Sun Oct 28, 06:44:00 PM PDT
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
I actually added some chopped apple when I made them today, because I didn't have enough rhubarb, and they turned out beautifully!
- Sun Oct 28, 06:58:00 PM PDT
My rhubarb is just starting to come through for another year. Can't wait to make these bars with some Bryanna. They look really delicious :)
- Sun Oct 26, 11:52:00 AM PDT
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

subset: commoncrawl


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Super Tuesday could alter, not decide GOP race
ATLANTA (AP) -- Voting across 10 states marks the busiest day of the Republican race for president and is expected to determine whether Mitt Romney solidifies his status as party front-runner or faces further threats from his challengers.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum are locked in a tight battle for Ohio. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich hopes a big win in Georgia, which he helped represent in Congress for two decades, will give new life to his struggling campaign.
With 419 delegates at stake, Super Tuesday states offer a sizable slice of the 1,144 required to clinch the GOP nomination.
Still, because of the apportionment of delegates based on vote percentage and the different regions the candidates are emphasizing, the race is expected to continue further into March.
Romney, who turned back Santorum in a close contest in Michigan last week, hoped to continue his winning trend. He has won four consecutive contests, including Saturday's Washington caucuses.
After falling behind Santorum in Ohio last month, Romney has closed the gap in recent days, with polls showing the race a dead heat on the eve of the primary. It's a familiar trend for Romney, whose superior fundraising and turnout operation have helped him turn deficits in Florida and Michigan into triumphs.
The former venture capital executive kept his campaign's focus on the economy in a final sprint across Ohio, where he and Santorum are competing most fiercely.
"Other people in this race have debated about the economy, they've read about the economy, they've talked about it in subcommittee hearings," Romney said of his opponents. "But I've actually been in it. I've worked in business and I understand what it takes to get a business successful and to thrive."
Romney, the New Englander in the race, is expected to do well in the Vermont and Massachusetts primaries. He is also poised to win the Virginia primary.
Besides Ohio, Santorum is competing most aggressively in primaries in Oklahoma and Tennessee, where the GOP's conservative hue matches the strict social conservative's evangelical appeal. He was leading narrowly in Tennessee, where polls showed Gingrich and Romney closing.
Despite signs that Gingrich planned to remain in the race, Santorum urged voters in Ohio to see it as increasingly a two-candidate fight.
"I'm excited that we're here with the opportunity of winning states on Super Tuesday ... and, hopefully, eventually, having the opportunity to go one on one at the end of this thing and see where this race really falls out," Santorum told supporters in Miamisville, Ohio. "And when we do, we'll win."
Gingrich has won only one state - the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary - and was projected to win only Georgia out of the 10 states voting Tuesday. He began advertising in Tennessee on Monday, putting down just $35,000 for television time, a small purchase.
Yet, Gingrich planned to campaign Tuesday in Alabama, which holds its primary March 13, even before the voting was finished in Georgia. Ads for Gingrich were expected to begin airing in Alabama and Mississippi, which holds its primary on the same day, and he will visit both Southern states later in the week. He was then heading to Kansas, which holds its caucuses Saturday.
Still, Gingrich tried to cast a likely win in Georgia as a sign of momentum, comparing it to Romney's narrow win in his native Michigan over Santorum last week.
"It looks now like in Georgia we will carry the state by four or five times the margin that Romney had Michigan," Gingrich told supporters Monday in Alcoa, Tenn. "We have a chance to win a stunning victory in Tennessee."
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was focusing on Tuesday's caucuses in Alaska, Idaho and North Dakota.


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In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends.
Common terms and phrases
AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE agency altho Andrews Sisters Artie Shaw artists band Benny Benny Goodman big screen bill Billboard Blue broadcast Capitol cent Chicago Club coin machines Columbia commercial Company curfew dance Decca Detroit Dinah Shore director disks Dorsey dough DREAMS ARE GETTING DuMont execs Fair film gaming Goodman HOLLYWOOD Honor Roll Hooperatings Hotel Indicates tune Johnny Johnny Mercer Juke Box Records Krupa last week Legislature license listed LONELY SIDE Love March March 17 Music Popularity Chart night nltery operators play plenty plug post-war production reports retail record Ride Roll of Hits RUM AND COCA-COLA sell sheet music singing skedded slot song sponsors spot summer talent tele Theater thru thruout tion Tommy Dorsey trade tube Victor WANT WBKB WCAU WCCO West Coast Wester WOODY HERMAN Wurlitzer YORK


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Northwestern Wisconsin Dem spent $34k around recall
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Campaign finance reports show an Eau Claire Democrat who challenged Republican state Sen. Terry Moulton in last month's recalls spent about $35,000 in the weeks surrounding the election.
Kristen Dexter's reports for the period between May 22 and June 27 show she spent $34,705 and raised $43,552. Since January she spent $216,612 and raised $229,961.
Moulton, of Chippewa Falls, defeated Dexter in the June 5 election. His reports show he spent $76,736 and raised $22,640 during the reporting period. He has spent $248,936 and raised $109,802 since January.
Democrats forced the governor, Moulton and four other GOP officeholders into recalls as payback for passing a law that stripped public workers of nearly all their union rights.


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White supremacist David Duke's appearance in Louisiana's final U.S. Senate debate ahead of next week's election derailed much of the event Wednesday, with opponents trashing him, the debate moderator struggling to keep him within time limits and angry protesters chanting outside the building.
The debate took place at historically black Dillard University. Duke's presence there sparked protests by students and others angry at his presence, their inability to get into the debate or both.
The 60 to 70 protesters were raucous at times, with campus police twice resorting to pepper spray to disperse demonstrators trying to force their way into the building as the debate got underway. Police also forcibly separated a group that linked arms at a gate to the campus so a police unit believed to be carrying Duke could exit.
At least one person was detained during the debate and police were seen escorting several away from one of the campus gates but it was unclear if anyone was charged.
Inside, six candidates were on the debate stage, but much of the focus was squarely on the former Ku Klux Klan leader even though he's lagged in the polls and hasn't made much of a splash in state politics since making a gubernatorial runoff 25 years ago.
Democratic lawyer Caroline Fayard called Duke a "snake." Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy called Duke a liar. Democratic Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell said Fayard has been lying about him as she tried to connect him to Duke. Campbell said he has nothing in common with Duke except both men were "breathing."
Republican U.S. Reps. Charles Boustany and John Fleming largely tried to ignore Duke as they sought to distinguish themselves from the major competitors, but the debate turned time and again to Duke, who narrowly reached the 5 percent polling benchmark set by Raycom Media for participation in the debate broadcast across most of Louisiana.
U.S. & World
Duke suggested Kennedy, the race's front-runner, tried to raise taxes on homeowners and that all five of his competitors on the stage were "beholden to big money."
In response, Kennedy cited Duke's prison number. Duke spent a year in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2002 to bilking his supporters and cheating on his taxes.
Duke claimed he was "targeted by the government." When moderator John Snell of WVUE-TV interrupted Duke to explain he pleaded guilty to the crime, Duke yelled: "You're a typical media hack!"
Asked about Duke's comments referring to "CNN Jews" being against Donald Trump, the candidate responded with an anti-Semitic canard.
"There is a problem in America with a very strong, powerful, tribal group that dominates our media and dominates our international banking," Duke said. He added that he wasn't "opposed to all Jews."
Two dozen people are vying for Republican David Vitter's seat. He isn't seeking re-election.
Reporters were not allowed inside the auditorium while the debate was being recorded and instead had to watch it on television in a separate room.


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The Secret Beyond Matter
The entire list
Adnan Oktar's Comments on Various Subjects
Çay TV, MARCH 4th, 2009
Adnan Oktar: Right in the beginning of this economic crisis, I said, "This will take seven years and IT WILL INTENSIFY GRADUALLY." I said, "There will be a significant famine in the world, as well" and I said, " Serious precautions should be taken, preparations should be done from now on" and I said the only solution is the Turkish Islamic Union. Apart from that the world would be devastated; let me state it explicitly, it will become miserable, I mean it would turn into a famine that the like of which has not been seen in the history of the world. The only solution is the Turkish-Islamic Union. With its richness, with its beauty, its tranquility, things will turn the other way round. There is no need to wait until the end of it. Look, the countries are going bankrupt right now, many countries have started to go bankrupt. Now things like that started to happen, I for instance, never used to hear such things before. I said companies will go bankrupt, but I've never heard of entire countries going bankrupt, the economies of countries have started going bankrupt. Every single day, we hear more news and great companies are going bankrupt. I keep saying again and again that the solution for Turkey being saved from this scourge is the Turkish Islamic Union and our clinging tight to spirituality and our protecting and watching over each other, our feeling compassion and mercy for those in need. Hoarding goods and money is also a triggering force for this scourge. Using possessions, distributing goods, distributing money and setting money in motion is needed. But of course, that is also a matter of spiritual decency. It is a matter of enthusiasm, a matter of excitement, a matter of love, insha'Allah, we will have all those.
Kanal 35, March 21st, 2009
Adnan Oktar: I've said it, I said that this system which is like the flood of Noah will continue until the end of the year 2014. I've said that the economic crisis will continue in cascades, swallowing everything in front of it. They've said, "No, everything will be fixed in a year." And I said, "No, that is not the case, it will take seven years." Look, what I've said has proven to be true. And it will continue by sweeping away all big industries, all the well-known famous companies before it, by collapsing the economies of entire countries. And only the Turkish Islamic Union will save the World, let me say that much.
Yeni Asya , November 23, 2011, 2011
The crisis stemming from the debts of the nations in the Eurozone , while causing the governments of five countries to be changed, also created the perception of losing sovereignty in the face of the International Money Fund (IMF) and the EU thus caused the questioning of legality of the various national governments. Even since the end of the year 2009 in which the crisis started, the cost of the debt of Ireland and Portugal has spun out of control. Following their demand for financial aid from international markets, governments have been overthrown.


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Next Episode of Top Of The Pops (UK) is
Top of the Pops is a long-running British music chart television programme shown each week on BBC Two and now licensed for local versions around the world. Each programme consists of half an hour of performances of some of that week's best-selling popular music.
The series was originally show on BBC One but moved to BBC TWO in 2005 before being canceled in 2006. It now returns for two seasonal specials each December on Christmas Day and New Years Eve.
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For decades, members of the left have insisted that the right is fighting a war on science. But when it comes to the issues of abortion and homosexuality, it is the left that fights a consistent and ridiculous war with reality.
This week, Wesley Smith of the Weekly Standard reported that California would be considering AB 460, a bill that would mandate group insurance coverage for so-called gay and lesbian "infertility." What in the world does that bizarre phrase mean? It doesn't mean situations in which two members of a lesbian couple are both infertile and incapable of conception using some third party's sperm. It doesn't mean situations in which two gay men are both infertile and incapable of impregnating a surrogate mother. It means situations in which gay or lesbian couples can't make a baby by having sex with each other.
In other words, every single gay and lesbian couple on the planet.
The way the law works, gay and lesbian couples would simply have to testify that they have been having sex for a year without producing a child to be considered "infertile," which is idiotic, since baby-making requires necessary components missing in homosexual activity. But nature is irrelevant here. Even though both men and women were, to borrow Lady Gaga's phrase, "born this way," political correctness trumps nature.
Meanwhile, the trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell continued in Philadelphia. Gosnell has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder for killing children outside the womb. The testimony is a parade of horrors. One of his workers testified that in the clinic, it was "standard procedure" to cut the spines of babies delivered before an abortion could be performed inside the woman's body. She also testified that during one murder, the arm of a baby jumped. "I only do what I'm told," she said. "What I was told to do was snip their neck." Another worker described a child screaming as it was murdered.
The mainstream media has largely ignored the Gosnell story, aware that Gosnell's post-birth murders are separated from the left's beloved abortions only by a birth canal. As one of Gosnell's workers testified, the workers termed all the babies "specimens" for purposes of creating emotional distance.
Science suggests that fetal development occurs very quickly. But the left isn't interested in science. Leftists like President Obama are interested in ignoring the humanity of the unborn in order to pursue their Orwellian "pro-choice" politics -- politics that leave no choice for innocents who cannot help themselves and lots of choice for both doctors and women who would prefer to think of developing human beings as simple specimens. After all, it was President Obama who, as an Illinois state senator, opposed the Born Alive Infant Protection Acts, which would have saved infants who exhibit "a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles" outside the womb.
Two men or two women cannot produce a baby on their own. A baby outside the womb is a baby. These are unassailable facts. But when reality doesn't match the left's self-centered take on how nature (SET ITAL) should (END ITAL) work, reality takes a back seat.


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Hi, I'm new to this forum and JS coding in general (learner stage!).
I am using Jquery to fire events when users interact with different elements (primarily click interactions). My concern (due to ignorance probably) is that Jquery can't/wont always work to capture the interaction so my goal is to make minimise that potential failure rate (and learn about when such occurances may happen).
I've already identified a few complications:
- element being clicked on has/doesn't have target _blank attribute so delay is necessary
- people open link in new tab by using Ctrl+Click, right click then "Open in new tab", clicking middle buttons for mouses with custom configuration
- element is an email address (I've had the code below end up opening the link twice)
Assuming there are NO JS errors in the code, are there any other situations where the Jquery might not capture the click event? Any browser/device specific situations?
See my code below for my efforts so far
// Clicked Social Profile
if ($(this).attr('target').toLowerCase() == '_blank' || e.metaKey || e.ctrlKey || e.which == 2 || e.which == 3) {
var newtab = true;
if (!newtab) {
setTimeout('location.href = "' + this.href + '"', 150);
Many thanks for your help!


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Pharaoh Collection
Farrah Slip Dress Vintage Satin - Toffee
$171 $285
The perfect effortless piece! Garment washed to create a vintage satin looking worn-in feel. This dress is cut on the bias and falls nicely on a lot of different body types. There is a raw edge trim in front of neckline as well as a fringe hem detail. Machine washable, 100% rayon hang to dry ( Seriously - how can you get any better that this added benefit!)
Model is 5'9" and wearing a size 0


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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Are you high or low functioning? Examples from autism research
If you are autistic and ever venture or are pushed into public, a near-certainty is that you will publicly be ranked and classified by total strangers.
For example, you will be assigned to the "high end" or the "low end" of the autistic spectrum, according to whether you are claimed to have a good or bad outcome (I've been claimed to have both). Non-political observers may notice how ethically and scientifically problematic this is, but there are few discussions, formal or informal, in which autistics aren't automatically assigned "high-functioning" and "low-functioning" rankings as definitive and permanent aspects of ourselves: there are LFAs and then there are HFAs.
If the whole area of autism were not so politicized, it might have long been seen as important to check the scientific basis for these ubiquitous rankings. It might even be seen as an ethical obligation. It might be noticed that there is something wrong with discarding and therefore dishonouring the contributions to research made by the countless autistic children and adults who have been recruited as participants in autism research, and without whom there would be no autism research at all.
I've never been impressed by autism politics, on whatever "side," so I'll start with some basic information about levels of functioning as reported in autism research, then provide several examples pulled from some of the numerous papers I've recently looked at.
What does level of functioning mean in autism research?
In autism research, autistics' level of functioning is most often judged according to scores on specific tests of IQ (e.g., Wechsler) or developmental level (Mullen, Bayley, sometimes the Vineland) at a specific time.
The reported threshold dividing "high" from "low" functioning ranges from 50 to 90--at least in papers I've read so far; the actual range might be even greater. Those are IQ or IQ-type scores with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. So the threshold, the line dividing "high" from "low" functioning in autism research, is almost three SDs wide. Fall into that impressive span, and you may be high or you may be low functioning, depending on who you ask.
If 90 is the threshold, then about 25% of the entire population (autistic, nonautistic, everyone) is low-functioning. If the more common threshold of 85 is chosen, then about 16% of everyone is low-functioning.
70 is the threshold often considered to be standard even if in reality, if you read the literature, the threshold varies dramatically. But there are different tests and within commonly-used tests there are different ways to set a threshold, even when the threshold is numerically set at 70.
With this in mind, here are some examples.
Example 1
In Farley et al. (2010) the threshold is indeed 70 and autistics with lower baseline (circa age 8yrs) IQs were excluded. As the authors write, "all participants had baseline IQs in the nonimpaired range."
In fact the full-scale baseline IQs of autistics deemed to meet the 70 threshold, and included as participants, range down to 36. An IQ of 36 is near the current threshold for severe intellectual disability. An IQ of 36 (if you were under age ~4yrs) would exclude you from Ivar Lovaas' famous ABA study--you are too low-functioning.
But in different circumstances, which are specified by Farley et al., a full-scale IQ of 36 can also be considered to grossly underestimate your abilities and to put you in a study of participants who would widely be ranked as high-functioning.
Example 2
Klin et al. (2007) is another study where the autistic participants (ages 7-18yrs) are all considered high-functioning and the threshold is 70. In one of two samples, verbal, performance, and full-scale IQs run from 52 to 150. Then there are Vineland scores. While Vineland is a test of adaptive behavior, in autism research Vineland scores can also be used as measures of intelligence ergo level of functioning.
Vineland composite scores in this sample range down to 25. Two of the Vineland domain scores range down to 20. In a recent population-based study (ages 9-14yrs), an assigned Vineland score of 19 was used to represent profound intellectual disability. But in Klin et al., you can have a Vineland composite score of 25, or Vineland domain scores of 20, and you are high-functioning. You are in the same category as someone with a verbal IQ of 150.
Example 3
In Akshoomoff et al. (2004), there is also a threshold of 70, but autistics falling on either side of this threshold are included then divided into lower and higher functioning groups. Performance IQ scores in the lower-functioning group range up to 128. That is not only higher than the individual scores of the entire higher-functioning group, it is higher than all but ~3% of the entire population. If a PIQ of 128 ranks you as low-functioning, as it does in Akshoomoff et al., then almost everyone is low-functioning.
Example 4
In view of the above it might seem wise to abandon the 70 threshold and try something completely different. Annaz et al. (2009) created high-functioning and low-functioning autism groups (ages 5-11yrs) by incorrectly using the CARS (Childhood Autism Rating Scale), which is supposed to be a measure of autism "severity." This study features two measures of intelligence, one verbal (British Picture Vocabulary Scale, a verbal IQ equivalent) and one non-verbal (a subtest from the British Ability Scales).
One result is that you can have a verbal IQ of 62 and be classified as high-functioning, and a verbal IQ of 111 and be classified as low-functioning.
The non-verbal measure is reported in age-equivalents only, but the two autistic groups are remarkably well-matched on age. And the mean non-verbal age equivalents are both (1) the same for the two autistic groups, and (2) very nearly the same as mean chronological age, again for the two autistic groups.
In other words, another result is that both high- and low-functioning autistics here represent groups whose mean measured non-verbal intelligence is the same as the general population mean, and of course vice-versa. Setting aside possible differences in distribution, now everyone is both high- and low-functioning.
Conditional examples 5 and 6
This is a bit of a digression, but if you adhere to the common political or ideological prejudice that "Kanner's autism" is "classical autism" is "low-functioning autism" you are then required to achieve an IQ of over 140 (from Kanner's original 11) or 150 (from Kanner's 1956 follow-up) to be ranked as high-functioning. That means you have to be better than the 99th percentile.
Now what?
The above doesn't nearly convey the arbitrariness in the existing autism literature. As I wrote, I've provided just a bunch of examples, among many others, you will find if you read a lot of papers. Also, I've left out entire major areas, like changes over time and results from deliberate comparisons between different tests of intelligence.
While this was not intentional, the examples above might be construed as exploiting the atypically high variability characterizing individual autistics and in addition characterizing autistics as a group. Then the question is whether it serves the interests of autistics, and whether it advances autism research, to diminish, misrepresent, trivialize, denigrate, obscure, or deny this characteristic variability.
And as usual, the above can be verified by reading the existing autism literature. If there are any factual errors, as is always possible, please let me know.
Futher reading
The late Ivar Lovaas expressed his views about levels of functioning in autism in one of the major ABA manuals; this is quoted here. From a different point of view, this article concisely applies ethical consideration to the issue of level of functioning, among others. In autism politics, the dimension of autism "severity" and the different dimension of "level of functioning" are often wrongly confused or conflated. You can find science-based information about autism "severity" here and here.
Akshoomoff N, Lord C, Lincoln AJ, Courchesne RY, Carper RA, Townsend J, & Courchesne E (2004). Outcome classification of preschool children with autism spectrum disorders using MRI brain measures. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43 (3), 349-57 PMID: 15076269
Annaz D, Karmiloff-Smith A, Johnson MH, & Thomas MS (2009). A cross-syndrome study of the development of holistic face recognition in children with autism, Down syndrome, and Williams syndrome. Journal of experimental child psychology, 102 (4), 456-86 PMID: 19193384
Farley MA, McMahon WM, Fombonne E, Jenson WR, Miller J, Gardner M, Block H, Pingree CB, Ritvo ER, Ritvo RA, & Coon H (2009). Twenty-year outcome for individuals with autism and average or near-average cognitive abilities. Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2 (2), 109-18 PMID: 19455645
Klin A, Saulnier CA, Sparrow SS, Cicchetti DV, Volkmar FR, & Lord C (2007). Social and communication abilities and disabilities in higher functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders: the Vineland and the ADOS. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 37 (4), 748-59 PMID: 17146708
Postscript: This post has been included in the 40th edition of Scientia Pro Publica.
12 comments:
- MalchowMama said...
Another thought-provoking article, Michelle, thank you. I can't speak to how autism severity or level of functioning is measured in research (as you have just done), but in my experience laypersons make these determinations in much the same way an American politician once famously defined pornography: they just "know it when they see it." If a person appears to be unresponsive and uncommunicative, or (God forbid) is upset about something, they are "low-functioning". If they are quiet and respond to instruction, they have "mild autism". It's ridiculous.
Here is one way I could describe my son Sam, who will be 4 in 3 weeks: doubly incontinent, has no language, does not play directly with other kids in his kindergarten, avoids eye contact, eats only a few foods, cannot follow instructions, cannot sit still for long.
Here is another accurate description of Sam: very affectionate with people he knows well, makes long eye contact with his mother, happy, smiles often, has never had a tantrum and rarely cries, enjoys rough-housing with his brother, enjoys singing songs from his favourite movies, loves being outdoors and riding our tandem bike.
One description makes him sound like he has "severe" autism and is "low-functioning", the other makes him sound "mild" and "high-functioning". As you have pointed out, one of the primary features of autism is the wide varience in skills and abilitites a person might have and how much that changes over time and from day to day. Many people think it is just "obvious" that a person is low or high functioning; thank you for continuing to show why this is inaccurate.
- Michelle Dawson said...
Thanks for the comment. I didn't mention it in the post, but I've been publicly ranked as a "mid-level autistic," among many other rankings and classifications.
I think someone should write a paper documenting *all* the ways in which autistics have been, and currently are, ranked and classified. It would be a long paper. Maybe a book.
- Usethebrains Godgiveyou said...
Also, the IQ is not supposedly fluid--although my son went from 79 at age 4 to whatever he is now. I imagined it has doubled.
This makes sense, as the IQ tests were presented to him verbally at that age, when his understanding of language was still shaky.
I wonder if the Peabody picture vocabulary test, which does measures IQ, would lead to higher scores among younger autists with language barriers.
Thank you for exposing this incongruity among studies.
- Michelle Dawson said...
In response to r.b., here's a quote I didn't use from Farley et al. (2009; see the original post to get the full cite):
"Over half of the sample had large gains or losses of cognitive ability of greater than 1 standard deviation."
As I wrote, I didn't even touch on the issue of intelligence scores changing over time. And large changes in measured intelligence over time at the individual level are well-documented in autism research.
Hi Michelle,
That was a great post. I have read many studies concerning autism as I have come across them recently, and I am always somewhat confused when I read "high-functioning" or HFA. I tend to go right to the section to try and comprehend how they based that assessment of individuals.
I try to avoid any type of label of that type because I believe that every person is high-functioning in some aspects and low-functioning in others. My daughter is now 5 and was diagnosed with autistic disorder two years ago. To some, she may seem low-functioning because she has not yet mastered toileting and some general things such as dressing and hairbrushing. To others, she is incredibly intelligent, genuine, and insightful. She is considered to be on the same academic level as her Kindergarten peers by the school district.
In instances where individuals are classified in studies by a certain measure, would it not be best to simply state that only individuals with autism with a score of X were used versus placing a high- or low-functioning label on that specific set of standards?
- Michelle Dawson said...
In response to Jennie, thanks!
I think there are two choices for researchers in any given study:
1. Use the terms "high" and "low" functioning. In this case, you need to do at least two things. You need to provide your criteria: which instrument(s) at which age(s) with which threshold(s). Also you need to provide a science- and ethics-based rationale for your criteria. And I would really like to see one.
2. Trust your data to describe your sample. Among other potential advantages, this plausibly could reduce biases that may be harmful to autistics and an obstacle to the progress of autism research.
In my view, the 2nd choice is worth trying.
- farmwifetwo said...
I appreciate your comments on the difference btwn severity and functioning.
My nearly 9yr old can dress himself, feed himself, play on the computer independantly at age appropriate sites, Nintendo - age appropriate, read Gr 4, spelling same. Friendly, social, loves other children, going to the playground, we're off to the Great Wolf Lodge and it's waterpark shortly, loves the rides at the fall fairs, takes swimming lessons.
Sounds like a NT child doesn't it??
No, it's a child with severe autism. One that is caregiver toilet trained, one who's expressive language is coming but still about a 2/3yr old level, one who's social skills are very poor at best, one who's IQ test last fall said he was in the 60's, one who still cannot drink from an open cup and uses a straw, one that runs....
Which is why I wonder at the fight to add ID to the autism dx. Everyone on our team ignores his IQ and he's taught - parent's, school, swimming etc. We currently have 2 dx's on our IPRC - autism and developmental delay... both are valid at this time. Why change it?? Should he not be given the chance to go to University even if he's severely autistic with support? Those in "Autism and the myth of the person alone" many of them are/were.
I'd dx mine "high functioning (ability to learn), severely autistic" - if someone ever asked me.
Michelle, the terms 'low' and 'high' functioning autism are more common in North America than they are in the UK. Here, we stratify on 'learning difficulties' which can be from severe and profound to mild. But there is a separate category for autism. The 'learning difficulties' stratification is for educational purposes and is based on the movable feasts you mention, 'IQ' and 'functioning', but mainly involves what you call intellectual retardation (I think), and we call intellectual impairment. So we are far more used to autism itself not being conflated with IQ (as denoted in all criteria - nothing to do with IQ, but maybe cognitive function which is a whole different ball game). SPLD can cover any number of learning problems. The distinctions between 'high' and 'low' functioning as used by many positivist scientists, are, as you say, arbitrary and totally dependent on instrumentation that can account both for autistic intelligence and typical intelligence. So far, there don't seem to be any such tests.
Faults lie with the loose definitions and the inadequacy of the term 'IQ' and the assumption that it's static.It means nothing. Intellectual capacity is in flux according to the demands of the test, maturation and experience, and is always situated. My own IQ (and I'm mostly NT although epileptic) has always varied and still varies by 4 standard deviations albeit at the upper end, where IQ scores are notoriously completely unreliable. IQ is not a state, it's a construct, which has far too many variables to be meaningful.
As for 'functioning', surely that can only be determined contextually? It's also completely dependent on what the individual describes. It's never set in stone across all situations. The Leekam et al (2007)paper found that sensory processing issues were identical in severity and intensity in those classed as 'low functioning' and those classed as 'high functioning'. If that's replicated, it will say a lot about what are the core characteristics of autism.
We need to lose this 'IQ' stratification of autism. It's an entity. As is intellectual impairment. But these things are different.
I'd argue with you over what you say about Kanner's studies as I don't believe this can be shoe-horned in to this argument. Kanner was very specific in saying that all the children he saw showed high cognitive potential (mythology has overtaken this very important statement, as has the fact that only one of the initial cohort was totally non-verbal, and he had a good and productive outcome, although Kanner doesn't rank him, Herbert, as such. Kanner's issue was socio-cultural. It was that if you institutionalised these children, and drugged or shocked them or whatever, their outcome would be poor. His imperative was to save these children from losing their cognitive potential by placing them in institutions. Also, you start by discussing final outcomes, and then move on to discussing tests on newly-recruited samples in scientific tests. These are two completely different things, I think. But please do argue with me.
Not all arguments are scientific. Some are socially-constructed and therefore a million times more complex. What we now call 'classic autism' was never defined by Kanner. What we call 'Asperger's Syndrome' was never defined by Asperger. One of his FOUR children was intellectually impaired. Another was deprived of oxygen at birth, which Asperger referred to as an 'organic' problem, and not 'true' autism. So only half of the children he described almost poorly match the criteria for AS.
It's an interesting post you've made. Thank you. I learn from you so much more than I learn from my PhD studies.
- Michelle Dawson said...
(I deleted my previous message and am re-posting it to fix some unclear language; long day, more apologies...)
Apologies to Barbara whose comment for no reason got stuck in the new Blogger spam trap. I've just figured out *where* the Blogger spam trap is (there didn't used to be one) and how to rescue real comments from it. Sorry again.
I'm just going to bring up one thing, because I haven't seen it discussed much--it seems non-controversial.
So far as I can tell (again, happy to be corrected if I'm wrong) the proposed DSM-5 will no longer divide up intellectual disability (DSM-IV "mental retardation") into the IQ-based divisions of mild, moderate, severe, and profound.
There have been various IQ-based divisions within "mental deficiency" (DSM-I) or "mental retardation" (the rest of the DSMs) in every DSM, back to the first. The DSM-5 proposes that there should be no such IQ-based divisions (now within "intellectual disability") at all.
You can find this proposed change here (you might want to look at this too).
Michelle, thanks for this interesting discussion. Makes quite clear that whatever "functioning" means, even the conventional criteria (eg. IQ) cause confusion.
@ Farmwifetwo: I can relate to your son's experience of different ability levels in different areas, although mine are different from your son's (I have a high IQ and yet severe sensory issues, for example). Makes quite clear that autistics' individual abilities should matter rathert than a standard score of "functioning level" or "severity".
- Michelle Dawson said...
Thanks Astrid.
Another thing I didn't mention in my post is that there are two papers published 3 years apart that have exactly the same title:
"A follow-up study of high-functioning autistic children."
The two papers report completely different studies and have no overlapping authors. And as you might guess, they use different criteria for "high-functioning." Neither uses a numerical threshold of 70.
Here is the criteria for how "functioning" I or anyone else on the spectrum is: How easy is it for me to get laid? Everything else is just gravy, after all. Since it's pretty easy for me, having a loving and willing wife, I'd say I'm high functioning.


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text:
A study published on June 21, 2010, in the journal Addiction reveals that drunkenness increases the risk for violent behaviour, but only for individuals with a strong inclination to suppress anger.
The two authors, Thor Norström and Hilde Pape, applied an approach that reduces the risk of drawing erroneous conclusions about cause and effect.
They conclude that their study adds to the body of evidence suggesting that drinking may in fact inflict physical aggression.
The authors elaborate this conclusion: "Only a tiny fraction of all drinking events involve violence and whether intoxicated aggression is likely to occur seems to depend on the drinkers' propensity to withhold angry feelings when sober."
The study is based on self-reported data from a general population survey of young people in Norway.
Nearly 3000 individuals were assessed twice, first at 16-17 years of age and again at ages 21-22.
The participants were divided into 3 equally large groups with respect to anger suppression. Among individuals who reported a high inclination to suppress feelings of anger, a 10% increase in drinking to the point of intoxication was associated with a 5% increase in violence.
Researchers observed no such association among those who did not habitually suppress their angry feelings. 🙂
*Source: EurekAlert