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Autism In Psychology

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The Issue of Autism Within Psychology
A key element of someone’s well-being is the status of their mental health. Mental health disorders tend to affect someone’s behavior, mood, thinking, and social life. The Autism Disorder is the most severe mental disability disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact with others (“American Psychological Association”). Psychologists have dealt with this disorder with the intention to help humans with Autism improve their interaction and communication skills. Although, within the past few years, there has been a lot of controversy regarding the disorder itself in a variety of different aspects. For instance, the community debates over things such as what the disorder even is, or the treatments …show more content…

In many ways, the psychological field aids those in need, but it has been analyzed that it isn’t very useful all the time. The “Handbook of Early Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders,” admits that, “Unfortunately, alternative treatments that lack evidence of efficacy are being utilized for children diagnosed on the spectrum” (Worley, Fodstad and Neal 487). This supports the idea that the field shows uncertainty and lack of information, putting the children in danger when giving them treatments that are not necessarily the best choice. This handbook also highlights that, “These highly controversial treatments and intervention strategies are largely invalidated and offer little in the way of empirical data to support the efficacy of therapy tactics even when extraordinary and incomparable results are promised” (Worley, Fodstad, Neal 487). This emphasizes how the treatments and therapy tactics aren’t being experimented on before being put into action. Psychologists make empty promises and this is problematic because it only provokes a waste of money, time and false hope in families. Patients with autism are risking their own lives without being aware of it. The uncertainty in treatments puts patients at risk and shows an absence of care, families have no assurance of the well-being of the affected person, which is risky and problematic for almost everyone. Treatments for the …show more content…

A lot of people argue that the new criteria of the DSM-5 is not problematic, but better because it intends to help these patients (“The DSM-5: A Clinician's Perspective”). This truthfully explains that the changes increase the effectiveness of the diagnosis, and provide helpful, advanced results. However, the uncertainty in families remains alive, a recent article concluded that, “All of this makes for an ugly situation in which it certainly appears that nervous, vulnerable parents are being sold a diagnostic test that is less than half-baked” (Signal). This concludes the fact that many families are still being manipulated into believing whatever the psychologists say. The same article quotes, “The idea that this is being marketed without fully acknowledging its limitations is scary, truly appalled at the rush to market a test that has such weak predictive power to vulnerable families” (Signal). This is extremely problematic because it admits that psychology is making parents believe things that aren’t necessarily true, but may seem and sound true to the helpless families who are only seeking for help, but get attacked through their own emotions. The psychology field is manipulating families into believing whatever they want them to believe, this is problematic because it makes one think that they can do and say anything they

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