ABAB August CE + Social!
Schedule
Thu Aug 14 2025 at 05:00 pm to 08:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
The Broken Barrel Tavern | Palm Bay, FL
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Join us on August 14th for a CEU presentation on Kanner and Asperger: The history of the diagnosis of autism and its broader ethical context presented by Thomas Freeman, MS, BCBA.5:00pm - Check In and Networking
6:00 to 7:00pm - Presentation
Abstract:
“Autism” was introduced as a characteristic of schizophrenia in 1912. In the years following, a very few researcher/clinicians provided early descriptions of autism as a stand-alone dysfunctional behavioral profile in children, but in 1943, Leo Kanner published a seminal paper, "Autistic disturbances of affective contact", which is most often cited as the foundational paper in establishing the modern diagnosis of autism. However, in 1981, UK psychiatrist Lorna Wing brought to the world’s attention an obscure paper on autism, written in German in 1944 by an Austrian physician Hans Asperger. Published at the height of WWII, Asperger’s work had been mostly ignored and forgotten. Asperger’s work had included clinical profiles of some high functioning children who also exhibited characteristics of Kanner’s version of autism. Thus, Asperger introduced the concept of autism as a spectrum of both behavioral deficits and skills. Wing went on to describe a highly verbal form of autism for which she coined the term, “Asperger’s Syndrome”. Since that time, the known history of Asperger's work (and his possible connections to Kanner) has gone through several revisions as new historical records have been unearthed. More recent findings have led to several serious ethical questions relating to the three core principles of our Code, "Benefit Others", "Treat Others with Compassion, Dignity, and Respect", and "Behave with Integrity", as well as our requirement to provide proper scientific credit where it is due (Code Element 6.08). But the questions do not stop there. In this presentation, we will place this story in a larger social context and explore some of the ethical issues that can (and indeed did) arise in this rapidly changing cultural environment – and how this history clearly reveals the distinction between ethics and morality, and the influence these distinct forms of rule-governance can have on both individuals and broader cultural groups in their application of science to the study human behavior and their attempt to improve the human condition.
Objectives:
1. Participants will be able to describe the significance of Wing’s contributions to the conceptualization of autism as a spectrum disorder, including her reinterpretation of Asperger’s work, and discuss how this aligns with ethical obligations to provide accurate and contemporary scientific information (BACB Code 1.02, 1.05).
2. Participants will be able to explain the historical evolution of the autism diagnosis across editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and analyze how these changes impact ethical clinical decision-making and professional competence (BACB Code 1.05, 2.01, 2.13).
3. Participants will be able to identify at least two ethical concerns related to the historical roles of Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner in autism research, and differentiate between moral values and professional ethical codes in addressing controversial legacies in clinical practice (BACB Code 1.02, 1.04, 1.10).
Participants will receive 1.0 Ethics CE Hours.
RSVP before the event and your first drink is on us! https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/ceu-history-of-aspbergers
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Where is it happening?
The Broken Barrel Tavern, 4700 Babcock St NE, Palm Bay, FL 32905-2818, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
