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That Shouldn't Happen: The Just World Fallacy and Autism

Everyday, we hear about tragedies, some that hit too close to home for comfort, and our reactions...

Heaviness: Euthanasia For Expediency

It's all over the internet now, the story of the twin brothers in Belgium who were deaf and going...

What's the Harm: When Reality and Wishful Thinking Clash

I'm digging around for posts people have written on what to say/what not to say to autistic people...

Facilitated Communication: Same As It Ever Was (Same As It Ever Was)

In the past couple years, I’ve written over a dozen articles examining facilitated communication...

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Kim WomblesRSS Feed of this column.

Instructor of English and psychology and mother to three on the autism spectrum.

Writer of the site countering.us (where most of these articles will have first appeared) and co-administrator

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Getting No Love: Age Of Autism Wants Autism Speaks To Shut Up

Getting No Love: Age Of Autism Wants Autism Speaks To Shut Up

Aug 29 2011 | comment(s)

Dan Olmsted is pissed at Autism Speaks and wants them to shut up and go away, all because of Dr. Dawson's coverage of the IOM report this past week.
When Is A Non-Profit Endorsing?: Autism Speaks And The National Autism Association Convention

When Is A Non-Profit Endorsing?: Autism Speaks And The National Autism Association Convention

Aug 22 2011 | comment(s)

Recently I became aware through Sullivan's post at LBRB that Autism Speaks was sponsoring the National Autism Association's national conference and that Andrew Wakefield was speaking at this conference, along with a long list of proponents of less-than-scientifically-backed treatments.

Stephen Law's Intellectual Black Holes, Or How Not To Win Friends

Stephen Law's Intellectual Black Holes, Or How Not To Win Friends

Aug 21 2011 | comment(s)

Warning: Snark Attack Ahead

So you've been in the skeptic movement for a bit, dipped your toes in the waters, so to speak, and gone looking for the woonuts so as to have a blast pointing out their every fallacy and poorly thought out idea. Now what? You wanna upgrade your game some, show off your intellectual superiority and really go to town. Why limit yourself to just garden variety woo like homeopathy? If you read Stephen Law's new book Believing Bullshit, you'll be armed with a ton of great information which you can use to alienate 70% of Americans: those who believe in God.
Autism: It's In The Womb(?), But Genes Still Play A Large Role

Autism: It's In The Womb(?), But Genes Still Play A Large Role

Aug 17 2011 | comment(s)

Studies....So Many Studies...



Lots of buzz over recent weeks on various studies concerning autism, genetics, and environment, along with the incidence of autism occurring in subsequent siblings.
Buyer Beware: Giving It Away Doesn't Mean It Works

Buyer Beware: Giving It Away Doesn't Mean It Works

Aug 14 2011 | comment(s)

I recently wrote a piece on various listening therapies for autism that ran at Science 2.0 and at TPGA. The most comments for the piece were at TPGA, and one in particular bears greater scrutiny.

First, though, a quick summary of my conclusions regarding listening therapy based on the literature:
Have-to, Not-Fair, Gotta-do

Have-to, Not-Fair, Gotta-do

Aug 05 2011 | comment(s)

In many ways, things here are undoubtedly like they are for countless other families: our kids whine over chores, they bicker with each other, they push each other's buttons countless times a day, and they shout out choruses of "Do I have to?" and "But that's not fair!" And like countless mothers, I respond back with "Would I have asked you to if it was optional?" and "Get used to it! Life isn't fair."