Gestalt Techniques & Nonverbal Communication Autistic and Non Autistic People HW Linda agrees to work with you for several months, and you will be using Ge

Gestalt Techniques & Nonverbal Communication Autistic and Non Autistic People HW Linda agrees to work with you for several months, and you will be using Gestalt procedures with her.

At some point you might work with Linda’s feelings of anger and hurt toward her boyfriend. What Gestalt techniques can you think of to help her explore these feelings? What techniques could you use to work with her feelings of guilt over not having lived up to her parents’ high expectations? What other Gestalt approaches might you use (with what expected outcomes) to explore with Linda her other feelings associated with being pregnant?
As you proceed with Linda, what importance will you place on her nonverbal communication? Can you think of examples of how Linda’s body messages might contradict her words

REFERENCES: https://search-alexanderstreet-com.ezproxy.snhu.ed…

submit a general description of a patient and his or her issue that you would like to design a treatment plan for ( 8-12 sentences)

PAR B

Select a dysfunctional family from a movie, television show, book, or other common media.Focus on one of the characters and answer the following questions:If you were to counsel this person from a systemic perspective, would you be inclined to work with his or her entire family? Why or why not? What are the themes that interest you the most in this case? Why?How would you proceed as a family therapist in an initial session if you saw the entire family? What issues would you want to discuss with this family at the first meeting? If you believed in the value of seeing the family as a unit for one or more sessions, how might you go about getting the entire family to come in? Assume that all agreed to attend one session. What would be your focus, and what would you most want to achieve in this family session? What are the key dynamics of the family as a system? What does the family atmosphere seem like? Do you see any aspects of yourself in this case? Can you identify with any of the family members? How do you think this similarity or dissimilarity would help or hinder you in working with this family?

PART C- ALLOW TO USE OUTSIDE SOURCES

select a popular culture example. (It can be a television show, a commercial, a game, a movie, etc.) Analyze the representation and social message that is associated with the example.

Share a link and/or summarize your topic so that we all have enough information to understand your discussion even if we are unfamiliar with the example.
Discuss how your example relates to the concept of wellness as defined in this course and how it relates to specific challenges or supports of wellness.
What are the social implications of this message? Briefly discuss any potential social impact or response to the example.

PART D- AUTISM PDFs

analyze your issue/event through the lens of history, and address the following:  How does this issue/event interact with the history lens and impact social issues? In what ways does the history lens help articulate a deeper understanding of the social issue(s) that inform your issue/event?
analyze your issue/event through the lens of the humanities by exploring the following questions:  How is this issue/event portrayed creatively in society? What is the message or commentary of this representation?  How does this representation interact with you in your personal and professional lives? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2019) 49:1559–1569
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3858-5
ORIGINAL PAPER
Autism and Religious Beliefs: Clues from Kafka Research
Jerry Stuger1
Published online: 11 December 2018
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
Religious beliefs and faith in high-functioning autistic persons are analyzed by discussing the work and biography of Franz
Kafka. It enables researchers to differentiate between how autistic and non-autistic persons experience and express religious
beliefs and spiritual issues because Kafka as an autistic person also wrote about these topics in his philosophical–religious
writings. This Franz Kafka case study provides additional inner (cognitive) state input to better understand high-functioning
autism. This contribution with new and different perspectives to the field of autism and religious beliefs could help to explore
the varieties of religious experience and cognition, and to improve our insights in high-functioning autism.
Keywords Franz Kafka · Kierkegaard · Autism and religion · The self · Self-awareness · Kafkaesque · Autistic cognitive
style · Asperger syndrome · High-functioning autism · Perspective-taking
Introduction
In autism research the topic of religious belief is both not
often researched and not well understood. In this paper the
topic of religious beliefs and faith in autistic persons are
analyzed by discussing Franz Kafka’s views on faith and
religion. Kafka’s autism is thought to be an integral diagnosis which encompasses both his personal life and his work. It
enables autism researchers and religious studies scholars to
differentiate between how autistic and non-autistic persons
experience and express religious beliefs and spiritual issues
because Kafka as an autistic person also wrote about these
topics in his philosophical–religious writings. The study
of religious cognition in high-functioning autistic persons
could reveal important information regarding their cognitive and behavioural structure. However, studies in religion
and autism are often contradictory or unclear how highfunctioning autistic persons think about philosophical–religious issues (Swinton and Trevett 2009; Visuri 2012; Deeley
2009). That is why Kafka’s life and work provide valuable
clues to better understand the cognitive styles in highfunctioning autistic persons regarding religious beliefs and
spirituality. This case study of Kafka’s views on faith and
* Jerry Stuger
jerrystuger@yahoo.com
1
Independent Researcher, Overvoorde 19,
1082GA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
religion and the previous study of his life and work (Stuger
2017) reveal that his religious views stem from innate cognitive features. His social and cultural environment were not
decisive factors for Kafka being a non-believer.
Kafka’s views on faith and religion are analyzed by summarizing from and commenting on the comprehensive article by Matthew Powell: ‘A tale of two Abrahams: Kafka,
Kierkegaard and the possibility of faith in the modern world’
(Powell 2012). Matthew Powell is a theological historian
specialized in literary criticism and has written several
articles on Franz Kafka. The present study with new and
different perspectives to the field of autism and religious
beliefs could help to explore the varieties of religious experience and cognition, and to improve our insights in highfunctioning autism. To provide a background for these novel
concepts regarding cognition in religious beliefs, the current
state of affairs concerning the concepts of the self and selfawareness in autism research is reviewed. This is also done
for religious cognition and behaviour in autism.
The Current State of Religious Cognition
and Behaviour in Autism
It is hypothesized in autism and religion studies that a highfunctioning autistic person would be skeptical and critical of
god and supernatural agents (Bering 2002; McCauley 2011)
as is apparent in the case of Franz Kafka. It is acknowledged
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that the autistic person does not just have the behavioural
features of autism, but has a different cognitive machinery,
and hence sees and experiences the world differently at a
very central and personal level (Frith 2012). I think that the
present study of Franz Kafka’s life and work is a very good
example of a person with high-functioning autism that can
be analyzed at multiple dimensions (behavioural, cognitive,
religious beliefs) which is seldom found in autism research.
The idea of this paper was initiated by reading Kafka’s
philosophical writings and his analysis of the figure Abraham, sent by God to the mountain of Moriah to sacrifice
his long-awaited son, the well-known Akedah story, and the
comparison with Kierkegaard’s discussion of Abraham and
his portrayal of faith. These writings provided a means to
compare both men their religious cognitive processes since
they presented their specific religious views on the same
story from the bible. Before discussing the case study of
Kafka’s and Kierkegaard’s Abrahams it is useful to summarize the relevant studies in the literature on autism and
religious beliefs.
The current view on the topic of autism and religious
beliefs can be obtained, among others sources, from Reddish
et al. (2015, for details and references). The consensus view
concerning the concepts to be religious, is that to believe in
the existence of a god(s) and attempt to interact with a god(s)
requires an understanding of minds. To understand other
minds requires mentalizing or theory of mind (ToM): the
ability to infer mental states in others—to infer what another
may believe, know, feel, desire, and so on, and to understand
that these may be different from our own mental states. Reddish et al. 2015 (for details and references) noted that based
on this view a number of scholars in the cognitive science of
religion have argued that mentalizing or ToM is an essential
cognitive component in religious belief and behaviour.
The link between mentalizing and religion is through
research on individuals with autism spectrum disorder
(ASD). Most research examining the cognitive differences
between individuals with ASD and neurotypical or typically
developing (TD) individuals has examined high-functioning
individuals with ASD (HFA), that is, individuals with milder
autism symptomatology and comparable IQ and language
ability to neurotypicals. Consistent findings have supported
the claim that HFA are delayed and have deficiencies in their
ability to mentalize, which in turn has been used to explain
some of their known difficulties in the social realm. If mentalizing is indeed an essential component for religious cognition and behaviour, then HFA may “lack the mental tools
to represent god concepts in the same way as people with
normally functioning [theory of mind mechanism]” (Tremlin 2006). Based on these views it is thought that one way
that deficits in mentalizing may manifest themselves in the
religious realm is through an increased propensity toward
disbelief (e.g., atheism, agnosticism, and similar terms). A
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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2019) 49:1559–1569
few studies support the link between deficit in mentalizing
and reduced belief (Caldwell-Harris et al. 2011; Norenzayan
et al. 2012; Baron-Cohen et al. 2001). However, the sample
size of these studies was small and it was suggested that
some personality traits, besides ToM condition, characteristic of these persons could explain differences in religious
faith.
Although these studies did find a slight bias toward disbelief in HFA, it is notable that religious belief among HFA
was still relatively high. Two often cited studies suggest
HFA are capable of being just as religious as neurotypicals
(Brezis 2012; Schaap-Jonker et al. 2013). Furthermore, the
data of the study by Reddish et al. (2015) suggests that in
contrast to their predictions and previous research on the
religiosity of HFA, they found very little differences between
the groups (HFA vs TD) in their religious cognition and
behaviour. Moreover, the relationship between mentalizing
ability and most of their measures of religious cognition and
behaviour was weak and negative. Their data suggest that
HFA’s deficits in mentalizing appear to have only minimal
impact on the way they interact and think about gods. As
Ekblad and Oviedo (2017) concluded, the first impression
of the review of the literature on recently published studies
is that the issue is far from settled: it is not clear whether
ToM is related to or even necessary for one to have a belief
in God. Their study indicated that mature subjects on the
autism spectrum do not reflect relevant differences in the
field of religion and spirituality compared to their neurotypical counterparts. Developmental and socio-cultural variables
become more important than just innate cognitive features
when predicting religious outcomes in these cases. The current state of research does not yet allow the authors to draw
definitive conclusions regarding different forms of autism,
ToM and religious cognition. This is because experimental
research on autistic people’s religious beliefs and understanding is rather scarce (Lindeman et al. 2015; Vonk and
Pitzen 2017).
As will be discussed later in this paper, the concepts of
subjective (un)awareness of one’s autism and the awareness of the specific sense of self in the autistic person are
thought to be key cognitive concepts to really understand
high-functioning autism. And to make experimental studies
more difficult, these are also experiences and concepts that
are hard to put into words by the individual. The importance of cognition for autism research is acknowledged in
the three-level framework by Morton and Frith (2001). In
their generic causal model of a developmental disorder,
behavioural and sensory issues are the bottom layers in the
process of expression in the person, and because of a mapping problem many different causes can underlie the same
behaviour. The three-level framework is a tool that reminds
users that descriptions are not explanations and that there is
a need to link behaviour and mind, just as there is a need to
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2019) 49:1559–1569
link brain and mind. The need for cognitive explanations of
autism is discussed in the works by Frith (2012) and Morton
(2004). In this paper some suggestions, via the case study of
Kafka’s Abrahams, are presented how (religious) cognition
in autism might be approached.
Self‑Awareness in Individuals with Autism
Spectrum Disorder
Self-awareness is an important topic in consciousness studies and it is also an essential concept in autism research.
Morin (2006, p. 359) defines the concept of “self-awareness”
as follows: “Self-awareness refers to the capacity to become
the object of one’s own attention. It occurs when an organism focuses not on the external environment, but on the
internal milieu; it becomes a reflective observer, processing self-information. The organism becomes aware that it
is awake and actually experiencing specific mental events,
emitting behaviours, and possessing unique characteristics”.
Morin (2006) suggests there are four levels of self-awareness: unconsciousness, consciousness, self-awareness and
meta-self-awareness.
The question of self-awareness among individuals with
autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been addressed theoretically and empirically by a wide range of disciplines. A
comprehensive model of self-awareness is lacking, and even
the functional importance of self-awareness has not yet been
established. Moreover, specific characteristics of self-awareness are not specified in the current ASD diagnostic criteria. The lack of a comprehensive model of self-awareness
limits the current understanding of variations in and deficits
of self-awareness. That is why Elmose (2016) presented a
conceptual framework for understanding characteristics of
self-awareness associated with autism spectrum disorder.
The aim was to sketch a conceptual framework for describing self-awareness to begin to integrate the accumulating
knowledge about characteristics of and variations in selfawareness related to ASD. The formulation of a conceptual
framework is important as a future common ground for the
design and interpretation of new studies, theoretical discussions, and clinical work. Elmose (2016) summarized various theoretical positions in her review and concluded that
there are differences in self-awareness at all levels (except
unconsciousness), but these differences mainly occur in the
psychological (but not physical) domain of the self. Moreover, the differences in self-awareness among individuals with
ASD are understood primarily as differences at the metarepresentational level of processing, which are thought to
be also responsible for problems representing other people’s
thoughts or ToM. When it comes to understanding selfawareness, it is not just a question of having self-awareness;
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when and how the individual comes to understand this selfawareness and how it is applied must also be considered.
However, I do not fully agree with her statement that due
to the heterogeneous nature of the condition, self-awareness
can be a unique experience for each person on the spectrum (Elmose 2016). The argument put forward in my
previous paper on Kafka and autism (Stuger 2017) shows
that the cognitive processes in high-functioning autism are
not defined by a variety of selves or types of self-awareness. In the present study it is hypothesized, based on the
case study of Franz Kafka, that high-functioning autism is
defined by a specific type of self-awareness and a specific
type of compartmentalized autistic self which can be differentiated from the cognitive unified self in the normal
developing population. Kafka’s lack of awareness of his
autism is also characteristic and defines his experience of
reality. These fundamental cognitive states can have various
behavioural expressions in addition to sensory sensitivities
but these varieties of downstream effects do not map one
on one to assumed upstream cognitive sources. Elmose’s
(2016) characterization of self-awareness is mapped along
the behaviourally defined autism spectrum while in this
paper it is hypothesized that a cognitive approach might be
more insightful and provides more clues what really defines
specifically cognitive high-functioning autism.
Three Dimensions of the Self‑System
As Lyons and Fitzgerald put it, ‘The concept of self is difficult to define and different notions and theories of the self
have been proposed by a variety of disciplines all interpreting concepts of self and identity in various ways’ (Lyons and
Fitzgerald 2013, p.749). There is significant interest in the
role of the self and possible abnormalities associated with
the self, as causally implicated in autism. However, nowhere
in the current DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ASD is the term
“self” mentioned (Lyons and Fitzgerald 2013). Huang et al.
(2017) stated in their review of the literature that research
on the self-system involving individuals with disabilities
has been limited. In particular, research on the self-system
involving children or adolescents with ASD has been scarce.
The self-system is viewed as a complex concept that involves
a multitude of notions of the self (Zahavi 2010). When investigating the multifaceted character of self, one has to be able
to tell the difference between types of self-awareness, and
understand how they relate to each other (Zahavi 2010). In
the previous section I already expressed my doubts concerning these views on types of self-awareness in behaviorally
defined autism. In general, current research in the field
mainly explores the self in individuals with ASD from one
of the following three dimensions: an experiential dimension, an interpersonal dimension and a narrative dimension.
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In sum, the three dimensions are approaches that can be
used to analyze various aspects of the self-system in individuals with ASD from a philosophical perspective. They
are interrelated, and individuals with ASD can have selective
impairment. The review of the literature has clearly shown
that despite different research findings, there is consensus
among researchers that there are impairments in the psychological self in individuals with ASD (e.g. Williams 2010).
Some researchers believed due to social and communicative
impairments as well as theory of mind deficits, individuals with ASD generally have limited awareness in the self
and others. Other researchers argue that they have selective
rather than global impairments in the self. In other words,
they believe the impairment usually lies in a specific aspect
of functioning in individuals with ASD. The development
of self-awareness is a complex process that involves integration of information from sources and coordination across
the brain systems involved in self-related concepts. A sense
of self emerges from the activity of the brain in interaction
with other selves and there is substantial evidence that early
deficits in self-development including impaired relations
with others result in a fragmented and atypical sense of self
in ASD (Lyons and Fitzgerald 2013).
Kafka and Autism
In the paper Kafka and autism: the undisclosed logic behind
Kafka’s work, the hypothesis was presented that Franz Kafka
was an autistic person (Stuger 2017). This was done by analyzing and discussing his biography, letters, diaries and
major works. Kafka’s autism is thought to be an integral
diagnosis which encompasses both his personal life and his
work.
That paper proposed that the origins of the logic of Kafka’s writings can be assigned to his autistic frame of reference whereby this logic is alien to neurotypical readers
and requires additional information regarding Kafka’s daily
events, preoccupations and his special topics of interest.
When Kafka’s novels are analyzed with the autistic frame
of reference in mind the behaviour of his protagonists make
more sense and will reveal that Kafka’s protagonists focus
on external behavioural cues which are guided by Kafka’s
education and mindset of a lawyer. As such Kafka’s protagonists are a reflection of the thinking and behaviour of
Kafka the author. Critics and literary scholars misinterpret
Kafka’s work by focusing on aspects such as the psychological and mental state of the characters, which are of limited
actual concern for the externally intentional focus of the
writer Kafka. This also explains the experienced sense of
absurdism and alienation the neurotypical form of reading
evokes in the general reader because of the difference in
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Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2019) 49:1559–1569
neural frames of reference which stands between the author
and most readers.
This hypothesis suggests that in his writings, Kafka was
in search of a cognitive perspective in his fellow human
beings which could put him at ease but he never managed to
find it. He intuited this other state of mind and his writings
are a testament of his search for this alien state of mind or
self-consciousness which he tried to describe via parables,
animal stories, aphorisms and images. His problem was that
he could not get to grips with reality, more specifically his
own reality, because he could not live with it. In fact, all his
literary attempts seem to be the search for the neural frame
of reference of neurotypical people in the world around him
which can be confused with a religious quest for deeper existential meaning.
In the Zürau aphorisms, Kafka’s only texts dealing
directly with theological issues, ‘the Way’ can be regarded
as a metaphor or analogy for the quest to resolve existential fear, alienation, doubt or anxiety via different cognitive
routes and b…
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