Institute for Autism Research

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Institute for Autism Research Hans E. Kehrer e. V. (IFA) is an application-oriented research institute based on the campus of Jacobs University Bremen . It is managed in the legal form of a registered association and is dedicated to research in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) . The focus is on a behavioral approach. The IFA became known through the development of the Bremen Parent Training Program (BET) , which is based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) .

history

The IFA was founded in 1983 by Hans Erwin Kehrer . For many years, Kehrer was the head of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Münster University Hospital . He conducted basic research on the subject of autism, published standard works and carried out educational and public relations work. He was one of the first therapy researchers to adopt behavioral approaches that had proven effective in promoting autistic children in the United States.

"In the 1980s, when" early childhood autism "was hardly known in Germany, the IFA was the first German research institute to receive Anglo-American research results on autism - especially diagnostics - and behavioral therapy as the method of choice for autistic children introduced in Germany. "

After Kehrer's death in 2002, the institute was relocated to Bremen. The director of the institute since 2003 has been Hermann Cordes, father of an autistic son.

Bremen Parent Training Program (BET)

The Bremen Parents Training Program (BET) was developed at the IFA. It is based on the applied behavior analysis approach , which was developed by the psychologist Ole Ivaar Lovaas in the 1960s for working with autistic children. ABA was developed on the basis of studies by the behavioral scientist BF Skinner , who had shown through experiments on animals that behavior can be changed through drill and reward. Lovaas showed that through constant repetition and positive reinforcement, autistic children can learn to speak. Loovas thus presented autism as a learning problem for the first time. Until these findings, autistic children were often placed in psychiatric hospitals with no prospect of further development opportunities. The rigid ABA methods originally developed by Loovaas are now controversial and have been successfully further developed. Successful therapy using the Bremen Parent Training Program (BET) comprises at least 40 hours per week and, ideally, should encompass the entire waking phase of the child.

Action man

In October 2008, the three-year pilot project PEFA (Potsdam Parents Training for the Early Intervention of Autistic Children) began, which was financed by Aktion Mensch and the Competence Center for Autism in the Oberlinhaus and scientifically supervised by the Psychological-Psychotherapeutic Outpatient Clinic of the University of Potsdam and the Institute for Autism Research has been. After only six to eight months, the children being looked after showed significant progress. Since 2014 Aktion Mensch has been promoting a three-year pilot project of the IFA as a continuation.

criticism

The federal association criticized ABA-based therapies "as training the child, which offends against his dignity", autism activists consider these therapies to be unethical and a form of abuse . In response to criticism of their support for the PEFA project, Aktion Mensch initiated a panel discussion with experts in 2015 in order to objectify the discussion and facilitate an open exchange.

Advanced training

The IFA has offered further training in the field of autism for doctors, educators, pedagogues and psychotherapists since 2004. This training is centered on behavior therapy and takes place in cooperation with the German Society for Behavioral Therapy . It is based on evidence-based therapy methods of autism therapy, in particular strategies of "autism-specific behavior therapy" (AVT). An advanced course to become a certified autism therapist has been available since 2015.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Marlies Hübner: Without ifs and ABA. The daily newspaper . December 2, 2016, accessed December 13, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Ariane Heimbach: Autism: Don't be too nice! The time . April 9, 2013, accessed December 13, 2016 .
  3. ^ Gerhardt Nissen : Cultural history of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-608-94104-3 , p. 499; limited preview in Google Book search
  4. ↑ IFA: Bremer Frühherapieprogramm Autismus (PDF), undated, page 2 on Institute for Autism Research , accessed on December 11, 2012.
  5. ↑ Friedbert Meurer : Researcher: Autism is not sufficiently recognized in Germany , interview with Hermann Cordes, Deutschlandfunk , April 2, 2012
  6. ↑ Leticia Witte: Turn parents into professionals . In: Schweriner People's Newspaper . October 7, 2008, p. 5 .
  7. ↑ “Almost everything has changed in our life”. Oberlinhaus presents the first results of the PEFA project on the early intervention of autistic children. Potsdam latest news . December 4, 2009, accessed December 13, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Autistic children are making great strides in the PEFA project. Forum occupational therapy, Schulz-Kirchner Verlag. 2009, accessed December 13, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Less often withdrawn health. Autism Project has a track record . In: Märkische Allgemeine . December 4, 2009, p. 5 .
  10. ↑ Aktion Mensch: Aktion Mensch promotes Bremen's early autism therapy program. , undated on Aktion Mensch , accessed on December 11, 2012
  11. ↑ Engaged discussion about ABA , Aktion Mensch , November 20, 2015
  12. ^ Vera Bernard-Opitz, Christos K. Nikopoulos: Learning with ABA and AVT: Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism- Specific Behavior Therapy. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-17-031676-8 , chap. 7.2; limited preview in Google Book search
  13. ↑ First advanced training course for "Autism Therapist (VT) (DGVT / IFA)" successfully completed ( Memento from December 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), German Society for Behavioral Therapy , January 30, 2014