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SOME IDEAS . . . ABOUT ---THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, DIVERSITY, INTELLIGENCE & BEHAVIOR

10/22/2020

BIG BRAINS & DIVERSE IMMUNE SYSTEMS --- What's Different About Human Brains -- Is it how they got "PRUNED" by the IMMUNE SYSTEM?

We have some HAZY IDEAS about what "Mental Illness" is and what "Intelligence" is.

It maybe that if we "NAIL DOWN" one of those definitions -- it is going to help us with the other.

In the last 10 or 15 years "EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE" has become a "THING" --- as it became more and more OBVIOUS many people with "TRADITIONAL INTELLIGENCE" didn't seem to have as much "EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE" as one might expect.--- WHAT'S THAT ABOUT?

In actuality we only take in --- a very tiny fraction of "REALITY."

Further, it "APPEARS" that "SOME PARASITES" help "MEDIATE" that "REALITY" even further -- by making us NOT SO SENSITIVE TO STIMULI.

It "APPEARS" that the Human Microbiome is made up of bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses that live on and in the human body AND----

Can help not only with preventing "ALLEGIES" and AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS, but a DIVERSE MICROBIOME can help us regulate our "MOOD" as well--- we're literally "NOT AS SENSITIVE."

"BEING SENSITIVE" is NOT necessarily what we might imagine. It can sometimes involve a running nose, food allergies, eczema, other autoimmune conditions --- and some EMOTIONAL OVERWHELM.

That can be coming from A LOT of PLACES.

If you're an "ORCHID" who is HIGHLY SENSITIVE to THE ENVIRONMENT and maybe dealing with some challenging epigenetic changes to the IMMUNE SYSTEM as well as lacking some helpful PARASITES -- you maybe taking in MORE OF THE ENVIRONMENT than the next person.

THE BUDDHIST KOAN -- IS THIS A "GOOD THING" or A "BAD THING"?

Well, it certainly seems COMPLICATED.
It 'seems" that the more information/stimuli one is taking in -- the more EMOTION is activated to "PROCESS" that.
At some point --- people with LAX FILTERS of various types are needing MORE TIME to PROCESS that information & stimuli --- just because they have more of it to process.
Do they have more of it to process because they are "INTELLIGENT"? That seems a very loaded question -- and it "seems" that "INTELLIGENCE" isn't really what we think it is.

Professor Daniel Davis makes the point that there is from a statistical standpoint very little HUMAN DIVERSITY -- and most of the DIVERSITY that we do have does not go to appearance or skin color --- it goes to our IMMUNE SYSTEMS.

BUT those IMMUNE SYSTEMS may be affecting a lot more than our susceptibility to HIV-AIDS or CANCER.

According to 21st Century research, IMMUNE SYSTEMS are:

"controlling" SOCIAL BEHAVIOR -- that's from the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
Down Syndrome is now conceptualized as an Immune Disorder --- University of Colorado
And the IMMUNE SYSTEM seems to have an ENORMOUS ROLE in Mental Illness, ADHD, Autism, the Severity of Brain Injury and Vulnerability to Substance Problems.

From Atlas Educational by Lisa Swaboda

"Giftedness" and the Immune System

It also seems "LIKELY" that the Immune System & Maternal Immune Activation are involved with "Giftedness" (importantly NOT PERFECTION). "Giftedness" is typically marked by:

Asynchronous Development
"Over Excitabilities"
Above-average ability in one or more areas

SENG -- Support for the Emotional Needs of the Gifted

SENG -- Overexcitabilities

Powerwood is a UK organization dedicated to raising awareness of neurodiversity as a force for personal and societal growth, to provide supportive information, tools and strategies and to strengthen PowerWood's Community

OLD THEMES FOR A COMPLICATED TOPIC: INVISIBLE COGNITIVE DISABILITY

10/21/2020

One of the great THEMES in Western Literature is --- Things are NOT what they appear.

With regard to cognitive (invisible) disability that can certainly be the case for:
- the person
- the family
- the professional
- the society

If you can CURE IT -- that's great -- if you can't ---and that includes pretty much everybody (including me) then --- the understanding is pretty shaky and likely WRONG in some areas.

When I say "CURE IT"/"TREAT IT" --- I mean "CURE IT"/"TREAT IT" for THAT PERSON --- not some hazy this should work -- but you've got the PRECISION MEDICINE that "IT" does work and it works for this person.

A BIG PART of the Ethical & Moral Challenge of dealing with Cognitive Disability (Invisible Disability) in 2020 is dealing with UNCERTAINTY and the NEW KNOWLEDGE that is coming in.

We have to integrate Physical & Mental Healthcare --- that means not having LITTLE MENTAL HEALTH SILOS / GHETTOS.

It takes enormous TIME & ENERGY to TRANSLATE complicated new research into UNDERSTANDINGS, APPROACHS and TREATMENTS that Clinicians can actually use.

That means RESOURCES and MONEY and a lot of it for TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH & MEDICINE.

We are doing all kinds of DAMAGE to Individuals, Families and the Society by our current CRIMINAL JUSTICE approach.

Cognitive Disability --- Brain Injury, Mental Illness, Substance Issues and Developmental Disabilities are RAMPANT in our JAILS & PRISONS

Olmstead Compliance, Parity, Medicaid Network Adequacy --- WHERE ARE YOU?

The Vagaries of the Body

10/20/2020

In Criminal Justice we have narrowly circumscribed what we recognize as a "DEFENSE" to a Criminal Charge, largely to "INSANITY" and recognized "INCOMPETENT TO PROCEED."

We're needing to RE-CONCEPTUALIZE our RESPONSE to BAD/EVIL BEHAVIOR beyond LEGALLY SANCTIONED MORAL RETRIBUTION or TRADITIONAL NARROW CRIMINAL COMMITMENT.

What Are Some of the Problems:

It is RIDICULOUS to have a PUBLIC POLICY based on restoring someone to COMPETENCY so we can PUNISH them. That doesn't appear to be RATIONALE.
We need to be CHALLENGING the DISTURBING DEFINITIONS of "INSANITY" contained in Criminal Statutes such as Colorado's definition of "INSANITY."
The PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH to Criminal Justice that we advocate is actually much more COMPREHENSIVE than anything Criminal Justice is currently doing, and it brings with it -- its own CIVIL RIGHTS CHALLENGES & CONCERNS.
BUT unlike most of CRIMINAL JUSTICE -- it's not primarily ADVERSARIAL -- and it is COLLABORATIVE to provide SAFETY, HUMANE TREATMENT and to PROTECT CIVIL RIGHTS -- with ADVERSARY PROCEEDINGS as a last resort.
A lot of people would VOLUNTARILY get treatment, many proactively ask for treatment and are often denied that "TREATMENT" in the Criminal Justice System (not always) -- but if they have a history of prior convictions --- they generally are denied that "TREATMENT."
The basis for the DENIAL of TREATMENT is the person has had "A LOT OF CHANCES." We would submit that is NOT RATIONALE given our current knowledge -- and it hasn't been RATIONALE for sometime.
Where we get hung up is on the question of "INTENT" -- it does go back to CARTESIAN DUALISM, but it goes beyond that --- assessing intent is how we and other animals protect ourselves -- and by and large we haven't had the ability to go beyond pretty surface questions of INTENT behind BAD ACTS.
"THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO" --- was a pretty sophisticated idea 2,000 years ago and the Christians weren't saying the ROMANS were psychotic.
Now here we are in 2020 --- that CARTESIAN DUALISM of 400 years ago is being shattered --- is mental illness a brain disease or is it an IMMUNE DYSFUNCTION that affects the BRAIN.
Further, it appears that other SYSTEMS OF THE BODY are also involved, including the ENDOCRINE SYSTEM and the MICROBIOME (the Microbiome isn't even technically human).
Why wouldn't "GOD" be on everyone's side -- if we are all subject to the vagaries of the BODY?

A depiction of treppaning {drilling a hole in the skull) from the painting Cutting the Stone (circa 1494) by Hieronymus Bosch.

In the European medical tradition, treppaning was used for head injury, epilepsy, mental illness, etc. --- MIT Press

Insanity

Cambridge Psychiatry Professor Ed Bullmore on the historic MIND/BODY dualism going back to Descartes.

Orchid: This split is at the ROOT of a number of BAD THINGS -- including STAGNANT Mental Health Treatment.

DID THE US MISS THE BOAT? BY FOCUSING ON TECHNOLOGY RATHER THAN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

10/19/2020

This may seem like a strange question to pose, especially since some of the top discoveries involving the immune system and the brain have come out of the US and one of the top companies Moleculera Labs is a US Company.

BUT we are very enamored of SMART PHONE Technology and SIMULATION Technology --- and I am concerned that resources are not being well used given the Research.

RIGHT NOW

the Foundation is being laid for a Major New Understanding of Human Behavior and probably of other animals as well that involves a PRIMARY ROLE for the IMMUNE SYSTEM.
Human Behavior, especially bad human behavior is what the Criminal Justice System is all about. We can't have this kind of jump forward in our understanding of behavior without having a major impact on Criminal Justice.

Click picture to go to Moleculera Labs: "A PRECISION MEDICINE COMPANY Identifying the root cause of neurologic, psychiatric, and behavioral disorders."

I am an OKC native and OU graduate --- and much to my surprise Moleculera Labs is located at the OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City.

It appears to us from Other Research (see below) that the ROLE of the IMMUNE SYSTEM in Neuro-Psychiatric Disorders is not limited to Autoimmune Encephalitis, Lyme Disease, etc.

Most of the research of the last 5 years, especially the last 2 years, is RE-CONCEPTUALIZING much of neuro-developmental disorders, later on-set mental illness and substance use issues as problems with INNATE and/or ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY.

OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City

Lyme Brain --- What's the Point?

10/19/2020

Lyme Disease, the Immune System & Mental Health

Physical Illness, the Immune System & Mental Health Index

What's the Point?

saying one is experiencing some type of "cognitive disability" -- is very much like saying one has a "stomach ache"
- THERE are a whole lot of things that can cause some type of "cognitive disability"

Surprisingly --- one of the common denominators is THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

A lot of things can go wrong with the IMMUNE SYSTEM

Further -- by way of analogy we know that people experience COVID in very different ways and levels of severity.

A small diverse sampling of things that can impact the immune system and lead to "cognitive disability":
- Maternal Immune Activation
- Trauma
- Altitude/Altitude induced Sleep Apnea
- Social Stress
- Substance Use
- Tic bites
- Etc.

Further, some people may be experiencing some COMBINATION of FACTORS --- and there are A LOT OF FACTORS that go BOTH to:
- Our Biology, AND
- Our Environment

Combining Double V -- (Disability Housing Economic Stimulus) with Supported Employment

10/18/2020

There are a lot of people in this Country who would NOT SUPPORT DISABILITY HOUSING on its own, especially COGNITIVE DISABILITY HOUSING on its own WITHOUT EMPLOYMENT or SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT as a REQUIREMENT.

Employment and/or some type of Volunteer Work are viable in many cases --- especially if we're dealing with and ACCOMMODATING potential EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING PROBLEMS -- UP FRONT and NOT DOWN THE ROAD.

One of the REASONS why this is so TRICKY --- almost everybody has some EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES, more often it's a question of DEGREE.

Further, if you live in a HIERARCHICAL SOCIETY -- somebody above may have gotten away with a lot of EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION --- "YOU'RE FIRED." -- it can make great REALITY TV.

We're largely talking about the Executive Functioning Issues of POOR PEOPLE -- RICH PEOPLE or PEOPLE WITH SOME MEASURE OF POWER can have their Executive Functioning Issues --- but they are often not paying the enormous price that people at the BOTTOM of the ECONOMIC LADDER are paying.

Microsoft Supported Employment Program (2018)

This is Gwen Haworth's video on Assertive Community Treatment & Housing First -- made with RainCity Housing

Rain City being -- Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada.

There are so many GEMS in this video. --- We will pull out a few of the many PERCEPTIVE INSIGHTS.

0:27: "People have to get awareness. I had no idea about the situation until I was down in the situation. . . . I never thought about homelessness or poverty -- it wasn't a concern of mine."

O:47: "Oh man, what a difference. Walking with a plastic bag over my shoulder constantly all day. That's real. . . . That's their whole houses right in there, right."

1:35: "It's ridiculous for people to be asked to get their lives back on track or get clean or go to school or all these things when they don't have stable and secure housing."

6:30: "You fail to get people better if the system that is supporting you is not very good."

3:30:

There are people that know that maybe full time work isn't possible-- but they are interested in part-time or volunteer.

But almost everybody wants to do something productive.

Chartered Institute for Personnel Development (UK): A Guide to Neurodiversity at Work

(CIPD) A Guide to Neurodiversity At Work

60 Minutes: Companies Seeking Out Potential Employees with Autism

Photo Credit: wired.com

RainCity Housing Video at 7:40

Different agencies have
different rules and things like that.
We also just strongly believe that people shouldn't have to jump through a million different hoops to get the support they need.

ORWELLIAN DOUBLESPEAK IN COLORADO: "EFFECTIVENESS" AS CODE OR DEFENSE FOR POLITICAL BAD BEHAVIOR

10/15/2020

We're not really about INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATES --- for a lot of reasons --- we're a non-profit --- BUT also we think the problems with INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATES in whatever party are often FUELED by SYSTEMIC FLAWS --- LACK of INCLUSION being right up there.

FOR US --- what's the BIG PROBLEM --- FEDERAL FAILURE TO ENFORCE OLMSTEAD CONSISTENTLY and STATE COMPLIANCE FAILURE.

Those kinds of FAILURES often get WHITEWASHED under the BANNER of EFFECTIVENESS or PRAGMATISM.

It's NOT WRONG to be PRAGMATIC and we're all about addressing PRAGMATIC OBSTACLES to Olmstead Compliance.

It is WRONG for STATES to FLOUT FEDERAL DISABILITY CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS.

People with Disabilities are LEGALLY ENTITLED to SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE --- not just cherry-picked good works.

"Well, EVERYBODY DOES IT."

Well, it's STILL WRONG.

Making the World Safe for Politicians to be Honest

Jail Wait for Competency Exams

FREE SPEECH, NOTICE & OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD GO JUST SO FAR AS A "SAFETY VALVE" --- Why isn't this working?

10/14/2020

People need viable options for complex problem-solving

21st century American Democracy is being challenged and part of that is China's Authoritarianism BUT a lot of it is HUMAN UNCONSCIOUS BIAS and our current systems aren't adequately addressing that.

I can sorta see my own flaws --- I can see yours in HIGH RELIEF -- and that's true for most of us.

Well, that turns out to be a BIG PROBLEM. Further, my problems are MORE IMPORTANT TO ME than YOUR PROBLEMS.

Our SAFETY VALVES of FREE SPEECH and the JUSTICE SYSTEM --- NOTICE & OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD are really struggling under the WEIGHT of UNRESOLVED ISSUES and LACK of INCLUSIVE, ACCESSIBLE & AFFORDABLE PROBLEM-SOLVING.

China is NOT WRONG that a lot of DISSENT is a SIGN that SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE.

Criminalizing that dissent is NOT THE ANSWER but JUST IGNORING IT -- isn't the answer either.

Criminal Justice Reform --- people have been talking about it for a LONG TIME

If we MARRY --- CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM with OLMSTEAD COMPLIANCE ---- we COULD satisfy a lot of concerns on all sides --- especially if the process was INCLUSIVE.

What's the Point?

There are some serious weaknesses in all 3 Branches of American Government. They are all struggling mightily because of an "Off Limits" Economic System that is exacerbating a lot of problems.

Universal Basic Income & a Public Healthcare Option could help solve a lot of those problems.

Right now -- the Judicial Branch cannot realistically carry the WEIGHT this SOCIETY is placing on it.

The FAILURES of MASS INCARCERATION speak for themselves as well as a LITIGIOUS SOCIETY that can never seem to address ROOT CAUSES of LONG-STANDING PROBLEMS.

Do we need TORT REFORM -- yeah -- BUT the prerequisite for that is ECONOMIC REFORM.

<<<<<What's the Point?

We're using "SHARED DECISION-MAKING" in a very BROAD SENSE --- a DEMOCRATIC SENSE -- with regard to people with brain injury, mental illness, substance issues and developmental disabilities and their families and the Criminal Justice System and Homelessness.

One of the great TRIUMPHS of SOCIETY is -- we're largely BEYOND the BLOOD FEUD (although gang violence would be an exception).

Most families are really STRUGGLING to get their FAMILY MEMBER the LEVEL of CARE --- he or she needs.

Further, it's all quite imperfect -- and people are going to say, "Hey, this isn't working" -- because often it isn't working.

COORDINATING DOJ GRANT REFORM WITH CMS REFORM & OLMSTEAD COMPLIANCE: THE NEED FOR SPECIFICITY

10/14/2020

Reimagining Federal Grants for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform

Oct. 7, 2020

"Today, the movement to end mass incarceration and police violence is gaining steam.

"Communities are calling for a smaller justice system that is no longer the primary response to many social issues, from behavioral health disorders to homelessness to school discipline.

"These are not new priorities; rather, national public awareness has started to catch up to what many communities have been advocating for years.

"Yet federal funding mechanisms are still stuck in the 1990s.

"Instead of pushing jurisdictions toward justice reform, the largest available justice-related grants incentivize deference to law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, which have historically perpetuated approaches that drive up arrest and incarceration rates.

"Dedicated funding streams for reform-minded strategies are much smaller and are generally awarded on a competitive basis, thereby limiting the number of jurisdictions that can use federal funds to promote change."
Olmstead Planning: The Specificity Principle & Cognitive Disability

This is HARD STUFF. It would be ridiculous to pretend otherwise.

We need a lot of Specific Guidance coming out of:

CMS
HUD, and
DOJ

to ensure Olmstead Compliance:

Measurable Goals
Reasonable Time Frames, and
Funding to Support the Plan

The SPECIFICITY needed includes TEMPLATES for GOALS, TIME FRAMES and FUNDING that can MODIFIED so long as OLMSTEAD COMPLIANCE is ACHIEVED.

One of the reasons we have MASS INCARCERATION is that States are NOT COMPLYING with Olmstead with regard to Cognitive Disability, including Substance Use Issues.

It is not uncommon to find that under that Substance Use issue is a Developmental Disability such as ADHD or Autism, mental illnesses such as Bipolar Disorder, Depression, or Schizophrenia and/or a Brain Injury.

There are a lot of things going on with State Olmstead NON-COMPLIANCE:

Discrimination against people with Cognitive Disabilities
Discrimination against poor people
Discrimination against people of color
NOT really having the vaguest idea how to FUND what's needed.
The reality is more and more MIDDLE CLASS White People are finding themselves or a family member ensnared in the Criminal Justice System because of Cognitive Disability.
Further, these are PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES that DO NOT DISCRIMINATE on the basis of color (although Intergenerational Trauma can be a factor)
Additionally, there is a BIG DIVIDE is this country regarding what one can afford in terms of treatment or long term care. if necessary. MEDICAID is HUGELY IMPORTANT.

beyond superficial efficiency to substantive Justice: A Public Health Approach to criminal justice

10/13/2020

We have a FRACTURED SOCIETY that is struggling under the weight of DIVERSITY. Europe and other areas of the world are finally catching up to some of our STRUGGLES.

We should be the LEADER in how to MAXIMIZE the ADVANTAGES of DIVERSITY and we're now often the world's POSTER CHILD on HOW NOT TO DO IT.

Our Criminal Justice System is a GLOBAL SCANDAL --- and our JUDGES are all about JUDICIAL EFFICIENCY and LARGELY FAILURES in PROMOTING JUSTICE.

SOMEBODY NEEDS TO HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY THAT.

A lot of the REVEALED WISDOM many of us learned in LAW SCHOOL was far from adequate when it wasn't outright wrong.

Especially in Criminal Justice --- the Society is dealing with very COMPLICATED HEALTH ISSUES. We've got to move to a PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE.

Intergenerational Trauma Research

Public Health Approach to Criminal Justice

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