John W. Oller, Jr., Ph.D. Doris B. Hawthorne/Board of Regents Support Fund Endowed Professor IV* Department of Communicative Disorders University of Louisiana at Lafayette P. O. Box 43170 Lafayette, LA 70504-3170 Phone 337-962-4649 joller@louisiana.edu

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For some of the most exciting findings of recent work in communication disorders, click here. This link will take you to Glenn Fulcher's web site where he presents a "feature" article with supporting video on the process of pragmatic mapping and its importance to language testing and communication disorders. The pragmatic mapping process, by which we point to or single out in some way whatever it may be that we are talking about, is the most fundamental process in language use, acquisition, and communication in general. It also happens to be incorporated into the neuroarchitecture of the human brain. In biocontrol systems, the importance of valid pragmatic mapping relations can hardly be overestimated. Complex valid pragmatic mappings are found in true narrative reports about ordinary facts of common experience. Similarly valid and complex pragmatic mapping relations are found in genetics and epigenetics upward through all of our biochemistry ranging from cells to tissues, organs, organisms, and extending as well to communications between persons, as well as social, economic, and political entities (nations). Achieving successful communications depends ultimately in all instances on valid pragmatic mappings---ones where interlocutors achieve a unity of conception in all or part of the complex sequence of symbols they are sharing. The simplest sort of pragmatic mapping in such successful communications is seen in conventional names or referring terms correctly applied and understood. For instance, if I refer to President Barak Obama, and you know who I am talking about, we have, that far at least, achieved a unity in our concpetion. We have succeeded in singling out just one individual among the billions that might have been pointed out. Because of what are known as "combinatorial explosions" that occur as the number of signs and the length of strings of any representation increases (say from infancy to maturity), the likelihood of our achieving any agreement by chance on any particular fact rapidly diminishes toward absolute zero. The question then, is how can the unity of conception ever be achieved? Yet it commonly is achieved whenever communications of any pragmatic mapping is shared between interlocutors or intelligent systems of any kind. That is the central mystery of human intelligence and of our very existence. It's a theoretical problem of the highest order and it's interesting as well as important. Have a look at the work and I think you will agree. :)

Oller, J. W., Jr., & Oller, S. D. (2010). Autism: The diagnosis, treatment, & etiology of the undeniable epidemic. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Anne Dachel at Age of Autism in her review says:

"The Ollers’ book is a complete reference book on autism. It’s about the history of the disorder, the exponential increase, and the actions of all of those who should have been first responders to the epidemic.... AUTISM by John and Stephen Oller is the textbook on autism."

The upsurge in autism spectrum disorders is not uncaused. The current epidemic is no longer plausibly deniable nor is it untreatable. The first step towared successful treatment, however, is an accurate diagnosis followed by discovery of the underlying causes — etiology. This book, with a Foreword written by Dr. Andrew J. Wakefield, addresses these issues with its primary focus on etiology. The research shows “autism spectrum” disorders are being caused mainly by toxins, disease agents, and their interactions. Genetic factors are important but cannot be the sole causal agents. This book addresses causation at an introductory level but without skimping on the research. It presents many new findings from current ongoing research and from the historical study of vaccines. Autism is a compelling subject of study because it is the fastest growing diagnosis on the horizon. The autism epidemic is, for reasons we develop in the book, bringing about a paradigm shift in medicine and the health sciences. Theories of increased public awareness, the broadening of criteria for diagnosis, and various other competitors utterly fail to explain the facts at hand. The “autis m epidemic” is not an illusion. Theories trying to explain it away cannot account for the contrast across birth cohorts as shown clearly in the IDEA/NCLB data. See figures at http://www.fightingautism.org/idea/autism.php? (also see http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/ and http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/10/prweb2997944.htm

Relevant studies of biochemistry, especially in human and animal toxicology studies and in systematic research on medical interventions, show what the main causal factors are and how they can be corrected. In this book, we present and explain the healing cycle that has worked in hundreds of cases and that needs to be applied in one way or another to all of them. Health is not the great mystery that some seem to pretend that it is: we need to avoid toxins, consume a nutritious diet, rest well regularly, and exercise vigorously. Beyond that we may also need to fight off or counter attack disease agents, parasites, and fungi, and possibly even to chemically remove toxins already consumed. All the while we need to monitor progress with reasonable and valid measurement and assessment procedures. Communication is critical from top to bottom. We show why and we describe the basis for the paradigm shift in the health sciences that is already underway. As independent researchers, we aim to contribute to the needed changes that must take place from the grass roots upward.

Oller, J. W., Jr., Oller, S. D., & Badon, L. C. (2010). Cases: Introducing communication disorders across the life span. San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing, Inc. This book reclassifies communication disorders across the board within the framework of a general theory of signs. It accomplishes at an introductory level what some said was too difficult for Ph.D. level students in communication disorders. Well, it's not too difficult at all and certainly not too hard for undergraduate students to understand and use. We show why the reclassification is necessary and we illustrate it in a narrative way with real life cases that rivet attention and motivate comprehension. The coverage is encyclopedic and yet students want to know more and more. It's the entry point for many professionals who will learn more as they work through this material than any of the practitioners trained at graduate levels in prior years. No brag, just fact. The research here is cutting edge and the theory is consistent, simple, and comprehensive. The real life stories are true and presented in ways that will make you laugh, cry, and want to do something about the disorders that you experience through the cases. Click here to read what users are saying about this book.