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Autism “Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder of early onset marked by a profound social disability affecting a persons capacity for understanding other people, intuiting their feelings, and establishing reciprocal relationships” (2) But what does that mean… does this really justify what autism is? Personally I don’t really know a lot about the subject, and neither do researchers. But what I understand (what I do know) is that it’s a mental disorder (that a child is born with) where a subject is using more parts of a brain than a normal person. So as a result, the persons senses are overloaded (touch, sight, sound, smell etc.) and react to everything; this may differ from case to case. By knowing this I understand how it can be hard for parents to adjust to the emotional and physical needs of the child; it is most likely stressful on both the parents and child. Parents would have to try extremely hard to understand their child, until they received proper help. Ex. A child could be very sensitive to touch, so a parent might not be able to hug their own child. So from my experience, or rather in my opinion, for a person who has never experienced, dealing, with such a disorder as autism, it is very “hard-hitting” and stressful on the people it directly effects, and those people have a hard time understanding what is going on or happening; because a lot is not known about autism. In the case of an autistic child I speculate that it must be hard to be accepted in the norms of society; because of the disorder. So someone who is autistic may only receive interaction from a small amount of people, who are either autistic themselves or are understanding and accepting of the disorder. Because people who are autistic learn and react differently they need to be taught in a different way, so they can adapt and function with the rest of society. So special schools, and teachers, are needed to aid in this development. If more was known and voiced about autism I would think that it would be more, readily accepted and as common as an amputee or wearing glasses were; thus making it less stressful on the people it immediately effects. I chose this topic because I didn’t know a whole lot about the topic, I wanted to learn more about the topic and inform others who might have known a little as I did; since not a lot is know. Autism has a large effect on the family and individuals it effects, treatment is hard and often heart wrenching, and is very hard to classify making a parents journey to answers even longer. But if it is possible to get through the various obstacles and in the end: Autistic individuals despite their differences and communication obstacles are intelligent individuals, who can function and live a normal life, in society, with the proper help. Imagine not being able to hold your child, because they seem to be in pain when you do; reacting to every little thing: the touch of your hand, smell from the stove, or sound of the kettle whistle. This would be upsetting and unnerving to any parent; not to mention confusing. When you go to your family doctor to find some answers, you discover your child has autism and not a lot is known; and so you are still left with questions. This is what many parents go through when they’re child is diagnosed with autism. Parents like Berry and Susan Whyte. They told me that when they went to find out what was wrong with they’re son Jeremy not much help was offered: “when we went to get the results of the tests from our family doctor he told us that Jeremy had Autism, and not a lot was known … it was very frustrating cause all he offered for help was a phone number for a specialist”(6) the general reaction of parents who find out that they’re child has autism are feelings of: “disappointment (that they’re child may never engage in normal activities or attain some normal skills) (5), confusion-many parents think that they may have done something wrong, or various feelings of anger” e.g. “why did this have to happen to us?” After a period of time parents come to accept these feelings and focus on helping their child (5). When I asked Susan and Berry what was the first thing they did when they herd the diagnosis was they replied: “at first we didn’t really do anything… I guess we needed some time… we were quite shocked” says Susan, Berry “after we got over the initial shock, we called that number”(6) the number was to the Ontario Autism Society. The OAS directed the Whytes’ to an autism specialist in Toronto who helped them find resources closer to home. Resources like: a family councilor, schooling for autism and community support groups. Berry and Susan were lucky, many people with autistic children don’t have these kinds of resources close to home and have to venture out to other cities to get them help they need.
Approximate Word count = 3338
Approximate Pages = 13.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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