Autism in China
The Wall Street Journal has published a very informative article about Autism in China. As in many Asian societies, attitudes to disability are mixed. Having a disabled child is seen by some as a sign that a couple have not led a virtuous life. This is reflected in official government policies which give low priority to resourcing services and provision for all disabilities. Hidden disabilities like autism are especially disadvantaged.
The response from parents has been to do it themselves. The article features a Ms. Ma who has given up a comfortable middle class existence, selling her apartment and using all of the family’s savings in an effort to provide a school for her autistic daughter. She is now embarking on a project to establish an adult community so there is somewhere for her daughter to go when she is dead.
This story is both illuminating and inspiring. It serves to illustrate the fact the autism is perceived differently and treated differently depending on the societal framework in which it is placed. These cultural differences form part of the subject of Richard Roy Grinker’s excellent book, Unstrange Minds, which was probably the best autism book I read in 2007.
Comment by kristina | January 11th, 2008
Fascinating and familiar to me—-there is in mention in this post of Asian American parents establishing an adult community for autistic and developmentally delayed children in Fremont, California.
http://www.autismvox.com/a-village-for-autistic-kids-in-fremont/
I visited the “village” in Fremont and it is the kind of place I would like to see Charlie living in someday. I hope!
Comment by Steve D | January 11th, 2008
Hi Mike -
The undergrad. assistant at the USD Autism Institute is showing a strong interest in cultural interpretations of autism in various societies. I’ll refer her to this post (I’ve already mentioned Dr. Grinker’s book to her). Its nice to see young researchers taking an interest in things like this.
Steve
Comment by Kristina | January 11th, 2008
There were some abstracts at the 2007 IMFAR about diagnosing autism in China—-I think there are researchers at Johns Hopkins working on this.
http://www.autismvox.com/3-imfar-abstracts-prosody-language-and-autism-in-china/
Pingback by Autism in China | January 12th, 2008
[...] of Ma Chen to create and fund a school and other efforts to help autistic children (thanks to Mike Stanton at Action for Autism for highlighting this). Ma’s daughter, Yu Miao, was born in 2000 and has [...]