Autism Soccer: Mental Health

Showing posts with label Mental Health. Show all posts

Friday, December 1, 2017

DSM-5: A Manual of Mental Disorders

This is a book that explains each of the developmental disorders children and adults suffer, and the criteria of each.

Mental health is one of the most complex and still misunderstood fields of medicine. Illnesses that affect our psyche are relatively invisible, as most of the time they don’t have any physical symptoms and there’s still a general lack of knowledge surrounding them. What constitutes a mental disorder? Which is the right way to diagnose it? And what’s the correct treatment for it? Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals have been trying to answer these and many other questions for decades. The DSM-5 is an attempt to answer them.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the main guide to diagnosis for mental health professionals. The American Psychiatric Association released it for the first time in 1952, and it’s been updated and revised several times ever since. The current version, DSM-5, was published in 2013. It contains detailed information regarding the criteria required for mental affections diagnosis and reviews of each disorder.

13 years passed until the manual was finally updated from its former version, DSM-4. Many things have changed over the course of the years, including our understanding of mental health and disorders. This manual is divided into three sections: one section explaining how it works and how it must be applied, the second section for diagnosis' criteria and codes, and the third section for emerging measures and models (concepts that need to be revised and investigated further).

Changes regarding autism

One of the most significant and controversial changes in the last manual are encapsulated in the definition of autism. Autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, and Asperger’s syndrome were fused into a new term called autism spectrum disorder. The DSM-5 work group did this with the purpose of reducing diagnosis rates by 10%, making them more precise. In this sense, an individual is considered autistic only when the characteristic social communication deficits are accompanied by excessively repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, and insistence on sameness.

Although deficits in social communication are often diagnosed as a symptom of autism, other probable diagnoses must also be taken into consideration, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, social anxiety disorder, and intellectual developmental disorder.

Even though nowadays many psychologists and psychiatrists are worried and remain skeptic about DSM-5's effectiveness in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, it’s a very detailed and complete guide to start understanding the world of mental health. It’s a step closer in the road to understand our autistic children and learn how to help them so they can be both happy and safe.

As parents and caretakers, we must stay as updated as we can with new definitions and changes on criteria. Children will always need someone to explain their condition to them, and we need to communicate with them as clearly as we can. Mental health providers will help on this journey, but we should always seize every valuable resource or piece of information.

This book has suffered many changes over time. Most of them due to the improvement of technologies and diagnosis.

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Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Tokenism: What Is It?

Tokenism is often seen as a common way to include minorities in social environments, but it is wrongly developed and causes people to feel left out and insulted.

“He who sells you the token instead of the coin always retains the power to revoke its worth, and to command you to get off the bus before you have reached your destination.” This is the way Martin Luther King Jr. described tokenism in his 1963 book called Why We Can’t Wait. It virtually signals everything that’s wrong with these early attempts to create a more inclusive society. Even if the intentions are good, a poor execution will never be enough until the promise that tokenism makes is truly paid.

But what tokenism exactly is? It’s basically the practice of including a few symbolic members from underrepresented groups and grant them places in the workforce, the media or any other kind of activity, with the purpose of avoiding accusations of social discrimination. And what’s the promise? That this mandatory inclusion will someday lead to a more a democratic and inclusive society.

Because minorities have always struggled to gain visibility, this practice emerged as a way to give them a voice, although artificial. Even though sometimes it can seem like a good place to start, tokenism carries a risk of becoming an ineffective solution. How many times have you seen actors that seem to just be in a movie's cast because they’re part of a minority group? This usually leads to stereotypical representations that, more often than not, help to perpetuate wrong ideas about these groups. Malcolm X put it like this when talking about racial discrimination: “What gains? All you have gotten is tokenism — one or two Negroes in a job, or at a lunch counter, so the rest of you will be quiet.”

What about children?

Children with autism and other psychological conditions also suffer from its patronizing consequences. We shouldn’t involve children with special needs in certain activities just because we need to fill a quota, but because we value their insight and we want to learn about who they are as individuals. We should always give them a real voice.

In a paper published by Unicef, tokenism was used to describe those instances in which children are apparently given a voice, but in fact have little or no choice about the subject or the style of communicating it, and little or no opportunity to formulate their own opinions. How can we create true solutions to their problems and needs if we’re not ready to listen to what they have to say? We don’t necessarily know what’s best for them and there’s no point in trying to advocate for a cause if you do not include, truly, those who you are fighting for.

How to avoid bad tokenism

Stop focusing so much on which minority group people belong to, and start treating everyone as individuals. Value their opinions individually and try to understand that everyone’s circumstances are not the same. Don’t underestimate children’s abilities and virtues, nor ignore their interests. If you want to include them in a panel or a project, make sure to let them know why they’re there and give them an opportunity to voice their opinions.

Positive discrimination can have many benefits, but what’s truly important at the end of the day is that individuals are valued for who they are, not for the condition they suffer, nor for their race or gender. We want our children to feel loved, represented and we want them not to be afraid to speak up whenever they desire! At Autism Soccer we believe in the potential of each of our kids and want to see them happy and confident. Contact us to learn more about our projects and activities. Join us today!

If you notice someone is being treated with hipocrisy or falsely, stop them in the act.

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Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Cults about Autism you Should Evade

People might try to fool you into buying something within these autism cults.

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 68 children is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This represents a large increase in the number of reported cases, taking into account that in 2002 the same institution estimated that 1 in 150 children was diagnosed with this disorder. This is a big difference, don't you think? These numbers, in addition to pointing out the number of children affected, also indicates a large number of parents concerned about their children's health and future.

Unfortunately, their concerns may not end there, as there are people at a social and criminal level who may want to take advantage of their vulnerability and use the argument of discrimination against people with disabilities to sell magic formulas.

Avoid the so-called autism cults

Dealing with the autism spectrum disorder is not easy. Each child may represent a different case that tests the emotions, patience, vulnerability and optimism of the parents. The different situations that can occur lead them to seek all possible help and information in order to calm the symptoms and even cure the disorder. At that moment, the so-called autism cults can appear; these are groups or associations that usually propose alternative medicines or treatments to improve and cure the condition of an autistic person.

These cults can propose diets, procedures and even supplements with which they promise to help the patient. The problem? The costs of these miraculous procedures and magic formulas are high, and they have no endorsement from any reputable medical association. In many cases they are not even able to identify whether or not the treatment they offer is appropriate for the patient. They also avoid saying that their formulas may have side effects that treat autism, but make the patient's body sick.

This does not mean that some alternative medicines could not help a child with autism; it means that you should be very wise when choosing complementary treatments. Parents should be very meticulous, they should always investigate thoroughly if any studies support them and if those treatments are really worth it.

Also in these cases parents and family members have to identify those who use manipulation as a technique to seek clients and give credibility to their work. The ableism, a belief that a person without a disability is better and has a better life than those who have any, is often used as an argument and justification for their treatment. Ableism often leads to discrimination, so many scammers use that situation to say that pharmaceuticals and scientists don't want to make a cure for that reason.

This is a problem that people still have to struggle with every day, but it cannot become a valid argument for selling hope and treatments without any kind of endorsement or proof.

The best way to manage your resources to treat autism and give patients a better chance for improvement is to go to real specialists and follow treatments, such as ABBA therapy, that are supported and have many years of experience treating children with autism.

You can also visit Autsim Soccer, an institution that uses sport as a treatment to improve children's social skills, while integrating them into a fun and healthy environment. If you want to know more about them, do not hesitate to follow them through their social networks. You surely will be delighted with this initiative!