Healthy Living: Autism Awareness Seminar
It’s disabilities week in Belize. There are a lot of initiatives that are ongoing to help the public and parents of children with disabilities to understand the complexities of being a differently-abled person within today’s society. Belizean mental health professionals are teaming up to help educate parents and teachers on one of the more misunderstood conditions in Belize: Autism. We find out more in tonight’s Healthy Living.
Marleni Cuellar, Reporting
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a group of developmental conditions that affects the way a person communicates and interacts. It can be diagnosed in children by the age of three. Typically, parents are the first to notice warning signs when their child doesn’t keep up with the average developmental milestones. In Belize, it is no different.
Deshane Gutierrez
Deshane Gutierrez, Clinical Psychologist
“While parents may not be able to say specifically what is wrong with their child or what they think their child may have. They are aware that there are certain things that they are seeing already that they are seeing as warning signs. I think in terms of going to access services. That is one of the challenges that parents face and also in terms the education on a whole. We don’t talk about it as much.”
The lack of access to information has led Belizeans Deshane Gutierrez – a clinical psychologist – and mental health therapist Cindy Rosado to host a seminar for parents and teachers of autistic children to help them understand more about the condition.
Deshane Gutierrez
“Autism is a neurological variation from a typical child I use the term because I’m trying to not use the word disorder as much. Reading more about its and learning more as a clinician, it is a variation in how they process information. They are more sensitive to their environment and so that is why the behavioral and communication issues are there. They are more in tuned to what’s happening and their neurological make up is something that may not change and will never change. They are autistic persons and so it’s a neurological variation from a typical person’s neurological makeup.”
Gutierrez likens it to attempting to communicate in two different languages.
Deshane Gutierrez
“They can communicate. They have schedules because they want routines or the way how they communicate is different. I like to look at it like this – we call them disable or disabilities and disorders but we are also persons of disabilities and disorders because we don’t understand them as well. So for us it’s a limitation for us as well. So while they’re having difficulty interacting with us we are also having difficulty interacting with them.”
Finding a common language is the primary goal when interacting with an autistic child. There are some children who can be integrated in a regular school system and some that will require special care.
Deshane Gutierrez
“It’s knowing okay what is this child particularly strengths cognitively and academically and what are their weaknesses. As I said no one child is the same. So they may be autistic, but they could be someone who does very well with history for example in or in English or Science or math or they could be doing well in pretty much all but there are certain subjects that are stronger. It would be very good if we had schools and had other resource cells that would cater to their particular needs. Because one we want to be included in the schools when they are able to learn what are their strengths and weaknesses but I think indeed we can do more again it’s how can we provide…and I think its more of an assessment need to happen. More assessments rather than just putting them in a category and say you’re autistic and you can’t be integrated in a school. It’s more ok you’re autistic: what are your strengths and your weaknesses and how can we as a school accommodate and if that school can’t accommodate, where can they go.”
Unfortunately, Gutierrez explains that parents still struggle with the diagnosis of their child.
Deshane Gutierrez
“As parents we often time have an idea of what we want our child to be. We want to be well educated, well liked and interacting and we want them to have a happy life. Then we create this image of what is a happy life. So when they get a diagnosis of autism it’s almost like my child can’t experience this anymore and it’s not that they can’t experience these things – it’s how. How can they experience life and experience it to their fullest. They are good enough. They are still sweet and still loving in their own way. It’s learning that child for who that child really is.”
The first seminar will be held this weekend in Belize City and subsequent seminars are scheduled for next year February and April.
