Autism, are you aware?

With it being Autism Awareness month I thought I would share this story, and the realities of what I have seen here in Korea as it pertains to kid's with special needs. I have spoken many times about this topic before and the harsh reality that these children will face here as they grow older but I thought it was important to highlight a new face I have grown to love in one of my classes and share my concerns for him and his future. Autism needs to be spoken about, it is a real thing, and I hope all who read this can understand my passion and love towards the Autism community.

I'm not sure what God is up to but he has put another child with special needs in one of my classes. This boy is not an 'undercover', 'could be possible', or 'its unclear' case either. He is absolutely a child with special needs and you can see it in everything he does. He has red flags when it comes to his speech patterns, social skills, and sensory processing abilities. He also exhibits an array of repetitive behaviors such as rocking or flapping his hands when he feels extreme emotion. This sweet student, my innocent Korean baby boy, probably has Autism.

He has trouble with two-step directions, standing still, his speech consists of mostly echolalia, and is incredibly sensitive to loud noises. He is constantly rubbing the desks, my arms, his books, and other things that give him a tactile sensation and often plays alone or alongside others during playtime. If you were to Google any or all of these behaviors, Autism would pop up immediately. I don't need to be a psychiatrist to catch this one. During birthday parties he can't even simply smile and look into the camera for pictures. All I can think is 'How can nobody else see there's something else at play here? Don't they wonder why it takes 5 teachers yelling his name behind a camera to try to pull him out of his own world to smile in the direction of the camera? How do they not know?'

Well as other teachers give me advice like 'maybe he needs his hearing to be checked, that's why he hates loud noises', or 'he will get used to school and start behaving differently I bet,' I have to swallow my tongue. I know better. I know these are not remedies and not reality. This boys genetic make up is causing him to be hypersensitive to everything around him and punishing him for flapping his hands and not being able to stand still in line is not the answer. I know how to teach and treat beautiful children with Autism, as they are some of my favorite children in the world, but everyone I am surrounded by here does not see what I see. His family and other teachers lose patience with him, and I was even told his mother got angry at him for not being good enough at his school work. Denial is a hard place to live when the country you reside in doesn't even recognize what's going on with your kid. Imagine being a mother with no answers.....it must be awful. Both his family and the other teachers here keep holding out hope that in time he will emerge as a completely different child instead of accepting him for who he is now and moving onward and upward from there.

He is no less of an amazing child in my eyes than any other child that I teach, but this is how I think. When will this mentality become part of Korean culture? So often success is based on your level of education and how smart your child is; so if your child is delayed they are looked down upon for it. With no diagnosis to explain why my Autistic student struggles at school and is behind the rest of the class in many areas, I fear he will just be viewed as a failure. In a society where there is so much value on education, and a child with special needs is not getting the distinctive education he needs to thrive, he will fall behind. In the States, we value education as well but here many families send their kids to school from 9am-7pm because they are learning a second language, taekwondo, music lessons, dance lessons, going to art school, math school, tutoring etc. It's like education on crack. By the time these kids reach middle school they are incredibly smart, but at what cost? How much pressure has been put on them to get to this point and have they even experienced a childhood? This is just how things are in Korean culture, I know, but it's a culture that does not leave a path for children with special needs to succeed. With no such thing as special needs, there is no such thing as special education, which makes it very hard for these children to succeed in the way that Korean culture recognizes and demands. So, what will they do? Who will they be when their needs are never addressed, interventions are never admitted, and their entire genetic makeup is not understood? With so many people here believing there is 'no such thing' as Autism or other special needs, I don't see anyone clearing a pathway for them anytime soon. 

I am sure that there are people here who know better than this and do not have this dated mindset. But with there being zero awareness here for children with Autism, and myself knowing that it exists in 1 in every 110 people, it's hard for me to have any sort of optimistic viewpoint on the matter. Children are not getting the help they deserve and they are out there waiting.... helpless. If the little boy in my class had some kind of brain tumor he had to get removed which left him with a few struggles, people here would recognize that and adapt their entire lives around what he needed. But not Autism.....it 'doesn't exist', and god forbid if he gets labeled as a 'special kid' he will just get laughed at and bring shame on his family.
 
I have always said 'Don't complain about problems that have solutions.' We don't think about it like that, but there are many people suffering with problems that in fact do not have solutions. I have come into contact with many such problems and am now faced with another. I live in a country that doesn't recognize special needs as existing therefore jeopardizing the futures of many beautiful and bright young children. This is a problem without a solution.

Please remember that we may not have it all figured out yet in the States, and there are numerous kinks in our system, but we are miles ahead of the rest of the world. Your child, if they do have Autism or another diagnosis, is lucky to be living in the States. We have interventions, classrooms with specialized teachers, and numerous other aides to help your child succeed. In third world countries they often don't even have clean water let alone an Early Intervention System. The ignorance and cluelessness is real around the world as it pertains to Autism as many people believe it does not exist. We are lucky in the States, let's feel thankful for that today, and take a moment to think about all who have helped us get this far. And of course, let's appreciate all the kids that have made us this passionate in the first place. They have taught us a new and unique way to love others. Here's to them.