Socio-Economic Profile of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Socio-Economic Profile of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder Free Online Research Papers A Retrospection of Socio- Economic Profile of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder ABSTRACT Autism is a condition that is unique in many ways. Persons coming under the autism spectrum have difficulties in sharing thoughts, feelings, meanings, intentions and other mental experiences of living in the world. Generally persons with autism exhibit a unique set of symptoms in three areas viz socialization, communication and behaviour. There has been a phenomenal rise in institutional infrastructure and reaffirmation of the commitment to the cause promoting empowerment of Persons with ASD. India is a developing nation having a social fabric with socio-cultural, religious, geographic, climatic and demographic variation. With an objective of strengthening, streamlining as well as shouldering the needs of the persons with ASD, to empower the persons with ASD to out manoeuvre the hurdles in the form of challenges; to create a source as well as force for the empowerment of persons with ASD, NIEPMD who is also catering to the needs of persons with ASD started functioning from the year 2005. It is a basic study and aims to find out the Socio economic profile of persons with ASD attending services at NIEPMD and to correlate the condition of Autism with the Socio- Economic profile. The study also focuses on various socio- economical variables of families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study revealed that most of the children diagnosed with ASD are from Below Poverty line, hence there is a need to provide quality rehabilitation services to the children from poor socio- economic background and also the need to establish service centres in the rural areas, because most of the children with ASD are left unnoticed in the rural areas due to lack of awareness about Autism. A Retrospection of Socio- Economic Profile of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder Introduction There has been a drastic wave towards rehabilitation of persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) after the efforts rendered from Action for Autism which has attracted attention of lot of professionals and parents. Creation of awareness towards ASD has seen lot of changes; media has handled the situation in a better way. Zee TV is telecasting a serial â€Å"Aapki Antara† based on the life and challenges of a girl with ASD and during the end of the programme they are depicting a brief interaction of parents who have children with ASD. Similar lines Mr. Karan Johar famour Producer Director of Bollywood movies has projected Mr. Shahrukh Khan as having Asperger’s syndrome in the movie â€Å"My name is Khan†. So definitely now there is good amount of information about the condition and the intervention approaches. There has also been an increase in the professionals undergoing training in ASD through Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) approved programmes. Autism is a condition that is unique in many ways. Persons coming under the autism spectrum have difficulties in sharing thoughts, feelings, meanings, intentions and other mental experiences of living in the world. Generally persons with autism exhibit a unique set of symptoms in three areas viz socialization, communication and behaviour. ASD is a general term that includes the following disorders: Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Rett’s Disorder, and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD). In each of these disorders, social interaction is most commonly affected. The symptoms and characteristics of ASD can present themselves in a wide variety of combinations, from mild to severe. Although ASD is defined by certain sets of behaviours, individuals can exhibit any combination of the behaviours in any degree of severity. Persons with the same diagnosis can act very differently and have varying skills. Therefore, there is no standard â€Å"type† or â€Å"typical† person with ASD. Modernization and urbanization have resulted in radical socio – economical changes and has given rise to new conflicts and tensions consequent upon the erosion of old age family and fraternal security. The very purpose of social security measure is to give individuals and families the confidence that their level of living and quality of life will not erode by social or economic eventuality; provide medical care and income security; facilitate the victims to vocational rehabilitation; prevent or reduce ill health and accidents in the occupations; protect against unemployment by maintenance and promotion of job creation and provide benefit for the maintenance of every PWD. There has been a phenomenal rise in institutional infrastructure and reaffirmation of the commitment to the cause promoting empowerment of Persons with ASD. India is a developing nation having a social fabric with socio-cultural, religious, geographic, climatic and demographic variation. This is of more significant in the context of subjects related to a marginalized and under privileged group. Despite economic constraints, India has a vision for all round growth and intends to enter into group of developed nations by the year 2020 (QRI). To achieve these ambitious targets, all sections of society not only including persons with disabilities but persons with ASD have to be included in the process of developing the nation. With an objective of strengthening, streamlining as well as shouldering the needs of the persons with ASD, to empower the persons with ASD to out manoeuvre the hurdles in the form of challenges; to create a source as well as force for the empowerment of persons with ASD; to promote interdisciplinary and multi disciplinary management approach to cater the growing needs of persons with ASD, NIEPMD who is also catering to the needs of persons with ASD started functioning from the year 2005. The institute aims at enabling and empowering the persons with ASD, by offering a range of comprehensive services and also follows a zero rejection policy. The services offered by the Institute are predominantly centre cum home based programme. Services offered at NIEPMD are indented for clients from all parts of the country. This study is to find out the Socio economic profile of persons with ASD attending services at NIEPMD and to correlate the condition of Autism with the Socio- Economic profile . The study also focuses on various socio- economical variables of families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).The sample is taken from the year 2002 to 2009. Review of the Literature Victor D. Sanua, Department of Psychology, St. John’s University, Jamaica, N.Y mentioned that Kanner, in his 1943 article, reported that parents of autistic children tended to be of high socioeconomic status (SES). According to Schopler, Andrews and Strupp, 1979 subsequent studies did not reveal similar findings. However, a careful analysis of these studies showed that in all instances the SES distributions of the parents were bimodal. Subba Rao, T.A. , Ravindar, D, 2002 studied the characteristics of 28 children with ASD attending services at Composite Regional Centre, Bhopal, reported that most of the parents were highly educated and were from well to do family. In a recently published study Malhotra et al, 2003 compared the socio-demographic and clinical profile of PDD patients registered at CAP Clinic, PGIMER, and Chandigarh between 1989 and 1999. M. Juneja, S.B. Mukherjee and S. Sharma, 2004 reported that most children were from the middle class. This is probably due to the upper class persons with autism usually do not avail government hospital medical facilities. Parents from lower income groups may postpone seeking medical attention for disorders other than sickness. The observed boy-girl ratio was lesser than that reported in literature. Amarnath, A, 2008, studied about the socio- economic conditions and the needs of persons with multiple disabilities in Thirupporur block of Chengalpattu taluk, Kancheepuram District of Tamil Nadu. Parents of persons with multiple disabilities are from low socio-economic strata and if provided with some income generation programme they families would be able to support. Methodology It is a basic study and aims to find out the Socio economic profile of persons with ASD attending services at NIEPMD and to correlate the condition of Autism with the Socio- Economic profile. The study also focuses on various socio- economical variables of families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). All the children diagnosed as ASD from 2007 to 2009 by the Multi- disciplinary team formed the subject of the study. Information were collected through both structured and semi structured interviews from the parents by the multidisciplinary team during registration and assessment of the child. The data is computed and tabulated by using mean and percentage. Procedure All the children with ASD attending the services at NIEPMD from the year 2007 to 2009 were taken for the study. A detailed case history including the demographic details of the case and the parents are noted. This include name of the client, sex, age, source of referral, community, religion, family income, language, education and occupation status of the parents etc. All these information are collected directly from the parents. For the analysis of the data the above information were classified into three profiles, 1. Personal profile (Variables used- Age, Sex, Order of the child, Diagnosis) Economic profile (Variables used- Education and Occupation of the father, mother, Family monthly income) Social profile (Family type, area of residence, religion, language spoken, school attending, state). The data has been computed and projected in percentages. Results A total of 45 children with ASD formed the subject of the study. Table- 1 shows the personal profile of the subjects in the variables of Age, gender, order of the child and the diagnosis. The study shows that 24 % of children are aged below six year and below and 60% of the children belong to the age group of 6-14 years and 16% of children belonging to the age group of 14 and above. The male female ratio in the study was 3:5 which also coorelates with the findings reported in NICHD 2001 census. The order of the child in the family reveals that 58% of children belong to the first born and 33% belong to the second born where as 7% third and 2% fourth born. This shows that a considerable number of children with ASD were first born. However an indepth study on the relationship between the birth order and incidence of ASD will be focused as a separate study. The diagnosis of the children with ASD in the study shows that 58% of children are diagnosed as Autism with Mental Retardation, 29% of children were as Autism, 11% belonging to Pervasive Development Disorder and 2% of children are Autism with Visual Impairment. Table 2 shows that 93% of fathers and 27% of mothers are reported to be working of which 32% of the families had a monthly income of Rs. 10,000 and more and 31% of families income are in the range of 6500 to 10,000. 60% of father and 56% of mother had Diploma, Graduation and Post Graduation as their educational qualification. The data also shows that 68% of the clients are from poor socio- economic strata. The data reveals the fact that majority of the fathers are working (93%) and most of the mothers are Housewife (73%). Table 3 shows that 87% of children with ASD belong to nuclear family residing in urban areas and semi urban areas while 9% of the children with ASD belong to joint families and residing in rural areas. Most of the children (93%) belonged to Hindu religion, 5% of children from Muslim region and 2% of children belong to Christian religion. The data also reveals the fact that most of the children (44%) are attending Special school and 27% of children are attending Normal schools, this correlates with the fact children with ASD would definitely benefit from Inclusive Education, but inclusion should not be forced upon them, the transition should be gradual an systematic. Further 76% of the children with ASD are from Tamil Nadu and 24% are from other states of India. Though the percentages of children diagnosed with ASD from other states are low, it substantiates the point that NIEPMD as a National Institute is yet to reach other parts of the Country. Table 1. Personal profile of Persons with ASD attending NIEPMD services 2007- 2009. AGE: S. No Age Nos. (N=45 Percentage 1 0-3 yrs 5 11 2 4-6 yrs 6 13 3 7-9 yrs 13 29 4 10-14 yrs 14 31 5 15- 18 yrs 3 7 6 Above 18 yrs 4 9 SEX S. No Sex Nos. (N=45 Percentage 1 Male 35 78 2 Female 10 22 ORDER OF THE CHILD S. No Order of the Child Nos. (N=45 Percentage 1 1st Child 26 58 2 2nd Child 15 33 3 3rd Child 3 7 4 4th Child 1 2 DIAGNOSIS S. No Diagnosis Nos. (N=45 Percentage 1 Autism 13 29 2 Autism with MR 26 58 3 Autism with VI 1 2 4 Autism with HI 0 0 5 PDD 5 11 Table 2. Economic Profile of ASD children attending NIEPMD Programme and service 2007-2009 Variables used: Father Education. Mother Education. Father Occupation. Mothers Occupation. Family monthly income. Fathers Education:. Sl. No Education Nos. (N=45) Percentage (%) 1 Illiterate 2 Primary 1 2 3 Middle 3 7 4 High 8 18 5 12th std 6 13 6 Diploma 7 Graduation 18 40 8 P.G 7 16 9 Ph.D 2 4 Mothers Education: Sl. No Education Nos. (N=45) Percentage (%) 1 Illiterate 2 4 2 Primary 1 2 3 Middle 3 7 4 High 6 13 5 12th Std 8 18 6 Diploma 12 27 7 Graduation 11 24 8 P.G 1 2 9 Ph.D 2 4 10 MBBS 1 2 Fathers Occupation: 1. Working – 42/45 (93%) 2. Not Working- 3/45(7%). Mothers Occupation: 1. Working 12/45(27%) 2. House Wife 33/45(73%) Family Income: 1. BPL 17/45(38%) 2. 6,500 10,000 14/45(31%) 3. 10,000 20,000 7/45(15%) 4. Above 20,000 7/45( 15%) Table 3. Social profile of ASD children attending NIEPMD programme and services 2007- 2009 Variables used: Family Type. Area of Resident. Religion . Language spoken. School attending. State. Family Type: Nuclear 39/45(87%) Joint Family 4/45(9%) Area of Residence: Rural 1/45(2%) Semi Rural 2/45(4%) Urban 28/45(62%) Semi-urban 14/45(31%) Religion: Hindu 42/45( 93%) Christian 1/45(2%) Muslim 2/45(4%) Language spoken: Tamil 38/45(84%) English 0 (0%) Hindi 1/45(2%) Tamil + English 5/45(11%) Any other 1/45(2%) Attending School: Normal 12/45(27%) Special schools 20/45(44%) Others 4/45(8%) State: Tamil Nadu 34/45(76%) Others 11/45(24%) Recommendations This basic study was carried out to find out the whether there is any correlation of the parents who have good education, sound socio economic strata have children with ASD. But this study revealed that most of the children diagnosed with ASD are from Below Poverty line, hence there is a need to provide quality rehabilitation services to the children from poor socio- economic background and also the need to establish service centres in the rural areas, because most of the children with ASD are left unnoticed in the rural areas due to lack of awareness about Autism. Acknowledgement The authors acknowledge Dr. K. Bala Baskar and Mr. Benjamin Victor of National Institute for Empowerment of Person with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), Chennai for compiling the data and also editing the manuscript. We also acknowledge the support of the Parents of children with ASD attending services at NIEPMD for providing details and permission to use it for the study. References 1. Beckman, P. (1991). Comparison of mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of the effects of young children with and without disabilities. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 95, 585–595. 2. Beckman, P. (1983). Influences of selected child characteristics on stress in families of handicapped infants. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 88(2), 150–156. 3. Census 2001 censusindia.net/t_00_003.html). 4. Costigan, C., Floyd, F., Harter, K., McClintock, J. (1997). Family process and adaptation to children with mental retardation: Disruption and resilience in family problem-solving interactions. Journal of Family Psychology, 11, 515–529. 5. Douglas E. Carothers; Ronald L. Taylor, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, Summer 2004 v19 i2 p102(3)) 6. Dyson, L., Fewell, R. (1986). Stress and adaptation in parents of young handicapped and non handicapped children: A comparative study. Journal of the Division for Early Childhood, 10, 25–35. 7. Dunst, C., Trivette, C., Hamby, D., Pollock, B. (1990). Family systems correlates of the behavior of young children with handicaps. Journal of Early Intervention, 14, 204–218. 8. Davies, S. (1923). Social control of the feebleminded. The National Committee on Mental Hygiene. New York: New York State Charities Aid Association. 9. Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. New York: Holt. 10. Dunlap, W. R., Hollingsworth, J. (1977). How does a handicapped child affect the family? Implications for practitioners. The Family Coordinator, 9, 286–293. 11. Friedrich, W. N., Friedrich, W. L. (1981). Psychosocial assets of parents of handicapped and nonhandicapped children. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 85, 551–553. 12. Padmavathi. K (2005), Perception of the parents and teachers on social skills in children with Multiple Disabilities, A comparison. Paper presented in the NIMH conference on multiple disabilities. 13. Ramachandran Rajesh, What you should know (A compilation on Autism for parents) October 2008, KB associate, Bhopal. 14. Rao, L.G. (2005) NIMH conference on multiple disabilities towards abilities- an introduction, NIMH, Secunderabad. 15. Zutshi Bupinder, Center for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, Disability Status in India Case Study of Delhi Metropolitan Region*, September 2004, disabilityindia.org/StatusBookFrame.cfm Research Papers on Socio-Economic Profile of Persons with Autism Spectrum DisorderInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 Europe19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraWhere Wild and West MeetRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThree Concepts of PsychodynamicHip-Hop is Art

Nonstandard Usage Detracts from Novel

Nonstandard Usage Detracts from Novel Nonstandard Usage Detracts from Novel Nonstandard Usage Detracts from Novel By Maeve Maddox The English language can certainly be said to be in flux when college professors write such stuff as: 1. She reached into her carpetbag to her side and found her ever-present notepad. 2. This was the first unsolicited compliment her figure had ever gotten by a young man 3. Pneumonia, thought Lucy calmly, and at the very least, flu 4. I weary of hearing about John and his sentinel at the cross and a press as prestigious as St Martins publishes it. I recorded four single-spaced typed pages of notes on unidiomatic English and misused words while reading the 776-page Gospel by Wilton Barnhardt. At first I imagined that the author, who has a German surname, was writing in English as a second language and I was favorably impressed with his fluency. Then I googled him and discovered that not only is he a native-born American, he has a degree from the University of Oxford (England), and teaches creative writing at an American university. Now Im asking, is it just me? Am I so out of touch as all that? Where was I when such strange usages as these became acceptable for educated writers? Mind you, the novel was meticulously researched. I know that the author has done his homework because the subject of the novel is one with which I am familiar. He has even provided footnotes and an index! It is an impressive work. But the odd, unidiomatic English distracts the reader and detracts from the scholarship. And where was the editor? Shouldnt an editor have noticed this kind of thing: The jewels of Meroe, like its gold, was a legend with a source in truth for once. (jewels were) The gig is up, thought Lucy. (jig) she met himall rearing to go (raring) In case its not obvious, Ill explain what I mean about the examples quoted above: 1. She reached into her carpetbag to her side and found her ever-present notepad. The preposition to should be at and the two hers do not work. Better: She reached into the carpetbag at her side 2. This was the first unsolicited compliment her figure had ever gotten by a young man This was the first unsolicited compliment her figure had ever gotten from a young man. The by would work if the prepositional phrase stood next to compliment: This was the first unsolicited compliment by a young man that her figure had ever gotten. 3. Pneumonia, thought Lucy calmly, and at the very least, flu. The character thinks she has contracted either pneumonia or the flu. Pneumonia is more serious than the flu so the sentence should read: Pneumonia, thought Lucy calmly, or at the very least, flu. 4. I weary of hearing about John and his sentinel at the cross. The word sentinel means someone who watches or guards. The author uses this word more than once as if it meant the watching. (In another place he writes: Taxi, Signore? asked the cabdriver from his sentinel before the hotel.) The word wanted is vigil. On the one hand, reading this novel has left me feeling very depressed. St. Martins Press is a publisher I associate with quality. If they can let such problematic writing pass into print, why am I beating my chops writing these articles about correct English usage? On the other hand, Ive got four pages of notes to draw on for future articles. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Classes and Types of PhrasesEnglish Grammar 101: Verb MoodInspiring vs. Inspirational

Trokosi practice in Ghana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Position Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

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Accenture Is A Global Management Consulting Commerce Essay

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Cricket matches give the project co-workers a sense of unity and improves teamwork amongst co-workers. Accenture also allocates quarterly budgets for group dinners where the whole team is taken out for dinner by the project manager. The budget depends on the performance of the team. Hence, this is another motivational factor for the team to work harder and improve their performance. Also, every team members birthday is celebrated in the office cafeteria with a cake cutting ceremony during which the whole team is present. This improves the team dynamics and keeps the employee enthused. Politics: Power and politics go hand in hand. The same was the case in Accenture. Office politics such as favoritism, groupism existed in Accenture. Individuals used to make use of the power assigned to them for the purpose of obtaining advantages beyond their legitimate authority. 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Hsm/230 Building an Ethical Organization Part 1

Building an Ethical Organization Part 1 Jennifer O HSM/230 9-18-11 Sharon Johnson-Fox Today, we have an overabundance of citizens who cannot afford good, quality medical care. Hampton Roads Complete Care Center (HRCC) is hoping to change that. We are going to be a non-profit dedicated to the citizens of our community and the surrounding cities. We will provide quality care for those who need it and will provide resources for those who request it. We will treat all clients as well as staff with compassion and respect. The organization is going to be a complete wellness and care facility. The first priority will be to provide residents with the proper care they need. We will be a non-profit and will rely on government grants, donations, and volunteer workers who can hopefully be able to eventually move into paid positions. We are also hoping to employ the elderly and disabled to give them a feeling of accomplishment and being needed. We will service the elderly, disabled, homeless, low income, pregnant women, veterans, anyone who needs our services and we will provide services for those who have been denied help elsewhere. We are going to be a full service center and will also be able to help those with mental disabilities. Eventually as we grow, and with more funding, we would like to have many doctors and counselors on board as there are many people in the community that could benefit from mental and health services. We will provide pregnancy testing as well as birth control pills. We will have counselors and mentors to help anyone who feels they need to talk in private. Sometimes, there are teens and young mothers who feel that they have no one to listen and we can provide that here. We will also have referrals for those who need extra help, for instance if they are pregnant and contemplating abortion; we can direct them to the proper person. This also holds true if there is a veteran who needs help with a drinking or drug problem, we can provide them with the needed information. Even though we are not a facility that will deal with those specific issues, we will certainly try and provide any help that we can. In the Human Service industry ethics are of great importance and I believe everyone deserves the chance to receive help and if HRCC doesn’t provide it then we will do whatever it takes to get them to a place that can. As Manning (2003) states â€Å"How we operate affects the entire organization. This quote should be taken to heat by any organization that hopes to succeed. Our mission statement is to protect the health and well-being of all clients in the Hampton Roads and surrounding cities community. To increase access to healthcare and wellness to the uninsured, and to provide clients with a safe place in which their medical and emotional needs can be met. I feel the mission statement does support the ethi cal system. In my opinion it is unethical to turn away anyone who needs help. Communication is another important factor in dealing with clients and their physicians. As Ashley and O’Rourke (2002) stated, ‘Today a patient often receives healthcare from a team of providers, especially in the setting of the modern acute-care hospital. But the resulting multiplication of the relationships does not alter the personal character of the interaction between health care providers and the patient. The relationship of the person seeking healthcare and the professionals providing the care is an important part of the foundation on which diagnosis and care is provided. † (p. 226) This is especially true when you do have elderly or homeless, who are sometimes either more trusting or reserved. The doctors and counselors that we employ are going to try as much as possible to have that communication and one on one time although it may be difficult at times. It is a vital part of our mission that clients need to feel safe and secure. Our mission statement will let the community know that we will be there to help in any way we can and will provide for their needs as much as we possibly can. I recall a time when my grandmother was still alive and I was taking her to a doctor’s appointment. When we arrived she was notified that her doctor had retired and that she would be seeing the new doctor, she was understandably very nervous and scared and asked if I would please find out why she had not be informed. The receptionist let us know that the doctor had retired without notice and they simply overlooked some of his regular patients. The new doctor was so concerned for my grandmother that he spent an extra 20 minutes making her feel at ease. This is the behavior that I envision for HRCC. It is extremely important to make clients feel at ease in an uncomfortable situation. Values can be defined as those things that are important or valued by someone. Honesty, loyalty and integrity are important parts of HRCC and the values shared by the team can be very powerful. The vision is clear, The Hampton Roads complete Care Center will partner with the community to improve the quality of life through better health. Our values statement is Teamwork, Integrity, and Quality. We will work as a team to achieve our purpose and make sure we connect our clients to the proper information. We will treat each other with respect and behave in an ethical manner. We will continuously improve the quality of all our services over time. We will have compassion for others and sometimes we can even offer humor, laughter is, after all, the best medicine. I think in working together we can create a remarkable care center that can potentially thrive. In conclusion, Hampton Roads Complete Care Center will meet the needs of many of our citizens. We will make them feel safe and secure in the knowledge that their needs will be met and they will get the healthcare and medications that they need. It is my greatest hope that HRCC becomes a vital part of the community and that in the years to come it can flourish and have many contributors. It is my dream that we can greatly reduce the number of people in our community that don’t have proper healthcare. Through hard work and dedication, with the desire to help others, this is a very achievable dream. References Ashley and O’Rourke (2002) Ethics of Healthcare; an introductory textbook. Manning (2003) Ethical leadership in Human Services; A multi-dimensional Approach. Strategic Leadership and Decision Making, retrieved from www. au. af. mil

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