Autistic Children how I r?
- Author:
Lorna Wing
Aldus Books, ?3.50
The first society for parents of autistic children was formed in Great Britain in 1962, and one of its many functions is to spread information. Apparently written on their behalf and intended as a guide for parents, this book will also be an invaluable source of information. It is written in a most lucid, practical and sensitive way and the message is clear - compassion for the children, full understanding, and at times firm, but always sympathetic, handling of them.
Lorna Wing has drawn on the works of doctors, psychologists, and teachers with long experience in the field, using many revealing and instructive case examples. She also enlisted the help of many parents ‘who have, through patience and determination found ways of coping with the never ending series of problems presented by living with an autistic child’.
Discussing a suitable ‘labelling’ for ‘autism’, the author’s recommendation of ‘early childhood autism’ seems inadequate. Her disagreement with the term ‘early infantile autism’ is clear, but the fact that this type of behaviour is most obvious between 2 and 5 years of age is not a strong enough reason for changing the label. It is known that the child shows some abnormality, however trivial, from a much earlier period. The fact that we cannot always recognize it, or do so only retrospectively, should make us more aware of this point, and more research into the child’s earlier period of development should be carried out. So why not simply ‘autism’ rather than qualifications such as ‘infantile’ or ‘childhood’?
Although much of her advice is sound, the book does have one or two shortcomings. The author has not differentiated sufficiently strongly between ‘autism’ and ‘mental retardation’. When some psychiatrists will not accept autism as a separate entity and, on the other hand, parents would rather have their child labelled ‘autistic* (in spite of an overlap of the two conditions), a differentiation is desirable.
There is some very good advice and detailed information for parents on the restless and over-active child (Unfortunately the very withdrawn child does not get the same space.) She also makes the extremely valuable suggestion that ‘full and frank discussion between parents and doctors as soon as the parents realise the child is handicapped can have a positive effect upon the whole attitude to the problem in the future”.
The author’s reasons for the parents having their child living at home appear to have some emotional bias. However, nobody will dispute that home background should be maintained as long as possible, and an overcrowded mental subnormality hospital is certainly not an alternative. On the other hand, well-equipped and staffed small specialized units in hospitals have a lot to offer. Routine and continuous assessment, therapy, medical and dental care, facilities for disturbed adolescent and adult behaviour, education and so on can all be given in the compact setting of a well-equipped and staffed mental subnormality hospital. Despite all the pressures and efforts it will be a long time before all these services are available to a child at home.
Kanjilal
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