article by austin zhuang.
ASD, also known as the autism spectrum disorder, is a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior, both in the physical and social aspect. According to the DSM-5, the latest version of the diagnoses, individuals with the disability often have a hard time communicating (or interacting) with other people that are normal, or deemed to be free of the diagnosis. Individuals with ASD often create repetitive moves, and are only interested in a certain thing(s) at once. They are not able to do well in school, and have disadvantages in working in the workforce as an independent person.
More information can be found on the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) website at https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml !! This is where you can read the full description of the diagnosis, in further detail.
I’ve been getting questions in my Instagram DMs, asking me similar questions:
What’s the difference between autism on its own, and the autism spectrum disorder?
That’s where we dive into another question over the questions:
What is the difference between DSM-IV and DSM-V?
To give you a short summary of what DSM-IV was, the DSM-IV was released in 1994 along with a list of 297 disorders. The main difference was that unlike the previous three versions that were created, they wanted to cooperate with executives who worked with the World Health Organization, or WHO. On the other hand, the DSM-5 was released in 2013, but with fewer restrictions and modified changes to the description of diagnoses. 15 more disorders were added into the DSM-5, including schizophrenia as a valid diagnosis, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder added into the list of depressive disorders, gender dysphoria, gambling disorder, etc. Its revision process is very similar to that of DSM-4, and compared to DSM-4’s number of work groups at 13, right now it is hit at 19.
While organizing this article, I stumbled upon a few thoughts, and formed them into questions that popped up in my mind: Why is the topic of ASD so prevalent in modern society? What impact does it bring? How does ASD affect Asian-American communities? Why is it so hidden? How can we reduce the astigmatism and stereotypes of individuals with ASD in general, and individuals with ASD who are Asian-American?
According to a recent article published from the CDC, approximately 1 in 54 children get the ASD diagnosis each year. If you count a crowd as big as a regular concert, chances are, you could have 100 individuals that could possibly have it; studies have shown they are far more common in boys than they are in girls. ASD is an extremely prevalent topic in modern society today because, for all we know, autistic people are still human beings. They are people who also have emotions, despite the fact they may not have a thorough skill of linguistic ability to express their emotions, nor are they able to even change up some stuff. The reason why the awareness of ASD is so hidden nowadays is due to the fact that there isn’t enough awareness being promoted across communities in the United States. Though there are organizations that cater to children and adults with special needs, there isn’t enough to ensure that they have benefits and that they will be able to survive on their own.
Through my lifelong experience, I am able to share that being an individual with ASD in an Asian-American household is definitely not an easy environment that many people seem it to be. Children are taught that any kind of abnormal situation that occurs in life, during most times, is considered a curse, and that we must cast all the evil spirits away. I found this to be a fairly strong superstition on my dad’s side of the family, where they were not only Buddhist, but also, extremely traditional. My relatives weren't easy to convince; it also wasn’t easy to tell them that it wasn’t normal. At first, my cousins thought that I was weird because I wasn’t being social enough with them, and I was being the “best of both worlds”. I was influenced by my relatives to be ashamed of my own disability. When I look back at my childhood, I become so grateful that I had the ability to be honest to myself.
There are many ways to reduce the stigmas and stereotypes against individuals with ASD, especially for individuals who hold Asian-American culture in their hands. The first way to stand with the community is to be sympathetic and spread the word. In addition, educating yourself of what ASD is, and being aware of unusual social cues are essential to understanding the complexity behind what these special individuals have. I can’t stress these points enough, because without these guidelines and advice, we are never going to fully understand what unique thing goes on in their mind.
Opinion from quotes I’ve seen…..
Despite being an extensive topic to talk about, the variety was definitely needed as this article integrated two very unique topics. Not only were there two quotes, but there were six quotes included in the article. According to an op-ed written by several authors at Spectrum News, it talks about how the DSM-5 has modified the way we see the disorder. For instance, most people have the bravery of what it “[...] takes a spectrum approach, absorbing the separate categories of childhood disintegrative disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, and PDD-NOS into the broad category of autism spectrum disorder…”. There was another quote from the same source that explained how “DSM-IV is very similar to the ‘Atypical Autism’ diagnosis in the ICD-10 criteria.” It is extremely important to understand the difference between both DSM-4 and DSM-5, as mental health has taken a very unique approach in terms of what’s been happening the past few years. All those three have been included in a much detailed description of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, so as to not confuse that individuals can receive way more benefits under a broad diagnosis, instead of setting three separate labels with completely different standards to achieve for individuals.
The ICD-10 has similar diagnoses to that of the DSM-4, as previously mentioned, because of its collaboration and constant fact-check on both sides. ICD and DSM share similar codes of diagnoses, classifications, and formulation of which one are and aren’t part of the book.
There were also quotes taken from the National Center for Biotech Information, or NCBI, that seemed absolutely insightful to me as I was working on researching this topic. It is extremely apparent that “Asians place great value on the family as a unit [...] each person is expected to function within that role, submitting to the larger needs of the family.” However, because of different values imposed on both American and Asian societies differently, they “[...] severely conflict with ideas that emphasize independent thinking, achievement, and self-sufficiency, even at the expense of others’ feelings and needs.” Through these two quotes, it promotes the fact that Asian families are often more exclusive and hidden from the normal eye. In fact, it has always been traditionally. Being born in an Asian-American family, it’s not easy being exposed to both the American dream and the Asian norm, as living a two-sided faceted life isn’t easy for most people; we are often taught that the Western way of living is sloppy and disorganized, very untraditional, and will teach us how to live a lifestyle of absolute trash. In Asian families, the authoritarian figure is either the mom or the dad, which can be by far the most common in most families; restrictions are put so much on the child that they don’t allow their own children to explore their potential and creativity, thus, confining them to the stereotypes that other races see us as following “model minority myth.” We’re also taught that only the parents are right, and that the dads have the final say in whatever can and cannot be let in to the family. They do this by punishment and overbearing expectations, causing intense amounts of stress, anxiety, and exploitation extensively.
Lastly, there are quotes I found from Autism Parenting Magazine that explain how autism can be an extremely sensitive topic, so sensitive up to the extent where there isn’t any tolerance within the Asian-American community to talk about it; rather, our race should be based on the lifestyle of the “model minority myth,” which can absolutely be easily changed. It has been very apparent that “Asian-Americans love to pride themselves in and even brag about which schools they got into or how successful their careers are [...] but when it comes to autism, doors are shut and the silence becomes deafening.” There is so much to talk about right here, by the quote itself. In fact, this is truly an example of the “model minority myth” in effect. In modern American society, other races look up to us as a prime example of a doctor or someone in the front line, or someone who can work on computers and manage routers. Although most of our own race is existent like this in Silicon Valley, it isn’t entirely true for the whole nation. Our race is a constant competition between other colors, socially comparing how better we are to other individuals while shaming those that we see “have no life.” It has not been mentioned in high school, but it is truly a prime example amongst peers. I’ve been through it before; the stressing over a test that I could easily get an A on, an essay that has to be 4-6 pages in our eyes, while in reality it could’ve only stayed 3, you name it. We are expected to act above the curve of other people, proving how worthy we are to pursue even more of an education. Autism, however, has no place in the Asian-American culture. We are seen as exiles, psycho human beings, and abnormal types of animals. We may even be misperceived as deaf, mute, or retarded. While most people think those names don’t hurt us, we hear them. And when the Asian-American community doesn’t lend out a helping hand to us, we feel disconnected. We aren’t well physically, socially, and mentally. We’re “learning” how to be normal, because “normal” in our dictionary doesn’t exist.
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