Empowering Autism and other Disabilities
“is not a ‘gift’. For most, it is an endless fight against schools, wor kpl a c e s , and bullies. But under the right circumstances, given the right adjustments it CAN be a superpower. Our societies need to change, and we need people who can think outside the box and we need to start taking care of each other. And embrace our differences.” - Greta Thunberg
Many years ago, people with disabilities, neurological disorders or other types of mental illnesses were not accepted very easily in society society. A lot of people did not know mu much about diagnoses, and due to this, most ind individuals with a disability would be labeled as “mentally ill” or “mental”. Communities wo would label them according to their own ass assumptions and decide their fate, which wo would mostly be ‘’exclusion” and “isolation”. In today’s world, science and research has sh shifted our lives to a very advanced level.
Ps Psychologists are working on new studies ev every day, and because of this, we now have as a sufficient amount of resources to diagnose an and treat most of the issues such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADD, ADHD, Learning Disabilities etc. Physical disabilities and illnesses are often easily identifiable and thus can be diagnosed simply. Mental, neurological and learning disorders, however, are often left unnoticed by parents and guardians as they often do not seem to notice. Something to note is that we are very lu lucky to be residing in Canada due to the available funding, and other factors such as health care and diagnoses, which are free of charge. Although there is a systematic procedure in place, sometimes things seem very complicated for Canadians due to reasons such as: • Lack of knowledge • Stigma • Social Pressure • What to notice, when to notice and how to proceed In this Biweekly column we will be talking about the above challenges in our society. We are part of a connected community, however ongoing learning and knowledge is the key to building healthier and stronger networks so we can work through the issues together. Please contact Miracle Newspaper for any questions, suggestions and concerns, or contact Huma Shoaib at the email address be
low.
Huma Shoaib (she/her/hers) Senior Behavioral Therapist Founder: Empowering Autism Email: humas6@hotmail.com