Sharing a student presentation from my 1:54 Autism class on a very important topic. We hear about the millions of refugees that are displaced the world over due to conflicts and other crisis. What we don't realize is that many could be autistic (or have other disabilities), which means the trauma of displacement, loss and war compounds many of the issues of autism.
Thank you Emma Zhao and Tiffy Barlow for an thoughtful and insightful presentation
Here is the youtube link of the presentation https://youtu.be/GPJ2EwkZAaU
Slides are below.
Syria is a Middle Eastern country that shares borders with several nations, including Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey (Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], 2021). Syria gained independence from the French in 1945 and has undergone political turmoil since. Syria’s official language is Arabic and is home to just under 20 million people, 87% of which are Muslim (CIA, 2021).
The Syrian crisis emerged due to various factors. We do know that there was a single event that lit the spark.
A group of citizens were violently beat after participating in graffiti, major protests formed in reaction and escalated into armed force from the Syrian government and the establishment of rebel groups to combat them (Musarurwa & Kaye, 2017).
Syria was home to a well-established educational system and a wealth of resources pre-crisis, but daily life for its citizens was quickly derailed by the conflict.
Despite extensive coverage via various media outlets regarding the Syrian crisis, the impact of the crisis on refugees is an understudied topic. According to statistics published by UNHCR, “At the end of 2018, Syrians still made up the largest forcibly displaced population”.
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The Syrian crisis has produced trauma in the form of violence, death, execution, torture, and displacement, which negatively impacts the mental health of Syrians
Syrian refugees experienced tensions between gratefulness in being afforded a safe enriching home and challenges with the process of resettlement that posed unique stressors to their overall wellbeing.
Syrian refugee children are faced with the challenge of adjusting to the social and cultural atmosphere of their new homes
Refugee children will experience many challenges.
“The Syrian kids went through real fear from the war. Professionals who work autistic children who have experienced the terrors of war need to consider this factor.
they should recognize that the kids are not only autistic, they also experienced atrocities and war.
PTSD in children can manifest like aggravated behavior or increased fear on a day to day basis. For autistic children, they may have also suffered as their parents lost some resources like supports and services during wartime.
Some autistic children who have communication barriers cannot even express their fear to heal from it. This can mask their fears, inner emotions, and complex feelings.
these emotions must be processed for a child to function healthily. Professionals are now looking to address the war for autistic Syrian kids, but this is an area of continued need
Even relocation is difficult
Some refugee children will experience learning and understanding new language, like English. An autism diagnosis typically contributes to a unique learning profile, which can make it hard to keep pace with their peers. Being in an entirely new country is a huge adjustment, and can leave these kids feeling alien and misunderstood.
Western models emphasizes trauma labels, which is often incompatible with and actually undermines the resilience that many refugee populations display.
Even when refugees acknowledge their trauma, they will typically reject the notion that this trauma overshadows their experiences or prevents them from contributing to society.
Service providers need to be more aware of this trauma narrative and explore the needs of refugees on an individual basis instead of overgeneralizing the traditional western mental health model
“refugee people within a deficit or pathology framework”
Promote flexibility & incorporate coping techniques rooted in cultural/religious practices. We can capitalize on “existing strengths (e.g., support of family and community) and existing coping strategies (e.g., meditation or singing songs)
However, clinicians in particular should also be recognize of the limits in their cultural knowledge through embracing cultural humility,
War can adversely impact autistic children who have social communication or cognitive impairments, which can lead to exacerbated responses to crisis conditions.
In fact, “prolonged exposure to extreme trauma, stress, and uncertainty has significant impacts on mental health outcomes for all children and adolescents. Toxic stress has been found to impact neurological functioning and disrupt brain development.
This obviously will intersect with the experiences of children on the autism spectrum since autism is a neurodevelopmental condition.
We also know that when parents receive their child’s autism diagnosis, they often experiencing intense emotions, both positive and negative. However, parents who are refugees will face with war, resettlement, and seeking asylum.
For example, in canada
Syrian refugee parents found they were limited by financial capacity, linguistic capacity, awareness of a new country’s health and educational systems, and “fear of deportation”
As a result, refugee children are more likely to be diagnosed later in development and not receive early intervention
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However, based on anecdotes from the study from a young mother Jenny, with a 5-year old son diagnosed with ASD,
Relocating was still a largely positive experience Jenny and her family faced with perceptions of autism in Syria and Lebanon. In fact, Jenny recalled that her children had negative societal experiences, “They[‘re] dealt with in a very negative way. They’re not accepted in the society” (00:53:22).”
their experiences with autism in Syria and Lebanon were characterized by discrimination, autism not being understood, their needs not being met, and a lack of accessibility to initiate services. She thinks her children are now “ happier” (00:45:56) being away from the discrimination that they experienced in Syria and Lebanon.
Research suggests differences in the diagnostic understanding, support acquisition, and service use among diverse, minority, and/or migrant populations
Although there are many nuances to understand what service and support mean, because they are based in context, we’re going to describe it as a method of providing help where professionals work directly with children or families
On the other hand, supports are typically provided to child or family so that the clinically impacted person can continue to help themselves
The two work hand in hand.
Family, social, and community supports are pivotal to how Syrian refugee parents experienced ease or difficulty in their resettlement, which impacts their adjustment process.
Research has shown that increasing relational supports to incoming refugees can bolster their resettlement experience and enhance their support and service acquisition through obtaining information from other
Est. 75 million people with ASD according to CDC
The issue is often silenced but it affects a massive group of people
Today we focused on Syria, but as we all know, there are many refugees now coming out of Ukraine. We can only wait to hear about how children, parents, people of color, and people with disabilities fare during a time of crisis. But for now, we encourage everybody to support the refugees to get to safety as soon as possible!
