I was taught in journalism and public relations college courses that a story or PR news release needed to let the reader know, typically in the lead sentence, why he/she should care about the subject matter — and more so find it sufficiently relevant to warrant reading on. It’s disheartening to find this vocational tool frequently utilized to persuade readers why they should care about the fundamental psychological health of their fellow human beings — but only in terms of publicly funded monetary investment and collective societal ‘costs to us later’ if we do nothing now to ensure all young children are able to properly develop and those with Autism Spectrum Disorder are able to live relatively happy and functional lives.
Sadly, due to the common OIIIMOBY mindset (Only If It’s In My Own Back Yard), the prevailing collective attitude, however implicit or subconscious, basically follows: ‘Why should I care — I’m soundly raising my kid?’ or ‘What’s in it for me, the taxpayer, if I support ASD special education and mental health programs for other people’s abnormal children?’
Regardless of whether individually we’re doing a great job with our own developing children, however, we all have some degree of vested interest in every child receiving a psychologically sound start in life, considering that communally everyone is exposed (or at least potentially so) to every other parent’s handiwork. And this is from a purely self-serving perspective.
Proactive measures may be needed to avoid later having to reactively treat (often with tranquilizing medication) potentially serious and life-long symptoms caused by a dysfunctional environment, domestically and/or at school. And if we’re to avoid the dreadedly invasive conventional reactive means of intervention — that of governmental removal of neurotypical or ASD children from abusive or neglectful home environments — maybe we then should be willing to try an unconventional proactive means of preventing some future dysfunctional/abusive family situations in the first place. Child development science high-school curriculum that would include neurodiversity, albeit not overly complicated, might be one way.
While strengthening parent/autistic-child relationships is always a good idea, I believe there also is a need for creating more positive schooling experiences for children with autism spectrum disorder. A much greater student-body understanding of ASD — including high(er) and low(er) functioning autism — through school curriculum could simultaneously educate and exhibit/induce compassion towards students living 'on the spectrum'. Among other aspects of Autism Spectrum Disorder, it would explain to students how people with ASD (including those with higher and lower functioning autism) are often deemed willfully ‘difficult’ and socially incongruent — and mistreated accordingly — when in fact such behavior is really not a choice. Maybe as a result, students with ASD feel compelled to “camouflage,” a term used to describe their attempts at appearing to naturally fit in, which is known to cause their already high anxiety and/or depression levels to worsen. And, of course, this exacerbation also applies to the ASD rate of suicide.
For one thing, the curriculum could/would make available to students potentially valuable/useful knowledge about their own psyches and why they are the way they are. And besides their own nature, students can also learn about the natures of their peers, which might foster greater tolerance for atypical personalities. Autism spectrum disorder accompanied by adverse childhood experience trauma — unchecked chronic bullying, for example — can readily lead to chronic substance abuse as a form of self-medicating. (If nothing else, the curriculum could offer students an idea/clue as to whether they’re emotionally suited for the immense responsibility and strains of parenthood.)
While such curriculum may sound invasive, especially to traditionalist parents distrustful of the public education system, I really believe it’s in future generations’ best interests. I strongly feel that the wellbeing of all children in general — and not just what other parents’ children will cost us as potential future criminals or expensive cases of special education and government care, etcetera — should be of importance to us all.
