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Indian GPs and ASD

Arran

In my neck of the woods it's a case of find a GP who isn't Indian. The numbers must be so few that one could count them on their fingers.

It's a well known fact that young south Asians in Britain are attracted to studying medicine (the human body), and it's commonplace for their parents to push them to into becoming doctors, but it's rare for a south Asian to choose to study psychology (the human mind). Just visit a university and you will find about 2 out 3 students studying medicine are south Asian but the students studying psychology are almost exclusively white and British.

The south Asian community also happens to be behind the curve (for a multitude of reasons including those that are cultural or religious) when it comes to ASD than the white British middle class are. A significant proportion of south Asian medicine students attended private schools which often do not recognise ASD or want any children there with ASD.

Has anybody given any thought to the effects of this on getting a diagnosis of ASD via a GP? In general, GPs (of all races and backgrounds) are behind the curve when it comes to ASD but when cultural factors are brought into the picture it adds a new dimension. Trying to encourage more young Asians to study psychology will be like trying to encourage them to study classics - which is a subject they show virtually no interest in studying.

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  • NAS9920 said:
    taking in consideration then the asd issue. any form of deformity would of course inhibit or prohibit the ability to raise oneself or ones family from caste. the social stigmas would apply then; also in caste systems. this is when karma needs to be considered: karma being the idea that what one suffers in this life is due to past life events. any 'abnormality' would be considered one's 'karma'. autism would be considered 'karma' from this perspective.

    The knowledge base for psychology, mental health, and ASD was developed over the years primarily in Europe and North America by people of European bloodlines who were Christian, Jewish, or not religious on subjects of the same description. The Indian subcontinent has played very little role in  psychology, mental health, and ASD (since 1945) and the thoughts and perceptions of its people are clouded by culture and religion. This also helps to explain why at secondary school children of south Asian origin tend to do better (even without the parent push) in culturally neutral subjects like mathematics, science, and computing than in subjects like English literature, history, and sociology where GCSE courses are designed in a way that they are more easily understood by people with a culturally British mindset.

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  • NAS9920 said:
    taking in consideration then the asd issue. any form of deformity would of course inhibit or prohibit the ability to raise oneself or ones family from caste. the social stigmas would apply then; also in caste systems. this is when karma needs to be considered: karma being the idea that what one suffers in this life is due to past life events. any 'abnormality' would be considered one's 'karma'. autism would be considered 'karma' from this perspective.

    The knowledge base for psychology, mental health, and ASD was developed over the years primarily in Europe and North America by people of European bloodlines who were Christian, Jewish, or not religious on subjects of the same description. The Indian subcontinent has played very little role in  psychology, mental health, and ASD (since 1945) and the thoughts and perceptions of its people are clouded by culture and religion. This also helps to explain why at secondary school children of south Asian origin tend to do better (even without the parent push) in culturally neutral subjects like mathematics, science, and computing than in subjects like English literature, history, and sociology where GCSE courses are designed in a way that they are more easily understood by people with a culturally British mindset.

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