Inourlastblog,wementionedfamilieswhomight“sufferinsilence”forvariousreasonswithoutgettinghelp、Somereasonsforthismaybeculturalinnature、Inmyroleasafamilytherapist,Isometimeshearfamiliessaythatintheirculture,thereisnowordforautism,andthatanykindofspecialneedisconsideredablemishonthefamily、Sometellmethatitiscustomarytokeepchallengeswithinthefamilyorculturalcommunity,neverdiscussingthemoutsideoftheseboundaries、Somefamiliesdon’ttakethediagnosisseriouslyandseemtothinkthattheirchildwilloutgrowthechallengesthatautismpresents、
在上一篇博文里,我們提到一些家庭可能會(huì )因為某些原因有困難卻不尋求幫助。這樣的原因可能是文化方面的。作為一個(gè)家庭治療師,我有時(shí)候會(huì )聽(tīng)到一些家庭說(shuō),在他們的文化里,沒(méi)有詞來(lái)表示自閉癥,并且任何類(lèi)型的特殊需求都會(huì )被看作是家里的污點(diǎn)。一些人告訴我“只在家里或自己的文化群體里討論這些困難,不和這個(gè)范圍之外的人討論”是習俗。還有一些家庭不認真看待醫生的診斷,并且覺(jué)得他們的孩子會(huì )隨著(zhù)長(cháng)大而克服自閉癥。
Inourdesiretobetterunderstandhowproviderscanbemorehelpfultofamilies,weaskedSeattleChildren’sPatientNavigatorsfortheirinputandwereabletointerviewBlancaFieldsaboutherworkwithLatinofamilieswhohavereceivedanautismdiagnosis、Here’swhatshesharedwithus:
為了更好地領(lǐng)悟怎樣為家庭提供更多幫助,我們詢(xún)問(wèn)了西雅圖兒童患者導醫并且就BlancaFields的工作訪(fǎng)問(wèn)了她。BlancaFields在工作中常接觸有自閉癥兒童的拉丁美洲家庭。以下是她分享給我們的:
FromBlanca、、、
來(lái)自Blanca
It’simportanttoknowthatautismisnotwell-knownintheLatinocommunity、Parentsmayhavelowhealthliteracytobeginwith,andautismisadifficultdisordertounderstand、Parentsmaynotunderstandtheunderlyingneurological/brainissuesandinsteadseetheissueasabehavioralonewherethechildissimplymisbehaving、Theymaynotunderstandtheupsanddownsthatarecommonwithbehaviorandability、
明白一點(diǎn)很重要,那就是自閉癥在拉丁美裔家庭社區并不是眾所周知的。家長(cháng)一開(kāi)始可能只有較少的健康知識,而且自閉癥又是一種很難理解的失調癥。家長(cháng)可能不會(huì )明白潛在的神經(jīng)/大腦問(wèn)題,而只把自閉癥看作是孩子的行為不端。她們可能不會(huì )明白行為和能力中的起伏。
Providerscanhelpbyfirstassessingthefamily’scomprehensionofthediagnosisbyaskingthemtorepeatbackwhatthey’vebeentold、Providerscanaskiftherecommendationstheyaremakingaredoableforthefamily、However,providersshouldbeawarethat,outofrespect,parentsmaynodandsay“yes”wheninrealitytheycannotaffordtheproposedtherapyordonottrulyunderstandwhatthetreatmentissupposedtodotohelptheirchild、Itmaybenecessarytoaskseveraltimes,ortoreallydigdeepertoascertainwhetherthefamilyistrulyonboardornot、
治療師可以通過(guò)讓家人轉述他們理解的信息,以此來(lái)測試他們對于診斷的把握。治療師可以問(wèn)問(wèn),他提出的這些建議對這個(gè)家來(lái)說(shuō)是不是可行的。同時(shí),建議的提供者也應該意識到,家長(cháng)可能會(huì )出于尊重而點(diǎn)頭說(shuō)“能”,但事實(shí)上他們或許并不能承擔提出的治療方案,或者并沒(méi)有真正明白這治療到底會(huì )怎樣幫助孩子。多問(wèn)幾次或許是必要的,或者再深入了解,確定這家庭是否明白并接受治療方案。
Parentsarereceptivetoandoftendefertotheopinionofautismexperts、Theydon’ttypicallyfeelpushedintoanythingwhentheproviderexplainsinconcretetermswhysomethingisrecommended,suchasspeechtherapytohelpimproveachild’sabilitytocommunicatehisneedsandparticipatesociallywithfamilyandfriends、Someparentspreferaproviderwhoismoreprescriptiveinapproachsoitisgoodtoassessthisindividually、
家長(cháng)通常善于接受而且遵從自閉癥專(zhuān)家的建議。當治療師仔細解釋為什么某種方式應推薦嘗試時(shí)(比如說(shuō)用語(yǔ)言矯正來(lái)改善孩子的表達需求,以及與家人朋友交流的能力),家長(cháng)們通常不會(huì )覺(jué)得是在被逼迫著(zhù)做事。一些家長(cháng)偏愛(ài)有規范和詳盡方案的治療師,這樣將更有針對性的提供量身定制的治療方案。
Likeallparents,thoseintheLatinocommunitydowonderifthey’vedoneanythingtocausetheirchild’sautism、Mommayworrythatsomethingsheateduringpregnancycausedtheautismorthatbeingfrightened/startledduringpregnancydid、Whentheparentshearaboutthegeneticsofthedisorder,eachmaywonderwhichsideofthefamilyitcamefromandfeelguiltyaboutit,blametheother,orbelievethattheirchild’sautismispunishmentforhavingdonesomethingbad、Parentsmaynotvoluntarilybringthisup,soifprovidershavesomesenseofthis,theymaygentlyaskorpointoutwhatwedoanddonotknowaboutthecausesofautism、
跟大多數家長(cháng)一樣,拉丁裔的家長(cháng)想知道是不是自己的行為導致孩子患了自閉癥,母親可能擔心他們孕期吃的食物導致孩子的自閉癥,或者是因為孕期受到驚嚇。當他們聽(tīng)說(shuō)基因致病時(shí),他們會(huì )想這基因來(lái)自哪一方,他們會(huì )為此感到愧疚并相互責怪,他們覺(jué)得孩子得了自閉癥是對他們做了壞事的懲罰。家長(cháng)們可能不會(huì )主動(dòng)提起這些,所以如果我們的志愿者能對此有所了解,他們就能委婉地問(wèn)起或提到父母對自閉癥了解些什么,不了解些什么。
Latinoparentsalsohavequestionsabouttheirchildren’sfutures–willmychildevertalkorgotocollege,getmarried,liveonhisown?Theymaynotbroachthiswithaproviderbutmayworryaboutit、Inquiringofparentsiftheyhavequestionsorconcernsaboutsuchissuescanhelp、Forexample,simplysaying,“Youmayhavequestionsaboutyourchild’sfutureandthatisquitenormal、Igetaskedthatallthetime、Here’swhatweknowabouttryingtopredictachild’sfuture、、、”
拉丁裔的父母對孩子的將來(lái)也倍感困惑,比如孩子能講話(huà)嗎,他能不能上大學(xué)、結婚或獨立生活。有人會(huì )提醒他們這些,然后他們開(kāi)始擔心。我們可以詢(xún)問(wèn)家長(cháng)是否有相關(guān)方面的問(wèn)題。比如,只簡(jiǎn)單地說(shuō)“你們有關(guān)于孩子的問(wèn)題是很正常的,我們經(jīng)常會(huì )接受家長(cháng)的問(wèn)題,關(guān)于孩子的未來(lái)……”
Itisalwayshelpfultoreinforcewithparentsthatadvocatingfortheirchildrenisagoodthingandthattheywon’tbejudgedpoorlyfor“makingwaves”、Reassuringparentsthatonecanrespectfullyandcollaborativelyworkwithteachers,therapists,andprovidersisalsohelpful、Insomecultures,accesstocare/servicesisassociatedwithone’seducationalandfinancialstatus;poororpoorlyeducatedparentsgetlessaccess,andaskingforanythingsimplyresultsinaccessbeingblocked、WeneedtoteachHispanic/LatinofamilieswhocomefromtheseexperiencesthathereatSeattleChildren’swevaluetheirinputandrespecttheirviewsofwhattheirchildrenneed、
向家長(cháng)強調他們孩子都是好孩子,這樣他們就不會(huì )覺(jué)得孩子總是滋事了。確保家長(cháng)和老師、治療師和顧問(wèn)能通力合作很重要。在一些國家,是否尋求幫助和服務(wù)與家長(cháng)的教育程度和經(jīng)濟水平有關(guān),教育水平低的家長(cháng)較少尋求幫助,并且他們的求助渠道并不通暢。我們需要告訴拉丁裔家庭在西雅圖兒童中心,我們很看重他們的反饋以及孩子的需求。
Itisalsoimportantforproviderstobeawarethatnotallfamilieshaveaccesstowhatmanyroutinelyassumeisagiven,suchastheinternet,oriftheydo,languagebarriersexist、Verylittleistranslatedincludingthereportsthatparentsareexpectedtouseasaguideline、
顧問(wèn)需要知道不是所有家庭都有我們認為理所當然的途徑來(lái)了解自閉癥,比如網(wǎng)絡(luò ),即使有,也存在語(yǔ)言障礙。只有很少的翻譯資料,包括家長(cháng)應該使用的指導手冊也是。