The state in Greece does not support children and adults with special needs and difficulties or other (neuro)developmental disorders. Not only does the state ΝΟΤ support them, but is seeking ways in which to further dehumanize them, disrespect them, exclude them and not help them.
Many discussions are going around on greek websites and forums where many academics and other special educators claim that autistic people do not actually have any real problem(s) -- according to their point of view -- and are trying to impose their opinion down the throat of the rest of us. The truth is that the definition of autism and other neurodevelopmental - psychiatric - mental disorders change from time to time, but by no means does this mean that these children/ adults are functioning well in everyday life. According to them, they should not even be deemed/ "labeled"/ diagnosed (as) autistic.
The most infuriating thing, though, is that people who have never read a book about autism or went to a seminar to learn more about it, are expressing the opinion that autistics - Aspergers are "like the rest of us" - eg "normal" and are also rude and nosy on Social Media dictating what the state here should do instead of suggesting measures that should be taken to relieve the autistics and their families. They also try to force their opinions on the rest (of us who are well informed).
I live in a country where there is no infrastructure about the autistics. For example, there is one public school for autistics with normal - borderline IQs in Athens in the northern suburbs to which only people living nearby can afford to send their children to because it is TOO FAR. The diagnosis and the result of an examination from special personnel takes years in most cases until parents/ children get to know the outcome. Not to mention that neurodevelopmental disorders are in most cases coming combined and this further makes the overall process more difficult.
There are many private centers at which much work can be done to help these kids with early intervention programs and support, but as far as the state is concerned, Greeks and politicians here only care to further degrade the autistic(s), to un - label them, to not even support them financially with a very minimum allowance. There aren't public facilities or centers at which these people can feel comfortable or supported except from being continually stigmatized. And by saying "un - label them" I don't in any way mean that they are trying to make them feel included or that they belong. Just to DECLASSIFY them and then treat them as if they were always normal - healthy.
Spread the word if you want to support the autistic(s) - Aspergers.
These are excerpts from the new DSM - 5:
[..]
"NEURODEVELOPMENTAL disorders are a group of conditions with onset in the
developmental period. The disorders typically manifest early in development, often before
the child enters grade school, and are characterized by developmental deficits that
produce impairments of personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning. The
range of developmental deficits varies from very specific limitations of learning or control
of executive functions to global impairments of social skills or intelligence. The neurodevelopmental disorders frequently co-occur; for example, individuals with autism spectrum disorder often have intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder), and
many children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) also have a specific
learning disorder. For some disorders, the clinical presentation includes symptoms of excess
as well as deficits and delays in achieving expected milestones. For example, autism
spectrum disorder is diagnosed only when the characteristic deficits of social communication
are accompanied by excessively repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, and insistence
on sameness.
Intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) is characterized by deficits
in general mental abilities, such as reasoning, problem solving, planning, abstract thinking,
judgment, academic learning, and learning from experience. The deficits result in impairments
of adaptive functioning, such that the individual fails to meet standards of personal
independence and social responsibility in one or more aspects of daily life, including commimication,
social participation, academic or occupational functioning, and personal independence
at home or in community settings.
Global developmental delay, as its name implies, is diagnosed when an individual fails to meet expected developmental milestones in several areas of intellectual functioning. The diagnosis is used for individuals who are imable to undergo systematic assessments of intellectual functioning, including children who are too young to participate in standardized testing. Intellectual disability may result from an acquired insult during the developmental period from, for example, a severe head
injury, in which case a neurocognitive disorder also may be diagnosed.
The communication disorders include language disorder, speech sound disorder, social
(pragmatic) communication disorder, and childhood-onset fluency disorder (stuttering).
The first three disorders are characterized by deficits in the development and use of
language, speech, and social communication, respectively. Childhood-onset fluency disorder
is characterized by disturbances of the normal fluency and motor production of
speech, including repetitive sounds or syllables, prolongation of consonants or vowel
sounds, broken words, blocking, or words produced with an excess of physical tension.
Like other neurodevelopmental disorders, communication disorders begin early in life
and may produce lifelong functional impairments.
Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication
and social interaction across multiple contexts, including deficits in social reciprocity,
nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, and skills in developing,
maintaining, and understanding relationships. In addition to the social communication
deficits, the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder requires the presence of restricted, repetitive
patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Because symptoms change with development
and may be masked by compensatory mechanisms, the diagnostic criteria may
be met based on historical information, although the current presentation must cause significant impairment.
Within the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, individual clinical characteristics
are noted through the use of specifiers (with or without accompanying intellectual impairment;
with or without accompanying structural language impairment; associated with a
known medical/genetic or environmental/acquired condition; associated with another
neurodevelopmental, mental, or behavioral disorder), as well as specifiers that describe
the autistic symptoms (age at first concern; with or without loss of established skills; severity).
These specifiers provide clinicians with an opportunity to individualize the diagnosis
and communicate a richer clinical description of the affected individuals. For example, many
individuals previously diagnosed with Asperger's disorder would now receive a diagnosis
of autism spectrum disorder without language or intellectual impairment.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by impairing levels of inattention, disorganization,
and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity. Inattention and disorganization entail inability
to stay on task, seeming not to listen, and losing materials, at levels that are inconsistent
with age or developmental level. Hyperactivity-impulsivity entails overactivity, fidgeting, inability
to stay seated, intruding into other people's activities, and inability to wait—symptoms
that are excessive for age or developmental level. In childhood, ADHD frequently overlaps
with disorders that are often considered to be "externalizing disorders," such as oppositional
defiant disorder and conduct disorder. ADHD often persists into adulthood, witii resultant
impairments of social, academic and occupational functioning.
The neurodevelopmental motor disorders include developmental coordination disorder,
stereotypic movement disorder, and tic disorders. Developmental coordination disorder
is characterized by deficits in the acquisition and execution of coordinated motor
skills and is manifested by clumsiness and slowness or inaccuracy of performance of motor
skills that cause interference with activities of daily living. Stereotypic movement disorder
is diagnosed when an individual has repetitive, seemingly driven, and apparently
purposeless motor behaviors, such as hand flapping, body rocking, head banging, selfbiting,
or hitting. The movements interfere with social, academic, or other activities. If the
behaviors cause self-injury, this should be specified as part of the diagnostic description.
Tic disorders are characterized by the presence of motor or vocal tics, which are sudden,
rapid, recurrent, nonrhythmic, sterotyped motor movements or vocalizations. The duration,
presumed etiology, and clinical presentation define the specific tic disorder that is diagnosed:
Tourette's disorder, persistent (chronic) motor or vocal tic disorder, provisional
tic disorder, other specified tic disorder, and unspecified tic disorder. Tourette's disorder
is diagnosed when the individual has multiple motor and vocal tics that have been present
for at least 1 year and that have a waxing-waning symptom course.
Specific learning disorder, as the name implies, is diagnosed when there are specific deficits
in an individual's ability to perceive or process information efficiently and accurately. This
neurodevelopmental disorder first manifests during the years of formal schooling and is
characterized by persistent and impairing difficulties with learning foimdational academic
skills in reading, writing, and/or math. The individual's performance of the affected academic
skills is well below average for age, or acceptable performance levels are achieved only with
extraordinary effort. Specific learning disorder may occur in individuals identified as intellectually
gifted and manifest only when the learning demands or assessment procedures (e.g.,
timed tests) pose barriers that cannot be overcome by their innate intelligence and compensatory
strategies. For all individuals, specific learning disorder can produce lifelong impairments
in activities dependent on the skills, including occupational performance.
The use of specifiers for the neurodevelopmental disorder diagnoses enriches the clinical
description of the individual's clinical course and current symptomatology. In addition
to specifiers that describe the clinical presentation, such as age at onset or severity
ratings, the neurodevelopmental disorders may include the specifier "associated with a
known medical or genetic condition or environmental factor." This specifier gives clinicians
an opportunity to document factors that may have played a role in the etiology of the
disorder, as well as those that might affect the clinical course. Examples include genetic
disorders, such as fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, and Rett syndrome; medical conditions such as epilepsy; and environmental factors, including very low birth weight and
fetal alcohol exposure (even in the absence of stigmata of fetal alcohol syndrome).
[..] "
"Definition of a Mental Disorder
Each disorder identified in Section II of the manual (excluding those in the chapters entitled
"Medication-Induced Movement Disorders and Other Adverse Effects of Medication"
and "Other Conditions That May Be a Focus of Clinical Attention") must meet the
definition of a mental disorder. Although no definition can capture all aspects of all disorders
in the range contained in DSM-5, the following elements are required:
A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance
in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects
a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying
mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant
distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities.
An expectable or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss,
such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant behavior
(e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are primarily between
the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance
or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual, as described above."
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