How to Read a Social Situation Cultural Norms Autism
Open access peer-reviewed affiliate
Sociocultural Perspective on Autism Intervention
Submitted: August 30th, 2016 Reviewed: September 26th, 2016 Published: April twelfth, 2017
DOI: 10.5772/65965
From the Edited Volume
Autism
Edited past Michael Fitzgerald and Jane Yip
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The mural of the population in the U.s. is diversifying, equally are the individuals who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Autism spectrum disorder at present affects one of out every 68 children. Although the diagnostic criteria exercise not differ, there are differences in fourth dimension of diagnosis, treatment and acceptability of the diagnosis in various cultures, which is important for clinicians to understand. One approach to autism intervention is applied behavior analysis (ABA), which seeks to intervene on socially significant behavior. In add-on, to using an approach such as ABA, which accent social significance, individuals may also use a cultural banker. The cultural broker can help to bridge the gap betwixt parties and promote more constructive treatment experience and thus help to ensure a more than culturally sensitive approach to intervention.
Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder
- cultural competence
- practical beliefs analysis
- cultural broker
- social validity
- culture
*Address all correspondence to: efong@sju.edu
one. Introduction
Co-ordinate to the
Autism is considered a global health consequence affecting individuals beyond diverse cultures [2, three]. The prevalence of ASD in the United States is high, affecting roughly ane in 68 children. However, this rate may be fifty-fifty college because that the ethnic and racial minority children are currently believed to be underdiagnosed due to barriers with accessibility to evaluation, diagnosis, and services [4]. Together with greater awareness across the world, there has been increasing interests both nationally and internationally to develop constructive autism intervention treatment.
Among the number of intervention approaches that are currently available to treat autism, the literature suggests that beliefs‐focused interventions are arguably the virtually widely used and accepted in the field [five, 6]. Based on the scientific discipline of applied behavior analysis (ABA), behavior analytic intervention programs are primarily designed to teach new skills and change problem behavior past manipulating some aspects of the environs [seven]. In detail, beliefs therapists are taught to develop the intervention goals, methods, and implementations in line with clients' needs and the norms of social community [8, 9].
With the greater recognition of cultural diversity of individuals with ASD and their families beyond the world and in the The states, there is also a growing need to develop culturally sensitive ASD intervention programs. A culturally sensitive intervention program recognizes that clients from diverse cultural backgrounds tin be best served when their needs are addressed with respect to the sociocultural contexts of their past developmental histories and electric current adaptive environment [4]. Such a program integrates an advisable cultural view in assessing, designing, and implementing the plan, and in approaching clinician‐client human relationship. Moreover, culturally sensitive intervention programs are embedded inside a larger social cultural context of support, specially within a community of professionals who work every bit cultural mediators between the mainstream civilisation and the autism customs. Such mediations between the mainstream and autism communities create a crucial social space or buffer for exchanges of ideas and conversations and adaptive interaction to accept place, and it strengthen the long‐term intervention outcome.
Nosotros first talk over the cultural part in conceptualization and treatment of autism and disability in full general, and and then the importance of considering civilization in developing beliefs analysis interventions. Nosotros also talk over the role of greater professional community as cultural mediators between the mainstream and the autism spectrum community, highlighting the importance of cumulative efforts from the ABA perspective and professional customs support in intervention effect. Ultimately, we indicate out that in order for an intervention to be successful, information technology needs to be sustainable over fourth dimension non only in the individual and family levels, but besides in the social cultural community level as well.
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2. Inability, autism and civilisation
The discovery of autism too equally the development of its intervention handling have been largely originated in Western cultures and thinking. The significant early on work past American md Leo Kanner and German doctor Hans Asperger in the 1940s accept significantly contributed in establishing autism as a disorder that is currently known in the modernistic globe. Similarly, ABA interventions are based primarily on the scholarly work of behaviorism, particularly by Skinner'south [10] radical behaviorism, which highlighted the importance of deciphering particularities of environmental status on organism'due south beliefs.
Understandably, across Western cultures, in that location is significant variance regarding the meaning of disability and autism, and unlike ways individuals and families cope with the bear on of the conditions. Some cultures may perceive the symptoms of a disability as a part of individuals' personality traits such as "stubbornness" or "laziness," and avoid seeking a necessary handling. A mismatch on the cultural perceptions about beliefs betwixt ethnic and racial minority families and health professionals from the mainstream civilization can also influence how families cope and seek help for treatment. For instance, studies suggested that European American parents may be more likely to hold with the assessment of their child'south behavior by a instructor than Asian/Pacific Islander and African American parents [11]. As a result, such culture‐specific responses can potentially affect the interventions recommended by a treatment team, with European American children more likely to participate in intervention programs and receiving treatment via parent support more than immediately than Asian children. On the other paw, the cultural differences in perceiving behavior have as well contributed to over‐diagnoses of behavior problems of minority students due to the cultural biases of educational and mental health administrators [12, xiii].
Culture may also bear upon the diagnosis of autism, the time of diagnosis, every bit well as the access to services. For example, in the Usa, European Americans are diagnosed on average 1.5 years before their ethnic minority counterparts [14], allowing European American children for more than immediate access to interventions for autism, in comparison to their minority counterparts. Beyond the world, in Egypt, autism has been frequently considered analogous to mental retardation or fifty-fifty a curse past folk belief, and children have been sometimes caged equally a upshot [xv]. In Cathay, autism has been conceptualized as a disease of the 'rich and lazy' and its treatments included walking long distances in heavy clothing and weight training [16]. In Federal democratic republic of ethiopia, many individuals believed that children who have autism were possessed by the devil due to their parent's sins and attribute largely to supernatural explanations as the cause of autism, and the families live with high levels of stigma [17]. All the same, nowadays, at that place are growing global health initiatives to raise understanding for autism and its symptoms and to stimulate greater acceptance of those who are diagnosed with ASD by their community [18].
Consequently, the treatment of autism in some parts of the earth has included the utilize of folk healers and religious rituals, or forced isolation from the customs. For ABA therapists, when treating families whose cultural beliefs and practices related to autism may be differ from the therapists, it may be important for the therapists to not merely educate themselves nearly their client'southward culture but also brainwash their clients nigh the prove‐based literature findings which is guiding the therapists' intervention exercise [iv]. Furthermore, the clients who are disconnected from the customs may need to be educated about the process and all-time ways to navigate some of the challenges to obtaining care from their land and federal level systems (eastward.chiliad., wellness care and educational systems).
In sum, differences in cultural notions virtually typical human development and inability can influence different ways in which individuals perceive autism and seek treatment [4]. When there is perceived cultural difference between the therapists and clients, it is more than critical for the therapists to empathise their clients' cultural views and strategy the all-time way to create common treatment goals, procedures, and effect assessments together with their clients and families.
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iii. Culture and behavior analysis
In discussing various intervention programs to teach individuals with ASD socially appropriate behaviors and communication skills, it is often ignored that there is social cultural diversity in man beliefs beyond communities. Civilisation refers to the historical patterns of meanings embodied in various forms of symbols that pervade in a community and which are transmitted to the next generation of offspring [19]. It shapes individuals' values, beliefs, and behaviors including dissimilar means they display emotion, communicate needs and wants to others, and arroyo inter‐personal relationships. Skinner [x, twenty] has also noted that culture represents the collection of operants or contingencies unique to a social community.
Applied behavior assay is 1 of the most common interventions used with individuals who have autism and has been used to develop a number of pop behavior‐focused intervention programs used today, including pivotal response training, early intensive behavioral intervention, and positive behavior interventions [21]. Beliefs assay focuses on teaching and shaping‐specific behavior past manipulating the behavior's functional human relationship with the environment [7]. Environmental variables such as conditions which precede (antecedents) and follow (result) the behavior and motivational factors like individuals' country of impecuniousness and satiation are analyzed in order to identify reasons for the prevalence of the behavior, i.east., increasing or decreasing manner in the given context.
Because that defining characteristics of autism are business organization with difficulties in social interaction and verbal and nonverbal communication [1], the central goals of ASD intervention take traditionally focused on addressing these deficits. However, the traditional methods of pedagogy communicative skills and other living skills have largely occurred in restricted learning environment with limited considerations for social cultural norms and values.
There are a number of ways cultural knowledge tin aid develop constructive behavior analytic programs, particularly for naturalistic setting‐based intervention. Cultural knowledge can guide behavior analysts to blueprint more contextually appropriate intervention programs past helping them to recognize variations of different forms of antecedent and reinforcers and understand their functional relationships. The dissimilar forms include verbal and nonverbal behaviors of individuals and agencies or structures at the institutional level that command contingencies. For example, all verbal relations are considered operants with different verbal forms controlled by consequences, all of which are unique to different cultural communities [10, 20, 22]. A exact community shapes speaker and listener beliefs by teaching specific and shared verbal forms and their consequent beliefs through grouping practices [x, 20]. At a basic level, when an English speaker says, "give me an apple," the linguistic 'form' or meaning for the asking can only elicit proper activeness from the same linguistic community (English), not from other linguistic communities. Moreover, when an individual with autism from an English‐speaking Due north American community easily an apple to the speaker in response, due south/he may be considered to have mastered fluency skill level. Notwithstanding, a child from a culture that emphasize social hierarchy and respect toward authority figures and elders may demand to exist farther trained on how to properly mitt the apple to an dominance figure or elder with two hands and a posture for respect to exist considered mastered the fluency. As Vargas [22] has noted, language does not be in static symbolic forms merely rather in dynamic action forms including utterances, writings, and bodily gestures which carry with them implicit meanings that are not straight communicated. Skinner [20] also emphasized that verbal beliefs is non restricted to any detail mode of behavior just whatsoever behavior reinforced through mediation of other people (speaker) and tin include any movement capable of affecting another organism.
When programs are culturally sensitive, they integrate culturally appropriate forms of antecedents and reinforcements from the natural environment. Individuals' perception of what is desired or aversive of symbolic systems of objects, events, and behaviors is frequently heavily influenced by the prior experience in the social environs. For instance, children may answer ameliorate with a type of tangible reinforcement (east.m., nutrient or toy) when information technology is more than familiar and desirable to them. Children in northern Europe may respond more favorably to liquorish candy than sesame snacks which are more than popular in Asia. When providing social praise for positive reinforcement, beliefs analysts tin can consider different ways cultures express emotion and praise or thwarting. Studies have shown that Western cultures encourage their children to value autonomy and independence while Asian cultures encourage their children to value collective needs and grouping harmony and emotional control in public [23, 24]. An private who grew up in a culture that values emotional control and avoids high intensity social expression of affect may be unfamiliar and uncomfortable by loud and highly energetic praise which individuals who grew upwardly in Western cultures may adopt. In such settings, more than toned downwards subtle forms of praise may work better every bit positive social reinforcement, while the high intensity expression of praise may serve an aversive office. Therefore, a culturally sensitive programme considers not only different types of reinforcement but also unlike potential functions, they may serve related to their environmental history. In add-on, a culturally sensitive program tin can help individuals to generalize improve beyond contexts past minimizing the gap between the instruction session and everyday interaction.
In interpersonal communication, cultural noesis can enhance the ABA therapists' ability to communicate with their clients about the intervention more effectively. When therapists sympathize ones' own cultural biases and cultural differences in their clients' values, beliefs, and communication styles, therapists can develop means to build rapport and quality relationships with clients and communicate more effectively [25].
In order to ensure social relevance of intervention, ABA frequently employs various social validity assessments [26]. When working with culturally diverse clients, utilizing social validity measures frequently to ensure the goals, methods, and outcomes of intervention are accepted past the clients would exist especially critical. Although more work is needed to modify currently existing validity forms in culturally sensitive means, it would exist of import to be aware of them. They include Lennox and Milternberger'due south [27] 12 factors for treatment acceptability, Winett et al.'s [28] epidemiological conceptualization of social validity, Gresham and Lopez'due south [29] conceptualization of social validity every bit the accumulation of multiple sources of information from culturally relevant key stake holders, Kennedy's [30, 31] maintenance model of social validity, or Carter's [32] distributive model of handling acceptability. Examples of format handling acceptability measurement instruments include the: Treatment Evaluation Inventory, Treatment Evaluation Inventory‐Brusque Class, Treatment Acceptability Rating Form, Treatment Acceptability Form Revised, Intervention Rating Profile, Intervention Rating Contour 1.5 m, Children's Intervention Rating Contour, Behavior Intervention Rating Scale, Intervention‐Process Rating Calibration (IPRS), and Abbreviated Acceptability Rating Profile [33].
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4. Cultural brokers of autism intervention
A comprehensive handling intervention for autism often involves a number of service professionals with diverse areas of expertise from the community. The role of the professionals equally essential cultural mediators is often shadowed by the social interest for the effectiveness of the intervention service as a product they deliver to the clients [34]. Withal, information technology should exist best-selling that various professionals in the community such as those working in education, health, and social service systems too serve a critical role as social mediators. As a commonage, they help to bridge the gap in knowledge between the broader cultural customs and the autism community. Through their cultural mediation, the cultural banker helps to create an of import inclusive social surround or space, i that which disabled individuals can practice, make progress and connect with the general population [34, 35].
In the field of teaching, cultural brokers may be teachers, instructional aides, schoolhouse counselors, customs members, later on school program staff, students, siblings, school liaisons, and parent liaisons [34]. On the behalf of the student and family, within the educational setting, brokering activities may include, translation, assistance with navigating, interpreting the educational organisation, development of advocating skills, assistance with social skills, and potential employment opportunities for the educatee and their family. In add-on, cultural brokers might inform the school staff about the cultural practices of the educatee and their family, likewise equally how to successfully work within any differences [34]. Ultimately, use of a cultural broker in the educational process can aid address barriers between the educatee, family and school, which is important as the previous literature outcomes emphasize the importance of a schoolhouse dwelling house collaboration for student success.
Professionals serving as cultural brokers or intermediary can help to translate information between the autism community which include individuals with ASD and their families and the mainstream social cultural communities which they are role of. According to Lo [36], professionals can serve every bit cultural brokers who help to span, link, or mediate between groups or persons from different cultures. Cultural brokers work to reduce conflict, or bring about change by bridging or linking groups of culturally unlike individuals together [37]. This ofttimes involves rapport, trust, long‐term relationships, building of networks, and cultural labor, which tin take considerable times and endeavor on the office of the clinician.
According to Jezewski and Sotnik [37], in that location are three stages of brokering process. The kickoff stage involves identifying problem of a breakdown or conflict in the communication between the parties. Second, the intervening condition stage involves integrating culturally relevant factors in analyzing the problem, devising appropriate strategies, and evaluating outcomes. During this stage, the intervention strategies are examined critically with respect to the potential explanations for the success or failure interventions. Here, cultural brokers might abet for particular strategies, mediate between groups for greater understanding, assist professionals and clients network to broader community, and help negotiate dissimilar views unlike parties may have. In the procedure, much work is devoted for professionals' power to establish trust and rapport and bonds with their clients. In the final stage, the intervention outcomes are evaluated and deemed to be successful or unsuccessful. An intervention is accounted successful when bonds are established between individuals from different cultures but unsuccessful when intervention continues to involve a breakdown in services.
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5. Conclusion and future direction
Autism has become a global health concern, affecting individuals beyond diverse cultural populations. The effective treatment of autism, especially involving pedagogy of socially adaptive skills, needs to consider advisable sociocultural contexts of their clients' living environment [4]. Cultural values, beliefs, and practices which play fundamental roles individuals' conceptualization and pick for treatment of autism are not consistent across cultures, and information technology behooves therapists to be informed about cultural perspectives that are unlike than their own.
To develop culturally sensitive intervention programs for individuals with autism, it would exist of import for therapists to exist enlightened of their own biases, as these biases related to treatment, cause, and diagnostic views may not be in agreement with how a family or their culture conceptualizes the process [25]. Thus, it is recommended that regular validity checks are performed with the family unit and other stakeholders to ensure the proper representation of the family culture during intervention team meetings.
By taking the time to understand the needs of the clients and families in the context of their social cultural environment, therapists motivate greater family unit engagement in treatment services, compliance with handling planning and recommendations, all of which contribute to better treatment outcomes. Together with the supports from cultural brokers from diverse fields of expertise in the community, socioculturally grounded intervention programs for individuals with autism tin offering valuable opportunities to acquire skills that are more functionally adaptive to their cultural environment.
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Submitted: August 30th, 2016 Reviewed: September 26th, 2016 Published: April 12th, 2017
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