beyoundself
be you
beyond yourself
beyoundself
be you
beyond yourself
We live in a judgmental society where we may feel neglected and alienated by others due to a characteristic about ourselves. Children and adolescents with Autism are consistently judged for something they can’t control about themselves, and the public isn’t doing much to end this stigmatization.
About Us
beyoundself team
beyoundself team
beyoundself team
Secondary students who are committed to helping people. Our goal is to increase autism awareness in public and to help underprivileged families with autistic children through fundraising campaigns.
Cause
beyoundself team
beyoundself team
It is no doubt that autism awareness in Hong Kong is low; autistic children and their parents are being blamed and discriminated against due to common misconceptions. In addition, many underprivileged families in Hong Kong cannot afford for their children to receive therapy, thus missing the critical period to learn vital social skills, making Autism more challenging to manage.
Our missions
beyoundself team
Our missions
- To increase autism awareness in public.
- To raise funds for underprivileged families with autistic children who cannot afford to receive therapy.
What is Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder ("ASD")
Autism, a condition known as ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), is a complex neurobehavioral condition that causes disadvantages in communication, social and sensory processing skills. According to World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1 in 160 children have ASD globally. While on a more local scale, the Autism Children Foundation concluded there were around 25,000 registered children with Autism in Hong Kong. (Dr. Lam, "Autism (ASD) in Hong Kong: Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment")
ASD children typically begin to show symptoms of Autism within the first year they are born, while a small number of children start to show signs between 18-24 months old.
Below are a few things that children with Autism would do regularly (“Autism spectrum disorder”):
- They resist physical touch and prefer to play alone
- They provide a limited amount of eye contact and facial expressions
- They don't speak, have delayed speech, or lose previous ability to say words
- They speak with an abnormal tone and rhythm and may use a singsong or robot-like voice
- They don't seem to physically understand simple directions and questions
- They don't express emotions and feelings and appear unaware of others' feelings
- They inappropriately approach a social interaction by being passive, aggressive, or disruptive
Autism facts
Source: https://www.integrityinc.org/
Source: https://www.autismtalkclub.com/
Source: Department of Health, Hong Kong
Common Misconceptions
Autism behaviors provoke the public to view ASD children as "manner-less," but in reality, they can't help how they act. Not only are children with ASD typically stigmatized and mistreated by the public, but the parents of these children are simultaneously being mistreated, causing a negative mentality to arise.
In Hong Kong, a survey was conducted from March to December 2015 by the Department of Psychological Studies (PS) and the Department of Early Childhood Education (ECE) at The Education University of Hong Kong (HKIEd). 424 parents of autistic children aged 2 to 18 were asked several questions to determine an overall correlation and pattern ("Survey: Most Parents of Children with Autism Report Discriminatory Experiences).
The study's results showed:
- Nearly 90% of the parents of autistic children who underwent the survey claimed to have experienced discrimination.
- 70% of the parents explained they were looked down upon by others and had difficulties forming an active social life because of having children with ASD. This resulted in more than 60% of parents showing depressive symptoms.
- Parents may be blamed for lacking control over the ability to discipline their children due to the public's misconceptions about such behavior.