Influence of culture on social inclusion of children with Autism 161of the semester. Class teachers also ‘melt together’ the children in their classrooms,
telling regular kids that they are ‘nasongsarn’, we have to take care of them, help
them, and forgive them.” A special education teacher at the center also stated that:
When we talk about Pikarn (disability), there is always the word ‘songsarn’.
It creates misunderstanding to Thai people. When I talk about working at a
special education center, a center for children with disability, people come
in here thinking it is depressing, it is ‘nasongsarn’. I work here thinking it
is my profession. It is my job. I develop potentials. For me, ‘songsarn’ gives
depressing feelings.‘Songsarn’ can be advantageous to persons with disabilities in obtaining inclusion
or employment (Kilbort-Crocker, 2012) but it can also create the perception
that persons with disabilities are of lower status. According to Naemiratch and
Manderson (2009), some people with disabilities may accept ‘songsarn’ from other
people as they view it as compassion or ‘metta’ and ‘karuna’ in Brahmavihara.
Some may also pragmatically accept it for the advantages of being included in
the society, such as getting a job. However, some may reject ‘songsarn’ as they
view it as ‘sompech’ or pity, which has negative connotations (Naemiratch and
Manderson, 2009).
‘Songsarn’ can subtlety create stigma toward persons with disabilities (Naemiratch
and Manderson, 2009). By feeling ‘songsarn’, Autism may not be seen as a part of
social diversity, but as a ‘deficit’, or an ‘unfortunate occurrence’. In school, ‘song-
sarn’ may facilitate social acceptance but it may lead to lower learning expectations
for children with Autism. Students with Autism may not be expected to learn the
skills they need for the future, as the teacher said, “to take care of them, help them,
and forgive them”. In addition, ‘songsarn’ may not lead to equality in a friendship.
When asked whether students with Autism approach other students during free
time, a teacher in the Buddhist school answered, “No, they usually stay as they are.
Regular children approach them. Mostly, students see them as younger siblings, not
as friends.”
Language issues concerning Autism
Language is another aspect of culture. It is a tool for social communication and
interaction. Language both reflects and influences social perceptions. In the
following section, the words for Autism in different languages and how these influ-
ence the social perception of Autism are presented. The manner in which different
languages pose different difficulties for children with Autism is then examined.
A discussion of the language issues of children with Autism in multicultural com-
munities concludes this section.
The words for Autism in different languages can influence people’s percep-
tion of Autism. In some Asian languages, such as Punjabi, Bengali, and Gujarati,
there is no word for Autism (Dobson, Upadhyaya, McNeil, Venkateswaran and