164 Kanokporn Vibulpatanavong
some behaviors essential for living in the UK were considered inappropriate in
their own culture. A Somali mother felt that using gestures was inappropriate in
her community, and a South Asian father thought that looking directly into adults’
eyes while talking to them was considered disrespectful or overconfident. However,
both recognised the importance and necessity of these skills when interacting with
people in the UK.
In Thailand, when teachers and parents were asked about the social skills Thai
children with Autism need, several teachers and parents responded that they
expected the children to be able to offer a ‘wai’. Wai is a Thai traditional form of
greeting, performed by putting the palms of the hands together at chest level, with
the elbows at the sides of the body. Wai can also be used for when saying ‘thank you’
and ‘sorry’. The placement of the hands and the lowering of the head are slightly
different depending on whether the wai is offered to someone of higher status,
equal status, lower status, or to a Buddhist monk. The person who is of lower status
should be the first to offer a wai to the person who is of higher status. In school,
students offer a wai once to teachers in the morning and once before going home,
but do not offer a wai to classmates or younger students. During the interviews,
teachers talked about a student with Autism that, after learning to offer a wai,
offered a wai to everyone, including younger students.
While most of the parents and teachers indicated they would like children with
Autism to be able to follow Thai social etiquette, Thai social etiquette can be com-
plex and difficult to learn. For example, Thai persons need to lower their heads
and bend their bodies forward while walking pass persons of higher status. It is
also disrespectful to stand next to a seated elderly person, as it is more polite for
a younger person to sit down on the floor next to the elderly. The inability by
students with Autism to display complex, socially expected behaviors is often inter-
preted as impoliteness by people who do not understand Autism. This misunder-
standing often results in overt social disapproval.
Socially acceptable social skills are different across cultures. In designing an inter-
vention to promote social skills, it is important to understand the social expecta-
tions of the culture. It is also important to understand the additional challenges of
children with Autism in multicultural communities. The social skills required when
interacting with members of a person’s culture can be different from the social
skills required in the mainstream culture. Involving parents in designing social skill
intervention is important for promoting the successful social inclusion for children
with Autism.
Conclusion
Culture is a way of living, and thus encompasses all areas of lives. In this chapter,
three main aspects of cultures are discussed: religious and local perceptions of
Autism, language, and socially acceptable behaviors. Culture influences social
perceptions and social acceptance of children with Autism. Individuals with
Autism and their families from different cultures face different challenges.