HFA refugees

[Geordie]

Just a 'cold' topic. Do you think refugees who are autistic will have the worst live, fleeing their familiar homelands but at the same time, struggling with their own conditions too?

 

[Tigris]

Hmm... interesting question. But I would want to ask your definition of refugees? Are you refering to ASD people who could not receive support for their conditions in their native countries and forced to flee to countries like australia, UK, US who have better welfare for such people?

 

[Geordie]

From Wikipedia,

A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their home and seek refuge elsewhere. Under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951, a refugee is more narrowly defined (in Article 1A) as a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country".

I know people who really involuntarily move to other countries, based on their race/religion/nationality/membership of a social group/political opinion. In fact, 3 generations ago, my parents were actually refugees in a sort. Society was in a big helluva mess. Chinese cultural norms state that unless one's homeland becomes impossible to live in, the whole clan has to move together. So my family decided to shift half of its members to Malaysia, and then Singapore (due to racial riots in Malaysia).

I just feel for ASDs who, because they are a prosecuted religion like Jehoviah's Witness, or that they belong to an unwelcomed race, like Koreans under Japanese rule, have to move to other countries for safety.

But at the same time, I didn't realize that 'refugees' could also apply to certain people in the Singapore/Malaysia area (even Bumiputras counted, too), who have the ability to speak English like the Australians, British, Canadians, Irish and New Zealanders do - also, Americans - but because they get no, or little autism support, they try their best to move to other countries with better autism support, added with the same linguistic features. I didn't know that until Tigris' post reminded me of the situation I am living in.

Assuming language is not an issue, if one could seek asylum in Sweden due to unrest in his country, and eventually settle there, it'd be best for the him, because Sweden seems to be a good country for those who work hard but seek good social security, best for individual development. Thing is, will this chance ever happen?

Your thoughts on the conventional refugees who happen to be autistic? Your thoughts on autistic people who aren't really prosecuted, but have to move to overseas countries due to better opportunities for them elsewhere?

 

[Tigris]

Actually if any members here who live in the west can give us your honest opinion. Have you ever meet Aspies who are foreigners in your own land? if say you live in UK, US, Australia who have autism support.

 

[Geordie]

Actually what I meant to ask is, have you met any refugee, (or even foreigner), who comes to your country, and has autism too?

Your feelings and thoughts about autistic refugees, in the theoretical sense? If you have personal experiences relating to this issue, feel free to share your experiences.

My motivation comes from those people from South Sudan who are Christians.

 

[Tigris]

Even in the local support groups here, the very sad joke and the irony is that some of the ASD/ADHD kids here cannot fit the restrictive school system here and there are fewer special needs schools in Singapore and so they and their parents had to leave for good to Australia where the education system is a lot better from what I am hearing that is.

 

[Geordie]

I guess this joke is getting more cruel... a possibility for all of us in Singapore.

I only hope me and my parents can get rich, live somewhere (hopefully London or Dublin), and then I can write about my experiences in Singapore.

 

[Tigris]

Not just you, other parents are thinking the same. One root of the problem is that singapore has very few special needs schools and their standard is far from the mainstream. For example, Pathlight School in Singapore has proper examinations.etc like O levels for example. The others schools dun have.

And all said and done there is only one Pathlight School.

 

[Geordie]

Pathlight doesn't solve all issues - societal perception might

 

[Tigris]

Yeah. The USA have a lot more support. What's more, Pathlight only teaches up to O levels. After that?

 

[Geordie]

(Laughs) Wait till you meet some guy from Cincinnati called John Boehner. He plans to reduce the tax base way below 15% of GDP - and I believe this is baaaad for the economy in the long run. US was good before 9/11, but well...

 

[Geordie]

Somehow I feel this thread may be too cold, but if it is seen from a different perspective, it will be slightly different, imo... Too hot to handle in fact.

 

[Tigris]

Mind if I warm it up?

Regarding HFA refugees. I am not surprised if members here might bump into ASDs from the Asian region who migrated to more westernized countries.

This is a comment on Facebook from a friend of mine who has asgergers.

"It's not just the institutional discrimination that is involved, but also the overall social oppression and tyranny. We live in a society that demands all of its members to march in lockstep within its accepted constraints of social interactions, interests and mannerisms. Anything outside of it is immediately laughed and derided at.

There's very little wonder that I feel more at home in the US than I ever did in Singapore, even if I did grow up in Singapore and threw away two years of my youth chasing around the Mas Selamat who wasn't there."

 

[Geordie]

Even for me, seriously, I feel I'd be a better fit in Britain than my place of country. Britain has some customs, but they've a vibrant thinking culture that I like. And I feel a better sense of belonging to Newcastle to Singapore. In Newcastle, the Geordies are always friendly and open - it seems so long I say Howay the Lads all day long, everything's fine. (of course London's even better for intellectual stimulation - but that's just me)

The British did colonise both of our places of birth, but they have something that most Asian countries don't have - rule of the land, and personal freedoms that encourage freedom of expression of the Truth.

I feel for your friend, even though I get the feeling that I know him.

 

[Geordie]

Is it true that given Asia's preference of state control and authority, high-functioning autistic people, who think unconventionally and are focused and dedicated to their causes, will be seen as a threat to the incumbent leaders?

If so, will it be a sob story for us all?

 

[Tigris]

I cannot comment much as both of us have only lived in only one or two parts of Asia. The Asian region is very big, goes to show that the Autism movement in the west has a lot of uncharted territories.

Some parts of Asia are more open, liberal than some places in Asia. It has also little to do with the wealth of these countries too. A few famous countries who have high GDP are in fact some of the most closed up and snobbish societies on this planet.

 

[Geordie]

I lived in various parts of Asia - either they don't know ASD or they try to condemn it.

But I can say that Philippines and maybe Taiwan is more accepting than expected... What gives?