Family-centred Intervention: Parents of Autistic Children as Patch Makers of Limited Knowledge and Restricted Welfare System in Taiwan

Speaker─
Wen-Ching Sung
(Assistant Professor, Institute For The History & Philosophy Of Science & Technology, University of Toronto )

Date──
2021/05/04(Tue.)1 -3 p.m

Venue──
15F Conference Room 2, Comprehensive Medical Building (Rear Building), TMU

Introduction：
Autism is a developmental condition. It means that individuals with autism have challenges to meet social expectations in each stage of life. Till today medicine has a limited understanding of the complexities of autism and offers no effective remedies. The static diagnostic description of autism does not inform parents how to help their autistic children thrive either. Meanwhile, the state often cannot provide specific support tailored to the needs of people with autism and their families throughout stages of life. Parents and major caregivers of autistic people come to fill in these gaps and become the center of intervention. They turn to be the patch makers of limited medical knowledge on the one hand and restricted social welfare systems on the other. In my talk, I will illustrate features of these patches based on interviews and fieldwork in Taiwan.