Mental health disorder among children: Social adaptation and rehabilitation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Children, as the least adapted and protected part of society with insufficient experience, are dependent on adults. The lack of formation of biopsychosocial structures of a child's personality due to age characteristics makes them vulnerable to various kinds of effects, including unfavorable ones. The influence of the social environment, other people can delay or stimulate the development of the child, worsen his/her well-being or contribute to the formation of complex social behavior. However, there are forms of mental illness that are present in children from the first years of life, it is sort of a state of mind, the predominant feature that is the departure from social reality, life within itself. It is autism as one of the forms of mental developmental disorders in children from an early age. In the process of rehabilitation of such children, the influence of the social environment will be directed to adjust the social environment to the extent of the child’s autism spectrum disorder, to effectively socialize and to develop communication. Streamlining the environment taking into account the desire for the continuity of the autistic child, creating conditions for orientation in space through communicative and socio-behavioral clues is an important task in the organization of social space. The relation of the immediate social environment, that are parents, relatives, acquaintances, friends on the autistic child, methods, and ways of influence in general, is mediated with the level of development of society, its cultural values. The study uses systemic, interdisciplinary and factor analysis, intervention and observation methods. Social, pedagogical, psychological, and medical approaches to the study of the disease show the complex nature of the disease and the need to take into account the influence of genetic, age-related, closely related factors in family planning and the complementary efforts of social workers, psychologists, teachers, sociologists, and medical workers in the rehabilitation of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Among the factors affecting autism was social disadvantage, as in areas where the poor lived, the disease was much higher than in well-off areas. Overcoming difficulties and effective rehabilitation depends on creating a favorable environment for autistic people, taking into account the characteristics of the disease, using intervention technology, especially for the development of their communicative abilities.