In the USA, according to Harrington & Terres, mental hospitalizations have been on the decrease from about 400 to 200mper every 100,000 people. He goes on to mention that there are various alternatives to institutionalized life in the many mental hospitals. These have recently been established in the communities and include daycare centers, vocational rehabilitation centers, community mental health centers, halfway houses, and nursing homes, among others.
The best option, however, that these mental patients need for their well-being is family and, most importantly, the parents. Bazelon and Kyoyanagi go ahead to explain the various challenges that parents who have Autistic children face. These parents cannot assume that there is a one-size-fits-all approach. Every child in this particular spectrum is different in its own way. From the diet to the special abilities of the children, each one of them is different, and therefore, parents are encouraged to take different paths while trying different things with their children in order to understand them better.
More so, parents give their children special individual attention by using their child’s utmost interest to create some form of social interaction. This is because children with Autism have particular interests. Therefore, if a parent is to create some form of language or understanding between them, they have to use these interests. Sometimes it might be a cartoon superhero. This may be very effective in engaging the child and creating some form of connection.
The state also has an important role to play in this. For instance, more housing should be erected to accommodate the thousands that are still on the waiting lists while others are crowded in other nursing homes. More so, the state, in partnership with the non-governmental organizations, can help in sensitizing the public on how to take care of the mentally ill and retarded in society. The state also has an important role to play in this. For instance, more housing should be erected to accommodate the thousands that are still on the waiting lists while others are crowded in other nursing homes. More so, the state, in partnership with the non-governmental organizations, can help in sensitizing the public on how to take care of the mentally ill and retarded in society.
Some nursing homes, more often than not, use the drugs to calm these people down, but this is not medically advisable as the caretakers sometimes end up misdiagnosing. Therefore, the family and specifically the parents are the most important elements that may assist the treatment and the proper development of the mentally retarded. Being taken care of by the family enables them to establish a strong connection that enables them to develop fully. The family, in the long run, gets to understand how to cope and relate with these people as opposed to taking them to institutions and homes where distance pushes them to create strong relationships with their caregivers.