Üsküdar Üniversitesi Health Services Vocational School (SHMYO) Occupational Health and Safety Program and Young Red Crescent Club organized an “Autism Awareness Training Program” in cooperation. The event, aimed at raising awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorder, emphasized the critical importance of early diagnosis and intervention.
The opening speeches of the program were delivered by Kübranur Baştekin, President of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Young Red Crescent Club, and Dr. Lecturer Gamze Kağan, Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Program.
Psychological Counselor Spec. Psychologist Can Kamsız, Clinical Psychologist Meryem İntaş, and Clinical Psychologist Murat Çelik attended the event held in the Beylerbeyi conference hall as guests. Dr. Lecturer Rüştü Uçan, Head of the Department of Occupational Health and Safety, Faculty of Health Sciences, Üsküdar Üniversitesi, also participated in the event.
Kübranur Baştekin, President of Young Red Crescent Club: “We try to meet everything expected from a club”
Nurse Kübranur Baştekin, President of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Young Red Crescent Club, talked about their activities. Baştekin said; “As the President of the Red Crescent Club, I would like to tell you about the events we have organized, because when people hear ‘Red Crescent Club,’ blood donation campaigns immediately come to mind. We do those too, but in addition to these events, we visit children’s homes of love, and nursing homes. We spent a lot of time in the earthquake zone, providing a great deal of aid. Besides that, we organize workshops, training sessions, seminars, and panels. We try to meet everything expected from a club. If fate allows, we will realize a Syria project at the end of the year. In addition to the Syria project, we also want to organize an event in Hatay. We want to go to the earthquake-affected regions in Hatay beforehand to organize both a festival and a aid distribution.”
Spec. Psychologist Can Kamsız: “Our aim is to create awareness”
Psychological Counselor Spec. Psychologist Can Kamsız, who informed the participants about the Psychological Counseling Unit, said; “I want to tell you a little about the Psychological Counseling Unit. At the Psychological Counseling Unit, we strive to serve our students together with our esteemed Clinical Psychologist Görkem Altıntaş Atasoy and Clinical Psychologist Hazal Erkan Arıman. These services include one-on-one counseling sessions, solution-focused interviews, crisis intervention interviews, and, when necessary, consultations are carried out in cooperation with the psychiatry department at Üsküdar Üniversitesi NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi for processes that cannot be conducted or continued in psychotherapy or solution-focused sessions. Today, our aim is to create awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorder, which is very important for us. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder, and the reason we call it a spectrum is that every individual with autism is unique, and their needs are also different from each other.”
Dr. Lecturer Gamze Kağan: “We act as if a deaf person will hear if we shout at them”
Dr. Lecturer Gamze Kağan, Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Program, said; “Today, we organized an event based on autism education and awareness. We felt the need to organize this program together with our instructor Can Kamsız. I realized that I didn't have much knowledge on these topics, and if I did, I could act more consciously and contribute to good things. As instructor Can said, ‘a new language of communication.’ When it comes to autism, it's also a bit about our ignorance. We categorize people as disabled, but how should we treat disabled citizens? In fact, we treat disabled people incorrectly. We act as if a deaf person will hear if we shout at them. We thought about what we could do to avoid these behaviors, to be more conscious, more beneficial to our environment, and to act without causing harm. Realizing our need in this regard, we organized this event.”
Clin. Psych. Meryem İntaş: “It seems that one in 36 children receives an autism diagnosis”
Clinical Psychologist Meryem İntaş, who emphasized the critical importance of early diagnosis and intervention in autism, said; “I graduated from Istanbul University in 2000. I have been working in this field for 24 years, and fifty percent of my time is spent with children on the Autism Spectrum. When we ask mothers; ‘I had felt that something was different even while breastfeeding.’ they say. You can notice this from their direct eye contact and their physical interaction with you. Generally, a diagnosis is not made before the age of 3. Child psychiatrists and neurologists make this diagnosis. Generally, a diagnosis is not made until the age of 3. Often, with education, it might even resolve without a formal diagnosis. Recently, Autism Spectrum Disorder is often confused with Reactive Attachment Disorder and screen exposure. In fact, the numbers seem to be increasing. Currently, looking at the literature, it appears that one in 36 children receives an autism diagnosis. I believe this is not due to an increase in its incidence, but rather due to such children reaching clinics more often and increased public awareness in this regard. Previously, grandmothers would perceive the characteristics shown by children and say, ‘There’s nothing wrong, don’t try to label the child.’ What did mothers do about this? It was postponed with excuses like 'His father also spoke late, his mother also spoke late.' Now that this awareness has formed, they can reach clinics more quickly. In fact, I think it’s not that the number of autism cases has increased in this sense, but rather the rate of coming to clinics has increased. With early intervention and early diagnosis, such children might be able to avoid entering that diagnostic group altogether, escaping the diagnosis at an early stage.”
Clin. Psych. Murat Çelik: “As humans, we are born equal but different from each other”
Clinical Psychologist Murat Çelik, who stated that one should treat a different individual with one's own language of expression, said; “We are all human and different from each other. As humans, we are born equal but different. These differences are our psychological and physiological characteristics. We were born with these physiological characteristics, do we need a label? In fact, the way one behaves towards an individual with autism should be the same as the way one behaves towards a 'normal' individual. I say 'normal' because, unfortunately, since the society we live in brings these concepts, we also use them. When your perspective on this changes, you can clearly understand the person in front of you and communicate with them. If we treat an individual with autism differently, as if they are autistic, just like any other person, then the spectrum between the two individuals will continue. In other words, we should talk to and treat a different individual not with their difference, but with our own expression, open communication, and empathy. Emotion cannot exist on its own because neurologically, between the ages of 3 and 6, our brain forms ten billion neurological connections. Whatever portion of these connections we use until age 6, the brain trims and discards the unused part. This means that if you haven't learned or heard a foreign language from your family or anywhere else between the ages of 3 and 6, you will struggle with learning it after age 6. Does this difficulty make us different? No, everyone's characteristics must be different from each other, but if this difference restricts or hinders an individual's social life, then what we need to do is to understand them, listen to them, and communicate with them compassionately.”
The program concluded after a group photo session.