Topic > A Boy Called Po - Story of a Boy with Autism

This article explores a film, A Boy Called Po, discussing the challenges that Patrick, better known as Po, experiences with the daily challenges of autism. Autism is a mental condition, present since early childhood, characterized by difficulties in communicating and relating to other people and in the use of language and abstract concepts (Google). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay There are numerous developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, and many more. Today we will talk about a developmental disability labeled as autism. Autism, autism spectrum disorder, is an umbrella for many challenges these people with autism may face; ranging from social skills to language and non-verbal communication. Boy Called Po is a film about the life of Patrick Wilson (the son) and David Wilson (the dad) who face many obstacles at work, school and more. A Boy Called Po is about how Patrick, better known as Po, is living with autism after the death of his mother and now only has his father. A common misconception is that people with autism are not intelligent. You would be sadly wrong or proudly proven wrong. Po is very intelligent and keeps his mind afloat by reading the newspaper and studying stocks regularly. In this film, the problems Patrick (Po) faces with his extended/perplexed/complex imagination affects his school, social life, and activities of daily living. Let's get to the point! Autism can be distinctive! People with autism can often be seen as different from their peers, resulting in being excluded, bullied and/or not accepted by everyone. Unfortunately, Po was bullied at school due to his uniqueness. Furthermore, with the passing of his mother, things got worse for him and he began to do worse at school; instead of paying attention in school, he drew, doodled, and sketched things. As previously mentioned, Po has a vast imagination and doing artistic things and/or being artistic has taken him away from his reality as a ridiculed, motherless child. Most of the time Po gets separated from his friends. Personally, I wouldn't want to be around people who only belittle me). However, later, the students noticed his distance and started targeting him. The fact is, Po was just trying to find his place and/or comfort in a school that had a more fixed school agenda against his developmental disability than his well-being. Then, due to the lack of school accommodations established by the school system and principal, the abuse Po often suffered led to frequent visits to the clinic and calls for his father to come pick him up, every time. With her mother's physical absence, her father became her sole guardian and supporter; leading to this, his job gave him a mandatory deadline to meet, otherwise he would lose his job as an engineer. (O'Malley, 2012) David, the father, missed the deadline because his main priority quickly became Patrick. With the free time, David had the opportunity to truly advocate for his son. And luckily, things started to improve for Po, after assistance from the custodian, Po's bully student was expelled and the school began to accommodate his needs more. Po also managed to help his father invent a model of airplane that would help combat global warming. To continue, Po was in two rehab centers throughout the film; one more intense than the other. The first rehabilitation center required Po to attend short coursessessions that created divergent, mind-stimulating activities. Patrick responded very well at this center, partly thanks to the occupational therapist he worked with. However, after his mother's death, he needed more intensive care and had to leave. Unfortunately, Patrick didn't like the new center at all, and eventually ran away because he was very unhappy. After all is said and done, David has decided to retire early and fully dedicate his time to Po. Crazy enough, Po saves the day again; as mentioned in the introduction, Po loves studying stocks. What I didn't say was that Po would run over it too! So instead of the twenty thousand dollars David expected to get back from his retirement, Po's stock investments brought in more than four hundred thousand dollars. Analyze the person's history according to the components of the WHO/ICF model, including body functions and structures, activities, participation, environmental factors and personal factors Patrick's environment did not want him to succeed!! I believe that, on a personal and professional level, based on the ICF model, the problem is not disability, but derives from the resources/barriers present in the environment. As stated, Po's school environment was not in his favor. The result is numerous additional difficulties, on top of the challenges Po faces with autism. One obstacle is Patrick's lack of participation; due to the death of his mother, Patrick felt quite alone, even in his imagination it was only him. It was only in the last part of the film that things became easier for Patrick following his father and school to understand him more. Some of Patrick's positive strategies were studying and investing in stocks, reading the newspaper, and using his imagination by drawing. , paint, doodle and sketch. These hobbies were good because they exercised his mind while maintaining his intelligence. These hobbies also allowed him to express his imagination in his safe place. As a bonus, he turned his love of sticks into money for him and his father; a lot of money. All allowing him to face his life in a positive way. Some of the negative coping strategies Po had were to randomly leave supervision: Withdrawal: Separate yourself from everyone. Escape from the rehabilitation center. Destruction of material things. Collapse when shouted at. at.However, the collapse can be both negative and positive; it can often be seen as a weakness because it is a sign of weakness. On the other hand, it can be positive because tears can be his way of releasing anger and/or frustration. Finally, drifting is seen as a negative aspect because its safety is put at risk, which is never a good thing. He would escape by putting a blanket over his head or his favorite one, going to the dock where his mother would go because that was his way of remembering her. Evaluate the individual's overall response to the disability as generally positive or negative and defend your response with concrete examples from history Patrick Po Wilson's response to his uniqueness (autism) was quite mixed. It was neither all positive nor all negative; the negative outweighed the positive throughout the film. Some of Po's reactions were not good, such as being in class but not being attentive, instead floating in space. Or stay with his peers and intentionally separate; or him hiding under the covers and daydreaming about an imaginary world. At the same time, Po did what was best for him with the environment, accommodations, and circumstances he was given; ultimately making decisions that got him through his days. Furthermore, he has already had and/or already has a challenge in life, but the loss of his mother has.