Evaluation of News Magazine Stories

Finding specific news stories about occupational therapy was not easy. My first article is from The Atlantic, and it outlines the struggle of giving enough support to autistic students and those with asperger's syndrome, because often schools don't have the right resources for these kids, and they suffer in school, both academically and socially. My second article is from The Week, and it discusses the role mental health plays in universities.

Number One!
This article discusses the lack of support given to autistic children in the public school system. More specifically, how the public schools only care about how these struggling students are doing academically, and not socially. Henry was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome when he was in the fifth grade, but it had been a lifelong struggle for him to fit in and keep up with his peers socially. "Special- education departments to focus on helping students with learning disabilities. But kids with Asperger's often don't need academic support," says Amy, the author and mother of Henry. While the administration claimed that they were doing all they could, Amy disagreed.

The most sympathetic character in this story is actually the author. The author is Henry's mother, who ended up pulling her son out of public school and homeschooling him due to the lack of social support at his previous school. She evokes feelings of sympathy from me because I cant imagine being put in this position. Seeing my child stressed and upset at the end of every school day and having breakdowns during class would break my heart. And it broke hers too, so she tried to get the school to help him. None of the psychologists or administration cared about his social well being because he was excelling academically.

The least sympathetic character in this story would be the public school administration. I understand that they can only do so much for one child, but in this case they did not even try to understand Henry's situation. If a psychologist from the school had sat down with him and properly evaluated his social skills and personality, then they could've set up a different kind of program for him. One that was communicated to the teachers that he had so that he was getting the most out of his school day. But since this was not done, Henry just became shy and quiet and kept to himself.

Number Two!
The debate in this article is very similar to the previous article, but translated to universities. This article claims that universities are not providing enough support for students with mental health issues. Young adults are at a higher risk of suffering from mental illness because they are in a brand new environment, which puts them outside of their comfort zone, which then makes them very vulnerable. While most schools have some sort of counseling available, often it is very limited to suicide prevention or just depression, when it should be expanded to anxiety and stress. But why should people care? "The arguments starts with why mental health can affect academic performance, by affecting concentration, optimism about the future, energy, sleep, and so on," says Daniel Eisenberg, a professor at University of Michigan.

I am most sympathetic to the students at universities that do not support the mental health of their students. Mental health is an issue that hits close to home for me, so it makes me upset to find that some students are not getting the help that could make them much more successful in school. Every student should have an equal chance at success at pursuing their career, and I'm afraid that students without receiving the help they need to deal with mental health issues are at a distinct disadvantage.

I am least sympathetic to the Universities that are not putting in the money and effort needed to improve these mental health programs. If they did, they would have more students graduating, and better GPA for student's struggling with these mental health issues. Needless to say, students would have better experiences throughout college as well.

Zoe Schlanger, "Mental Health Providers." 3-26-14  via Newsweek.