Taiwan group calls for reframing of childhood mental illnesses

Taipei, April 30 (CNA) A local advocacy group on Wednesday urged that Taiwan change the way it describes and talks about childhood mental illnesses by categorizing them as "neurodiversity" to reduce stigma and improve access to treatment.

At a press conference, the Action Alliance on Basic Education said many parents lack accurate knowledge of conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and often fear that their children will be labeled, leading to delays in seeking medical help.

Alliance Chairman Wang Han-yang (王瀚陽) cited government statistics showing that nearly 20 percent of over 6,000 reported child abuse cases last year involved children with special needs, including hyperactivity and developmental delays.

These children are frequently misunderstood and subjected to inappropriate discipline, creating a cycle of harm, he warned.

The group proposed that, similar to how "senile dementia" was renamed "Alzheimer's disease," the government should establish an interagency task force to replace stigmatizing terminology in medical, educational, and social welfare systems with the more neutral and globally recognized term "neurodiversity."

According to Harvard Health Publishing, neurodiversity "describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one 'right' way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits."