PLENTY of attention is focused on the health of children, but often that doesn’t include their mental well-being.

Compared with physical problems, psychological and neurological disorders are usually harder to diagnose, and they often carry public stigmas.

If early detection fails, children and adolescents may face lifelong mental disorders that jeopardize the concept of a safe, productive society, according to a World Health Organization report.

However, inroads are being made into understanding mental problems, in educating the public and in helping those who benefit from treatment.

Autism

Many people think of autistic children as reclusive, perhaps a bit eccentric or even artistic geniuses.

It may be a simplistic way of understanding a complex condition with many facets, but at least it shows that the public is beginning to take some notice.

Frequent media reports about charity auctions of paintings by autistic children have helped open a long-closed door, but only a crack.

“Only about one in 1,000 autistic children has an extraordinary gift of talent,” said Daisy Deng, headmaster of the Beyond Autism School based in the Jing’an District. “Autistic children often draw well because they see the world in pure, honest and sensitive terms and have an exceptional focus on detail.”

Those characteristics could be perfect attributes for certain jobs, such as a librarian or accountant, but a United Nations report estimates that 80 percent of adults with autism are unemployed.

Autism is a poorly understood neurological disorder marked by impaired communication skills and repetitive patterns of behavior. China has an estimated 10 million autistic people, with one in five 14 years or younger and four of five male, according to the nation’s first report on autistic children, released by the Xinhua news agency’s charity channel in 2014.

There are precious few schools specializing in education for autistic children, who often have trouble adapting to mainstream classrooms. That, too, is changing.

The Beyond Autism School, established in 2011, now has about 60 pupils mainly aged between two and eight.

“Early intervention is very important,” Deng said,” because autistic children can be very stubborn and it takes time and patience to change their bad habits.”

Autistic children are generally slow in learning to speak and thus can’t express their feelings properly.

“For example, we are here on the 19th floor of a building, and we automatically blot out common street noises like horns honking,” said Deng. “However, autistic children can’t do that filtering. Once they feel rattled, they will scream or sometimes shove you away to protect themselves from what they see as something aggressive.”

Her school now has 14 teachers, all of whom have received special education training. Every day, about 32 children attend classes, which include shape recognition, calculations and music.

“We imitate the environments of kindergarten and primary school, and we try to adapt our students to behavior norms in regular classrooms,” Deng said.

There are still about 140 children on a waiting list for places at the school. In lieu of available space, the school tries to coach parents and mainstream teachers on how to recognize and help autistic children.

In 2014, Beyond Autism School began holding lectures for teachers of first to sixth graders. The program was extended to all of the primary and middle schools in Jing’an last year.

“What we need is patience and the right methods,” Deng said.

Tourette’s syndrome

Kevin Yu, 17, is a student at the High School Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is engaged in a student project looking at how ordinary people react when they meet someone with Tourette’s syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by rapid and repetitive involuntary movements and vocalization.

Yu was diagnosed with the syndrome when he was about seven.

Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder that can easily lead to a high degree of stigmatization and social isolation if untreated, according to the WHO report. It is estimated that 0.2 percent of the population suffer the disease, which means one in every 500 children.

“I was always hiding my disorder from others,” said Yu. “Even when some of my closest friends asked why I had these tics or behaved like I did, I usually gave some excuse to blur the issue.”

In August, Yu watched an online documentary on the syndrome, and it changed his life.

The documentary, the first looking at mental disorders in China, was made by a photographer named Jiang Yunsheng, who also suffers from Tourette’s.

“The documentary unlocked a knot in my heart,” Yu said. “I felt a push from inside to do something, so I initiated a project with my friend Cheryl He.”

Under the project, the pair introduced the syndrome to their schoolmates.

“To my relief, most of them were very understanding,” Yu said. “They came to consider it no big deal and don’t judge me by my tics.”

Public understanding and acceptance are important in creating an environment where those who suffer from mental disorders can achieve the best of their ability, said Du Yasong, a child psychiatrist with the Shanghai Mental Health Center.

Tourette’s sufferers pose no threat to anyone, but complications, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression, can lead to ostracization and fractured relationships.

“The environment they live in is more important than any treatment we can give them,” Du said. “Some parents don’t know about the syndrome, so when they see their child blinking repeatedly, they think it’s inflamed eyes, or when their child bursts out with grunting noises, they might think something is wrong with the trachea. Misunderstanding delays detection and proper help.”

Yu is one of the lucky ones. His parents understand his mental condition and support him in dealing with it.

“During the project, I talked with parents and children where Tourette’s has caused conflicts,” Yu said. “Parents may be willing to help their children, but some children of adolescent age rebel and shun that help. But the adolescence period is critical in treating the disorder.”