Autism deserves special attention
ON Wednesday, July 12, the Daily Graphic carried a story on its front page titled “Autism not death warrant: GT Bank rolls out major intervention.”
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The story highlighted how 16-year-old Phil Bertino was making great strides in cycling, swimming and other sports despite living with autism.
It also highlighted how Phil Bertino’s parents had to go to great lengths to provide medical and psychological support for him to live a normal life.
What was obvious in the success story of Phil Bertino was the financial investment his parents made in his life – from expensive therapies and other medical processes to providing tailored visual learning for him.
The success story of Phil Bertino showed that when children living with autism are given the needed attention and support, they can be useful to themselves and society.
Unfortunately, it appears that autism has not been given the needed attention and many people have no or little knowledge about the condition.
Autism is a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function, affecting the development of a person's communication and social interaction skills.
It is a lifelong condition that affects millions of people worldwide.
According to the Centre for Learning and Childhood Development (CLCD), Autism spectrum disorder is characterised by delayed social skills, repetitive behaviour and difficulty with speech and non-verbal communication.
It is a neurological and developmental disorder that begins early in children and lasts throughout their lifetime.
The mystery surrounding the causes of autism is yet to be fully unravelled but research has linked it to genes and the environment.
The US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one per cent of the world’s population have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) also estimates that, globally, one in every 160 children has an autism spectrum disorder.
While there is no data on the Africa region, in Ghana, the CLCD reports that an estimated 38.7 per cent of children under the age of 14 are affected.
A 2017 report by the Autism Society of Ghana puts the number of people living with autism in Ghana at 400,000.
The Daily Graphic finds it worrying that in some parts of the country, people link the condition to witchcraft or a curse from the gods.
With that mindset, people who live with autism are subjected to all forms of abuse, discriminated against and stereotyped.
Parents and caregivers of autistic children are also not spared derogatory utterances from members of the society in which they live.
Worst still, most of the parents of children living with autism are burdened financially, making it extremely difficult to take proper care of them.
Apart from the regular expenses that parents without autism incur, taking care of autistic children comes with higher medical expenses, increased transportation cost as well as higher expenses for their education.
The Administrator of AwaaAwaa2, a non-profit organisation which raises children with special needs, Abigail Asempa, said it was worrying that there was "zero attention from the government" for the plight of autistic children.
The Daily Graphic is of the view that the time has come for the government to give more attention to people living with autism by supporting them with a special package for medical care.
It is also important for special incentives to be given to operators or managers of centres for the training of autistic children.
Again, we at the Daily Graphic believe that society must accept people with autism just like all others so that they can be more functional and contribute to the development of the country.
There is, therefore, the need for attitudinal change by members of the public towards people living with autism, their parents and caregivers.
Both state and non-state actors must get involved in supporting autistic children.
It is in the light of this that the Daily Graphic doffs its hat to the Guaranteed Trust (GT) Bank for rolling out a GH¢2 million initiative to support autistic children and their caregivers.
