Awareness, access to help vital for autism
THE month of April kicked off by celebrating and building awareness of children with autism for World Autism Month, with World Autism Day commemorated on April 2.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as a childhood developmental disability caused by differences in the brain.
Scientists believe there are multiple causes of the disorder that act together to change the most common ways people develop.
“Over the years, research has revealed there is a gut-brain connection in autism and that we can discover and treat underlying causes such as food allergies, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, immune issues and inflammation,” said Ilana Gerschlowitz, managing director of The Star Academy, an organisation specialising in autism, and other behavioural disorders.
The World Health Organization reports that approximately 1 in 100 children has autism on a global scale; the CDC adds that the disorder is more prevalent in boys compared to girls. Children with ASD display unusual behavioural patterns, problems with social interaction, communication and routine behaviour, along with picky eating, toe walking and hand flapping.
Gerschlowitz added: “The child with autism needs more help and support from the parent to do those things that come naturally to a normal developing child, such as feeding themselves, potty training and using vocal language to express their wants and needs.
“The child appears to be in their own world and does not respond consistently to their name being called, they will not make eye contact, which will mostly be fleeting, and will do not follow instructions or play appropriately with their toys.”
However, some people without ASD also present some of these symptoms.
Gerschlowitz said there was limited knowledge about autism, regardless of race and economic class. But an article in Autism Parenting Magazine, by Andréas Deolinda disagreed, saying poor and middleclass households were more likely to be uninformed about the disorder, due to limited access to quality education and health care.
Both parties agreed autism awareness was not prevalent.
“Doctors and physicians fear diagnosing patients and often avoid it altogether. Hence, children are diagnosed at later stages. An added influence on autism diagnosis is the lack of qualified professionals,” said Deolinda.
Low income-autism affected-households were less likely to have adequate access to health care for treatment.
“Therapies once or twice a month will fall short in addressing the child’s delays and contributing measurably to their development. Children on the spectrum require intensive daily intervention and these services are not readily available to low income families,” said Gerschlowitz.
She noted that South Africa’s education system was not inclusive of autistic children,
“We are very behind in providing children with ASD the educational support they need, and in securing inclusive education. Some children on the spectrum will have prerequisite skills for school, which means they would benefit from being in a mainstream school with support.
“Other children don’t have the necessary skills for school and require one-on-one instruction to learn functional skills such as toilet training, language, communication and basic skills to function,” she said.
Therefore, The Star Academy introduced a psychological teaching methodology designed for autistic children, Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). ABA focuses on teaching psychological and developmental skills, from social, imitation and playing skills to language and adapting, cognitive and academic skills, and executive functioning.
“The developmental curriculum will allow us to identify missing developmental skills, and then enable us to customise lesson programs for each individual child to teach missing developmental skills,”said Gerschlowitz.