Children with autism need love and care

orld Autism Awareness Day is internationally observed on April 2 every year. This year’s theme was ‘Towards autonomy and self-determination’.

According to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one in 89 children between the ages of two and nine in India is diagnosed with autism. Raising awareness and receiving proper care at the right time can help ensure treatment of children with autism.

Autistic children often find it difficult to interact with others. They prefer minimal eye contact and often find loud sounds intolerable. Some display behavioural problems that often attract the attention of people around them. However, these children excel in different fields such as music, arts, mathematics, and so on. There are those who are multi-talented, and their abilities should be identified at an early stage and encouraged. I think children with autism should be accommodated in regular schools to help integrate them into mainstream society.

Patience is required when dealing with autistic children, and it must be accompanied with a lot of love and care. It is very important that children are diagnosed at an early stage and are provided with the necessary therapy.

As there is an alarming increase in the number of autistic cases, more research needs to be done to increase people’s awareness. In the 1970s and 1980s, about one out of every 2,000 children in the US had autism. Today, the US-based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in 150 eight-year-olds in the country has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Some eminent people who showed symptoms of autism are Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Isaac Newton and Michelangelo. They made a name for themselves and excelled in their respective fields, despite showing signs of autism. This is encouraging for children who fall in the autism spectrum. Let the world become more tolerant towards children with autism, and accept them wholeheartedly.