An NGO, IKE Foundation for Autism, has urged the Federal Government to focus attention on the plight of autistic children in order to create more awareness on autism.
The Executive Director of the foundation, Mr Mohie-Francis Oko, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
He advised the federal government to evolve education policy that would be acceptable and make provision for people with autism within the school system.
According to Oko, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a syndrome characterised by impairment in language, communication and speeches.
“It also involves impairment in social skills, relationship development, behaviour and, in some cases, sensory dysfunction, among others.
He said that the foundation was founded basically to cater for persons and families with ASD.
“Awareness is very key; having a child is a load and having a child with special needs of autism is entirely a different world, because the management of this challenge cannot be handled by the affected families alone.
“We need support from government; government should train teachers, fashion out workable policies within the school system and make provision for the affected children.
“We are also asking government to show special interest in children with autism because there is so much to be done, such as provision of facilities.
“This is why the foundation operates on four pillars as our tools for engagement under the acronym “HEAL” which stands for Health, Education, Awareness and Learning,’’ he said.
Oko said that under health, the foundation’s focus was on making good referrals, assessments and diagnosis, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Hospital.
According to him, the foundation holds its clinic every Tuesday at the child pediatric department and upon diagnosis, identifies cases after which parents are advised on what to do.
This, he said, informed the foundation’s second pillar, which had to do with education, as early intervention programme was key as caregivers.
“We engage the children on one-on-one basis to modify their behaviours and prepare them for mainstreaming and integration into regular schools,” Oko said.
He gave the third pillar as awareness, stating that it focused on amplifying the understanding of people in order to reduce stigmatisation.
The last pillar of the foundation engagement, he said, was learning, which focused on capacity building, research, training of teachers, parents and caregivers, including househelps and other stakeholders, in connection with persons with autism.
Oko said that there was nothing that could be done till this moment to cure autism, adding, however, that research was still ongoing on finding cure for the disease.
He said that research had shown that autism was more of a genetic issue, although there were other suspects, such as environmental toxin and intake of vaccine.
The executive director noted that managing autism could be very demanding and expensive to be afforded by an average family, let alone the poor ones.
He encouraged those suffering from the disease to keep hope alive and always seek help. (NAN)