The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has called on all stakeholders to address the challenges faced by autistic children in the country.
Chukwu, who made the call at the 2012 World Autism Awareness Day in Abuja on Monday, said that the call became necessary because the challenges of autism were beyond the health sector.
“We all know that the challenges of autism go beyond the health sector, it affects the holistic development and survival of the child and all sectors must be involved in this fight.”
The minister was speaking on the theme: “Autism: Early intervention is key”, with the slogan “Know the signs, act now”.
He said that awareness creation, early diagnosis and timely application of appropriate intervention were key to the successful management of the disorder.
Chukwu explained that early intervention would guarantee functional capacity of an autistic child.
He urged the people to stop associating autism with witchcraft and other bizarre belief, describing autism as a complex developmental disorder that primarily affects the brain.
The minister said, “It is characterised by the inability of affected persons to develop communication skills and normal social interactions, thereby hampering learning and other forms of behaviour.
“Affected individuals have altered sensory perceptions and may inappropriately react to situations.
“Whereas, there is no cure per se, it has been established that early diagnosis and application of appropriate intervention is associated with good outcome, and that is why we are really talking about it.”
Chukwu said that “everybody is predisposed to having a child with autism because the cause of the disorder is not known”, and urged communities to stop stigmatising families whose children had autism.
Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, said that it was important for all stakeholders to join efforts in combating the disorder.
She said that persons with autism faced barriers that isolated them from the world around them, and stressed the need to integrate these exceptional persons that include children into their environment.
Maina called on the media to increase awareness about the condition in order to correct the erroneous belief and encourages people to seek help.
In her contribution, the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’I, emphasised the need for parents with autistic children to present them for assistance as early as possible.
She said that it was the only way they could be self-dependent.
The Online Health Journal Edu-health says that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a neuro developmental abnormality that interferes with normal functioning of the brain.
It inhibits the ability to communicate and develop social interactions; it could be confused with Down syndrome and Cerebral Palsy that affects the brain.
The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in its report on the disorder, says that one in 88 children born globally would be autistic.