SEYI TAIWO-OGUNTUASE
Parents with autistic children have been advised to stay strong and seek the right intervention so as to allow the children to live a normal life.
Oluwatosin Elugbe, Programme Coordinator for Hadassah Developmental Care and Nutrition Foundation, gave the charge during a walk organised by the foundation to mark this year’s World Autism day with the theme: ‘Walk for Autism: Know the Signs, Act Early.’
She said that the walk presents an opportunity to come together, show support, and amplify voices for individuals and families affected by autism.
The Foundation is a Non-for-Profit organisation which provides support, care and help for persons living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and related conditions, irrespective of their age, race, religion, sexual orientation, income and cultural background.
She said that the essence of the walk is to create awareness and to let people know that there is what is called autism, which is a neurodevelopmental disorder.
“It has to do with a developmental issue with the brain while the baby was either forming in the womb or while developing.”
Elugbe said that some of the children do not talk when they are supposed to and some don’t hit their milestones.
“If we can detect it early the better, some children flap their hands instead of them to express themselves they cannot, they flap their hands. Some parents are not aware of these symptoms and that the children tend to grow without the right intervention and they cannot live an independent life.
“They cannot function like their peers; they have social impairment. When you take them out, they are not aware of their environment.
“We have some children that we work with whose intervention was early and they are able to come out of it. They are able to live independent life. The first thing is awareness, people must be aware; we must not shy away from it.
“Autism is not a spiritual attack, it is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Scientifically, there is no proven cause for it but over time while working with parents and children we discovered that some of these things are from unhealthy diets.
“Autism is prevalent now and it is increasing, we need to make sure that it is reduced to the barest minimum.
“We are trying to tell parents that have these children that we feel their pains, we bear their burdens, we can walk the journey with them. We don’t walk with parents that can afford our bills alone, but we also work with parents that cannot afford our bills, we work with the less privileged parent as well we sensitise them and give them the basic tips they can use in helping these children live normal and independent lives so that as they are getting older they can be useful for themselves and the society at large,” she added.
She, however, advised parents not to write these children off.
The team commenced the walk from CMD road, Magodo through Shangisha road to Aladelola Street.
Along the way, the team engaged in a brief talk to educate people about Autism Disorder before dispersing.
