ISLAMABAD: An expert on Monday stressed the need for raising more awareness on autism and societal acceptance of the developmental condition
She also called for increasing parents’ tolerance and early-age behavioural therapy programmes to help autistic children to live a normal life.
Talking to APP, renowned neurologist/psychiatrist Jawahar Shahid Anwar explained that many autistic children remain undiagnosed, particularly in rural areas, where surveillance is rarely done for any neuro-developmental disorder.
“Families frequently don’t have easy access to assessments and other tools that can help them understand and treat autism or other neuro-developmental problems,” she said.
According to Dr Anwar, lack of knowledge regarding autism, the social and cultural stigma associated with neuro-developmental disorders, and financial constraints prevent many families from seeking evaluation or treatment.
She said that parents should avoid including sugary foods in their autistic child’s diet while also emphasising the importance of behavioural therapy and support for autistic kids in helping them develop new behaviours and skills.
In response to a query, she said that the treatment of autism in Pakistan is provided by a variety of medical specialists in a variety of venues. She expressed disappointment that Pakistani medical experts were still ill-informed about autism and added that society must first educate itself.
In response to a different query, she explained that autism, also known as an autism spectrum disorder, was a complicated set of neuro-developmental illnesses (ASD).
She said that most parents believe their autistic child is “a bit slow,” which is why more screenings are required so that children with autism can be addressed at an early stage. She claimed that discrimination towards children with autism results from a lack of information about the condition.
She emphasised that more child screening and assessment facilities were required in order to make early diagnoses of developmental aberrations like autism.
