Lack of awareness of Autism results in
problem going undiagnosed
Nearly 120 cases of autism have been reported in
the past two years at the Regional Institute of the Mentally Handicapped,
Sector 31, and around 30 such cases are treated every year in the psychiatry
department of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. Though
the number is quite significant, awareness about the problem is negligible.
"Due to lack of awareness among doctors and
parents, the problem went undiagnosed for years. The sooner children with
autism get diagnosed, greater is the success rate of the treatment. For early
intervention, awareness of the problem is very important," said Dr B S
Chavan, head of psychiatry department of Government Medical College and
Hospital, Sector 32, on the occasion of World Autism Awareness Day on Tuesday.
Chavan added, "Autism is a kind of
developmental disability. An autistic person has difficulty in social and
communication skills, the signs of which appears by the age of three
years".
While explaining the symptoms he said,
"Autistic children lack in development of communication, both verbal and
non-verbal. They fail to put their needs in words. They are not socially
active, they do not make eye-contact, there is lack of attachment and they have
very little knowledge about the difference between living and non-living
things. Another important characteristic of autistic children is that they have
repetitive behaviour - like to repeat an act".
Dr Chhaya Prasad, a developmental pediatrician,
said, "A two to three month old child starts cooing, by six months he/she
says mono-syllables, and by-syllables by eight-nine months. A year-old child is
able to say a few words. By the end of two years, every child should have 50
meaningful words in its vocabulary. Contrary to this, in autistic children,
there is a delay in developing appropriate speech".
Talking about the intelligence of autistic
children, Dr Adarsh Kohli, professor of Clinical Psychology, PGI, said,
"It is not necessary that all autistic children have poor IQ. Some of them
excel in quiz, music, accounts and other activities, but they are poor in logical
reasoning". She stated that autistic children should be sent to general
schools. "Autistic children should be sent to general schools, as it will
help them in their growth," she said.
Reagrding the treatment she said, "There is
no medicine or pharmacological treatment for autism, but medication are given
for co-morbid symptoms like hyper-activity. The only treatment is behaviour
therapy, stimulation techniques and play therapy. If the treatment begins at an
early age, it is more beneficial for children".
Aanganwadi workers apprised
of early detection of disease
To mark World Autism Awareness Day, 'Early
identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder' programme was organised by the
Regional Institute of the Mentally Handicapped, Sector 31, on Tuesday.
"Above 30 Aaganwadi workers from Ram Darbar
area were informed about the symptoms of autism, and they were motivated to
bring the problem to the notice of parents, so that early treatment could be
initiated," said Dr Chhaya Prasad, a developmental pediatrician.
She added, "Awareness among parents is
negligible, as a result several cases of autism go unreported. The anganwadi
workers are a very important part of the society, as they conduct door-to-door
surveys and interact with young children. The programme was aimed at
sensitising anganwadi workers about autism and to help them differentiate
between autistic children and children with low IQ".
She also said, "Early intervention helps
autistic children to learn social skills better, but in most cases, especially in
rural areas, the cases are identified at a later stage. With well informed
anganwadi workers in rural areas, awareness can be spread".
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