NAN-HG-11
Autism
By Olasunkanmi Onifade
Abuja, March 30, 2017 (NAN) Mr Yashim Dogara , the Director, Ike Foundation for Autism (IFK) on Thursday appealed to the Federal Government to enact a law for autistic children to address their challenges.
Dogara made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja in commemoration of the World Autism Awareness Week from March 27 to April 2.
This year’s World Autism Day has the theme: “Toward autonomy and self determination’’.
The day was established by the UN for commemoration on April 2 every year to raise awareness on the Autism Spectrum Disorder that affects children.
He said that the law would help parents of children with the spectrum to provide better facilities.
According to him, Autism Spectrum Disorder refers to a range of conditions characterised by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours, speech and non-verbal communication.
“The autistic children require special care by all sectors of the society but the cares are not readily available and those available are not affordable, so the government needs to invest more.
“An autistic child needs therapy twice a week which can cost about N40, 000 to N50, 000 monthly.
“Autistic children are intelligent, they have unique characteristics, creative and innovative too, ‘’ Dogara said.
He said that government should invest more on the autistic children where adequate training, good behavioural therapy could be adopted.
Dogara said that although there were no precise statistics of autism children in the country but the National Bureau of Statistics could give some data of the children in the country.
He said that Nigeria, as a signatory to the UN treaty signed in 2007, had called on governments to develop a framework for the development of autistic children “but nothing is being done till date”.
He said that autism popularly known as a neurological disorder shows up in the first few years of life, which affects a child’s communication and social functioning.
“A child play patterns, unsociable and aggressive behaviour with frequent tantrums may incite self-injury and may show environmental demands.
“The classic symptoms are lack of eye contact and little or no speech, boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls,’’ he said.
Dogara said that the foundation was doing its best to educate the public about the disorder in the urban and rural communities.
(NAN)
OEO/HS/GY
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Edited by Halima Sheji/Grace Yussuf