The month of April is declared as the Autism Awareness Month globally to create awareness about the autism spectrum disorder.
Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain which impairs the ability of patients to communicate and interact with others around them.
Statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that 1 out of hundred children born suffer from autism.
Dakoa Newman, the lawmaker for the Okaikwei South in her own little way of observing the month of autism has called on the government, all concerned stakeholders and the general public to help create awareness of the autism disorder in the country.
According to her, supporting autistic children will help improve their conditions rather than stigmatizing them.
She highlighted on some ways by which autistic patients can be helped in the country. Newman indicated that every school in the country should have a teacher purposely trained to deal with children on the spectrum while adding that the National Health Insurance Scheme must finance some percentage of the speech therapy offered to autistic patients.
The lawmaker furthered that there should be a system by which nurses and teachers are trained to detect early signs of autism and interaction problems.
“As a society, the burden lies on us individuals and the general public to create a system that supports autistic individuals,’’ she told the media monitored by 1Family Radio.
She added that some Ghanaians have the wrong perception about neurodivergent individuals due to lack of awareness about the spectrum.
“let’s us light it up blue throughout the month of April to sensitize people on the disorder,’’ she concluded.
Source: 1Familyradio
