With a minimal cost, Bangladesh can train community healthcare providers to screen autism among children giving them the chance to lead a quality life, said school psychologist Saima Hossain.
In a recent interview with The Daily Star, Saima said social stigma poses a major challenge in the early diagnosis of autistic children.
Due to lack of understanding of autism, people are negligent about treating autistic children until it is too late, said Saima, who is also the daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people, according to The National Autistic Society in the UK. The neural disorder usually appears in the first three years of life.
There is no reliable data on autistic people in Bangladesh. The social welfare ministry estimates 10 percent of the country's total population are living with various types of disabilities and only 1 percent of them are autistic. It means around 1.5 lakh people are autistic.
The country needs to train community healthcare providers on how to understand signs and symptoms of autism, said Saima, chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on Autism in Bangladesh. She is also the Bangladesh representative of Autism Speaks, a US based NGO.
Community healthcare providers could become the first line of screeners who can help parents become aware of autism in their children, she said while discussing the outcome of the international conference on autism held in the city last month. She was a key organiser of the event.
"They do not necessarily need extensive training. They can be given the training through video conference as internet facilities have reached the rural level by this time," she said, adding that if a group of parents, local leaders and healthcare providers are given requisite training, they will be able to increase public awareness.
"The autistic children need very intense evidence-based therapeutic intervention. If it is diagnosed early, the improvement of the children especially in language area is possible as the brain is extremely efficient at that time," she said.
The pediatricians and general physicians should also receive training on how to diagnose autism, she added
Another challenge is to have psychologists at the schools who can deal with autistic behaviour, provide mental health therapy and help teachers address behavioural challenges of the autistic children, said Saima who has worked as a school psychologist after achieving a degree from Barry University of Miami Shores, Florida.
Focusing on the achievements of last month's Dhaka conference on autism, she said that the education, health and social welfare ministers were keen to create an environment friendly for autistic children. "The education minister is very much eager to start a support system, teachers training and curriculum development," she pointed out.
"But nothing is going to happen overnight," she warns. "We need to start with pilot studies to see what is feasible in the country and then develop the programme through government and NGO collaboration," she said.
As a follow-up to the international conference, Saima intends to form four taskforces on awareness building, healthcare services, education and research field.
"The job of the taskforces will be to identify the most pressing issues and help the government adopt plans to solve them."
A network titled South Asian Autism Network has also been formed to increase regional cooperation for exchange of information and sharing of expertise and best practices.
Source : The Daily Star
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