Awareness drive to promote autism acceptance

Rise in number of children diagnosed increases need for tolerance

ISLAMABAD: With a rise in the number of children diagnosed with autism, there is an increasing need for awareness and tolerance in the community. Therefore, in honour of World Autism Awareness Day, Shifa International Hospital Islamabad had an awareness drive, which highlighted signs and symptoms of the condition as well as possible treatments to increase parental awareness.

Autism or autism spectrum disorder refers to a range of conditions characterised by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours and complications with speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences. Autism’s most prominent signs tend to appear between two and three years of age. In some cases, it can be diagnosed as early as 18 months. Autism Specialist Haleema Sadia shared this information with the participants of the awareness drive organised by Shifa International Hospital at F-9 Park.

The slogan for the awareness campaign is “Light it up blue” as the colour blue is associated with peace, calmness and honesty. The Ribbon is the most recognised symbol of the autism community in the world. Autism awareness day is being observed on April 2.

Renowned Pakistani singer, songwriter Umair Jaswal was invited to motivate and inspire the audience. He said that World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day that represents an excellent opportunity to promote autism acceptance and to draw attention to the tens of thousands of people facing an autism diagnosis each year. We should plan such activities every year to educate parents and society to accept and better manage children and adults who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Haleema discussed the most common characteristics of Autism. She said that Autism lies between persistent social problems (communication and interaction difficulty) and repetitive behaviors as well as limited interest or activities, i.e., intense focus on one item, unresponsiveness, lack of understanding of social cues (like tone of voice or body language), repetitive movements, or self-abusive behavior like head-banging are some of the strong indicators of being at the risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2018.