By Palesa Mofoti
World Autistic Pride Day is commemorated on 18 June. Many citizens take it for granted that certain members of the population have underlying illnesses that might result in a lifelong struggle.
According to Autism South Africa (ASA), Autism is a lifelong, highly complex condition that results from a genetic predisposition triggered by environmental factors.
Parents raising autistic children face stigma due to a lack of education in society.
At least twenty-five percent (25%) of people with an autism spectrum condition do not have intellectual impairment; they often possess a superior intellect.
In addition, autistic people manifest what the public may consider “bad/strange/inappropriate behaviors.” These behaviors are some of the difficulties they encounter as they try to cope.
Statistics released in April 2012 by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, shows that one out of every 88 children born will develop an Autism Spectrum Condition. The population of South Africa is over fifty million, with 19.48 births to every one thousand (1000) people, which almost totals a million births yearly. Therefore, every forty-five (45) minutes, a child susceptible to Autism Spectrum Condition is born.
There are many underlying or co-morbid conditions involved. These include obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), ADHD, Epilepsy, Non-learning Disorder, Anxiety and Clinical Depression, and Visual Problems.
According to ASA, there are three (3) types of Autism spectrum: Kanner/classic Autism, which affects seventy-five (75%), Asperger Syndrome, which accounts for twenty-three (23%) and Savant autism, which accounts for two percent (2%).
Maleshane Lebona, a mother to a sixteen (16) year old boy with Asperger’s Spectrum, details the struggle she faces regularly: “He is practically a baby, and whatever move he makes, I must be there to assist. We can’t be in public because he has a higher sound frequency. What I hear, he hears it two times louder. He has a non-existent sleeping pattern. There are instances where he can go more than twelve hours without sleep. His medication alone can cost up to one thousand two hundred (R1200) just for a pack of 30 tablets.”
Paul Lingham, the mother to a twelve-year-old boy diagnosed with Kanner/Classic, stated, “my son is a very lovable, humble child. The only problem is that he struggles with communication; honestly, Kimberley has few amenities that can accommodate a child like him. That is why we decided to home-school him”.
Educating the public on disorders such as Autism will decrease the stigmas associated with the condition. People will be more kind, patient and understanding of the difficulties of such a disorder.
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