Increase awareness on autism- Centre

Accra, April 18, GNA - Mrs Serwah Quaynor, Founder of the Autism Awareness, Care and Training Centre in Accra has called for an intensive awareness creation on the autism disorder to ensure that sufferers received special care.

She who was speaking in Accra on Saturday ahead of a door-to-door awareness creation exercise for households at Kokomlemle, to mark this year's World Autism Day in Ghana said the number of autistic children in the country kept increasing at an alarming rate. Autism is a neurological disorder which affects some children and leaves them unable to form normal social relationships, develop normal communication skills and absorbed in a world of repetitive activities and interests.

Autism conditions required that patients be accorded special care and treatment at all stages of life to make them to feel as a part of the society.

Globally, it is believed that one out of every 500 children is on the autistic spectrum, making it more common than diabetes. Mrs Quaynor said currently, institutions to handle children with these disorders were not enough in the country, adding that this called for awareness creation to ensure that every family was able to handle it should it befall them.

She said the issue was compounded by the fact that there was no known cause and cure for the autism disease yet. She said every child was vulnerable and that steps must be taken to ensure that when contracted, the patients could receive the right treatment. She called on the media to lead the campaign on awareness creation to ensure that adequate care and treatment was accorded autistic children. 18 April 09