Abdullah is autistic. But if disability is a matter of perception, Abdullah is a poet, a painter, a swimmer and a school boy who looks forward to college. It is also not fair and not even common to describe Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton and Nikola Tesla as autistic - they are outstanding scientists. Autistic children can be among them, but not before you help them out of this transparent box they are locked in. Minus the invisible cases due to stigma, parents' ignorance or negligence, there are 200,000 Saudi children diagnosed with autism, a neural disorder manifested in speech impairment, lack of basic communication skill and restricted behavioral patterns. Identifying that your child is autistic is not a straightforward process. It requires a decent amount of awareness, but it is not practical to ask parents to know by heart the symptoms of all disorders and diseases. “It is easy to know what is normal so as to distinguish what is not normal. And once you suspect that something is not quite right, do not hesitate to consult a doctor,'' stated Soher Balkhy, a consultant child development and pediatrics at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah. “Speech delay and hearing impairment are always mixed up with autism at first. A major difference is that the two conditions do not allow verbal communication, but do allow communication via other means. Non-autistic children suffering from these conditions also have no problems with social skills; unlike autistic children, we see them playing with other kids.” Symptoms of autism are numerous, and they are manifested differently from one person to another. ‘'Autistic children differ according to the autistic features they resemble and how severe their autism is,'' said Dr. Soher. This ambiguity leads to confusion. Mona Alkaf, the mother of an autistic daughter, told Saudi Gazette that she realized her daughter was autistic when she was five. She suspected it two years earlier, but her husband - who was thinking of the more severe levels of autism - told her that the disease was too complex. Diagnosing autism must be done very carefully so as to highlight the areas that need enhancement. ‘'Since the features vary from one child to another, a first step toward helping your child is pursuing an accurate diagnosis to get them the very help they need. You do not want to waste time, money and energy teaching your child who cannot speak how to get the pronouns correct,'' declared Dr. Sherif Azzam, psychological consultant at Maharat Centre in his workshop about autism, held last month. The age when children start getting the actual therapy plays a major role in the speed and the quality of their rehabilitation. ‘'It is easier to help younger children whom are two or three years old to acquire healthy habits. The older the child gets the more difficult the process becomes; we have to extinguish the negative behavioral patterns at first. And then we can teach them positive ones,'' said an autism teacher from the Autism Centre in Jeddah. Parents need to accept and move forward Accepting the fact that your child is autistic is the first step toward improving his or her condition. Unless you know there is a problem, you will not walk in the direction of its solution. ‘'We have a problem in accepting that what we are in is a health matter. It has nothing to do with traditional myths and allusion. This problem is emphasized with autism since symptoms mostly appear not immediately after birth but at any point from the child's birth until the age of 36 months. So parents are most likely to say their child was ‘normal' before they visited so and so place or so and so family, ‘' explained Dr. Azzam. Amal Shaikh, the director of Jeddah Autism Centre added, ‘'we face problems with young couples who expect to have absolutely healthy children ignoring the fact that disorders can happen to anybody.'' There are many things that can ease your pain and help you accept the situation. Abeer Zainy, the social specialist at Jeddah Autism Centre, said, ‘'we do many things to help parents overcome their first shock and disbelief. We make them meet parents who have had a similar experience with autistic children, and this helps them get emotional support and practical advice. We also bring religious orators to the center who helps strengthen parents' faith and remind them that such things are meant to happen, and they will be rewarded for their effort and patience.'' Parents' role in treating children is vital. They must be in touch with their teachers on a daily basis. ‘'We exchange reports about the child every day, and we encourage parents to note everything. For example, they must note whether the child slept well or not. This helps us understand the child's mood, and consequently we can help more efficiently,'' said an autism teacher from the center. This is not only for the child's benefit; parents also get some help from this interaction. ‘'We ask one of the child's parents to spend a full day with the child in the center. Observing the teacher's way of treating the child helps parents to learn how to communicate with their autistic children,'' explained Zainy. Every child must learn independence, and autistic children are no exception. ‘'The first thing we teach children is independence. We teach them to feed themselves, to clean themselves, to brush their teeth… etc. If they manage to learn that, we start teaching them other skills such as reading, using the computer and arts and crafts,'' explained an autism teacher from the center. Parents' exaggerated sympathy for their autistic children stands as an obstacle to helping them attain independence to some extent. ‘'Parents think that they are helping their autistic children by spoiling them. Keeping water near so the child does not suffer when trying to indicate thirst is not helpful at all, for instance. Parents will help if they give their children the space to identify their needs and to find a way to express them,” the teacher added. “Spoiling a child can result in the 17-year-old who cannot give up his diapers.” There has been a lot of talk about special diets for autistic children and that they must stick to them in order to progress. “Diets are controversial; they work for some but don't work for others,” declared Shaikh. In order to know whether or not the child must adapt this diet, Dr. Balkhi suggested that the family should follow the diet for three months and stop for three months. Meanwhile, they must observe and record the child's developmental state. If it is seen to be helpful, they can stick to it. However, if the child is to follow a certain diet, parents must commit to it permanently. “Parents must know that this is a life time diet, ‘' an autism teacher from the center clarified. ‘'Mothers may feel sorry to see their children deprived of bread or dairy products, but they should feel relaxed too because autistic people love routine.” All parents are concerned about their children's safety, and parents of autistic children are to be more worried when it comes to this area. Autistic children have no understanding of the concept of danger. Thus, parents must keep their children away from sharp items and high places. They must gradually program them to identify dangerous situations. The center's teacher also tackled another more serious aspect of the autistic child's safety: “If you see any scars on your child's body, you must not neglect them. Autistic children are not expected to complain to you if anyone has hurt them. Therefore, these scars can be the only way to spot harassment or abuse. And if you see your autistic child pick up any bad habits, you must realise that someone has been doing them front of your child; autistic children are imitators,” she said. Dealing with the rest of the world Society can be too harsh toward autistic or disabled children in general. Parents may have to face pitiful looks and rejection, but should be brave so as to help their children. ‘'Many mothers of children who suffer from language loss refuse to let their kids use pictures to express their needs. As a mother myself, I understand how moms do not want people to see their child's helplessness. But mothers must see the full picture and understand that using pictures is better than having no way to express their needs. Moreover, in many cases children manage to learn to communicate verbally to a certain degree, so they can eventually stop using the picture,'' said the teacher. She added that it is very important for the autistic child to socialize with other people to overcome his or her obligatory isolation. She also encouraged parents to be patient and brave while taking their kids to public places. ‘'Take your son to the supermarket. He might cry; others may crowd around you. This is most likely to happen a couple of times, but after that your child will get used to mingling with others.” An inevitable anxiety that parents will experience is whether or not there is a total recovery for their autistic children. The answer to this matter is not in black or white; it is a controlled yes. A mother of an autistic girl said that her daughter manages to follow a daily schedule, and she might attend a regular school next year. “But I am still looking for a cure for her,” she added. This mother and many others like her are not aware of the fact that curing autism lies in getting autistic people to ‘'practice positive pattern smoothly'' according to Dr. Azzam. He added that as long as autistic people are in touch with their doctors and are coping with their autism in the right way, their lives can be almost normal. According to Dr. Balkhy, in fact, some cases who have less severe autistic features, are diagnosed early and take the therapy they require may manage to lead a normal life. Talking about disability leads to another big question: is there a future for autistic children? Can they have a life beyond the boundaries of autism centers and therapy sessions? The answer is a yes that is bound to a number of factors. ‘'While 70 percent of autistic children are mentally disabled, the other 30 percent are not. This means that they can attend regular schools. And 10 percent of this 30 percent can make it to college,'' stated Dr. Azzam. Many parents would think that it is too difficult for their autistic child to fit in regular school. “It is very important for autistic children with average IQs to attend regular schools because the child takes as much as he gives. So attending schools instead of autism centers will save them from moving backwards,'' said the mother of an autistic child. Beside education, Dr. Azzam asserted that autistic people can have jobs and even get married as long as they get the therapies they need. ‘'We can provide therapy sessions that prepares autistic individuals for marriage,'' he added. If the autistic child has a low IQ, he or she can learn a craft and therefore have a simple job that maintains his or her independence. ‘'If the child cannot learn, he or she can be trained for jobs that involve repetitive practices such as packaging,'' said the teacher from the Autism Center. - SG Editor's note: April is Autism Awareness month. Where possible, the names of autism patients, their parents and teachers have been withheld. __
