THE stares, the whispers, and the judgement—these are just some of the things that parents of children with autism have to deal with at the very least.
Why do I know these? It is because I am a mom to a six-year old boy diagnosed with mild autism. Relatively speaking, and for those who are in the knows about the Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD, I am still way lucky to have a high functioning child. However, he still has special needs that need to be accepted and understood.
Last week, the Autism Consciousness Week was celebrated led by the Autism Society of the Philippines. Various awareness activities including the Annual Angels’ Walk had been conducted as part of the efforts to continuously advocate for an inclusive society. Through the years, there has been an increasing number of children and even adults who have been diagnosed to be in the spectrum. As a result, more and more organizations, medical and developmental experts, educational institutions, therapy centers, and most importantly, parents who have felt the pressing need to raise more awareness to other people in order to prevent stereotyping, bullying, and discrimination of people with ASD.
In the Philippines, there is an estimated 1 per cent of the population living with autism according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. While there is no available statistics on autism prevalence in the Philippines but using CDC data, there are least more than 1 million Filipinos who have autism.
Early detection and intervention play a pivotal role in managing ASD particularly among kids. It is important for parents to note significant signs of behavior that may be regarded as early symptoms of autism. According to the US National Autism Center, some of these are but not limited to no social smiling by 6 months, no one-word communications by 16 months, no two-word phrases by 24 months, no babbling, pointing, or meaningful gestures by 12 months, poor eye contact, not showing items or sharing interest, unusual attachment to one particular toy or object, not responding to sounds, voices, or name, and loss of skills at any time.
It is important to know that since it is a spectrum, there are no two people with ASD who will exhibit the same type of behavior and symptoms. It ranges from the mild to the severe, which oftentimes relate to the level of functioning of a certain person from low to high functioning autism.
As I have mentioned above, my son who is mildly autistic and high functioning may have very crisp memory, thus helping him memorize and remember things more than the normal pace, but he has quite a developing set of socialization skills that needs to be corrected and given the proper attention and intervention.
As parents, guardians, and relatives of children with autism, we do not just wish our kids to feel included everywhere they go, be this at school, at the workplace, or even in public places, but we also want them to feel that they can do things the same way we can do them. They may be special or different, but they are definitely not less.
As a mom who saw the stares, who heard the whispers, and felt the judgement of people who do not even understand a thing or two about autism, I wish that someday, especially when I am no longer there to stand by him, my son can walk tall amidst his uniqueness and proudly tell the world that he is a child of God and that he deserves his place in this world.