For families that raise children with autism, an ordinary visit to the shop can become a challenge. The autistic children react emotively to noise and strident sounds, to powerful light, crowdedness and many other things. The autistic child can cry, stomp and fling himself down. In such situations, the parents feel helpless and need understanding. This is the message transmitted by Maria Kioning, manager of the Association “Intelegem Autismul” (“Understanding Autism”), on the occasion of World Autism Awareness Day, IPN reports.
A number of NGOs staged awareness-raising events centering on autumn in Chisinau, Balti, Tiraspol and Rybnitsa on April 2. Volunteers told passersby about the problems faced by families that bring up autistic children and how these can be helped. “Today we tell the people that such behavior is not a sign of bad education or aggressive behavior and explain how one should act in such a case,” stated Maria Kioning.
The first signs of autumn can be seen early. At the age of two-three months, the child avoids visual contact and after the age of six months does not smile to parents in response to their smile. At the age of eight months, this does not follow the pointer, while at the age of nine months does not gurgle. “These are elementary, but unknown things. Surely, the diagnosis is made by a specialist, but the parent should be informed. That’s why we produced informative resources about the first signs of autism. These will be placed in medical and educating institutions,” said Maria Kioning. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment help the parents establish efficient communication with the autistic child and then to integrate this into society.
According to the World Health Organization, one in 160 children was born with autism in 2016.
