Early Diagnosis Helps in Managing Autism, Say Experts

Oluchi Chibuzor

The Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Segun Agbaje, has led an autism awareness campaign to sensitise parents and caregivers on better ways to care for children living with the disorder.

Speaking at a programme held recently to mark World Autism Day, tagged ‘Life Being the Diagnosis’, experts reiterated the place of early diagnosis in managing the developmental disorder.

The 10-day conference, 11th in the series, held in Lagos from July 26 to August, hosted special needs and child care experts worldwide.

In his remarks, Agbaje stated that the organisation was committed to leading the conversation to draw attention to the needs of children living with autism and providing support to parents and caregivers.

“If you have a child or ward living with this condition, you are not alone. You have the full support of everyone at Guaranty Trust, as well as our commitment to helping you in any way we can,” he stated.

Consultant and speech-language pathologist, Dr Grace Bamgbose, noted that as part of efforts towards ensuring that children with special needs are properly cared for, parents and caregivers should seek early diagnosis and learn how best to care for them.

She said about seven to 12 per cent of children had developmental needs from ages two to 14, adding that early detection would increase the child’s chance of getting the requisite help they need to lead independent and productive lives.

“Getting a diagnosis will preempt the next line of action and the therapeutic measures to adopt and things to change around the child looking beyond the early years of diagnosis,” added Bamgbose. “Parents need to educate themselves on better ways to manage that child to become independent. They have to look at things to change around the home that would suit the child. We want to have a conversation about the kind of school placement of that child.”

Adelola Edema-George, a special needs educator, opined that every child at every level of autism needed support, attention to develop and contribute meaningfully to society.

She added that government support would ease the financial burden of managing the condition and further broaden the mindset of parents and caregivers to better deal with the stereotypes associated with it.

“The government has done some things to create awareness on special needs, but the information is still limited. The expertise they have may not be enough to ensure that they are meeting the needs of children with disabilities. We hope we can get government support and that parents can get therapy and diagnosis,” said Edema-George.

A US-based speech-language pathologist, Adeboyega Otubanjo, stated that beyond awareness was the challenge of willingness to access the service.

“Even though in New York, the government is providing early intervention for free, the willingness to approach these services is not there because of lack of enlightenment on what autism entails. Some people believe that autism is something that a family member caused,” Otubanjo pointed out.