FCTA’s Initiative Toward Creating Autism Awareness

As a developmental disorder characterised by difficulty in social interaction and communication, Autism is a condition which can be severe or slight in different people. The spectrum was a focal subject when the FCT Minister, Musa Bello visited an autistic home as part of activities to mark Autism Awareness Month, Olawale Ajimotokan reports

There are several misconceptions that border on ignorance about autism. Some members of the public erroneously perceive the lifelong, non-progressive neurological disorder that typically appears before the age of three as a psychiatric illness and a spiritual condition.

It was the desire to shatter those myths and create proper knowledge about autism that the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, visited the Brain Bloom Centre, Apo, Abuja, a centre dedicated to the care of children with special needs and at the forefront of creating awareness for autism.

The minister visited the centre which was founded by Mrs. Rahanatu Yusuf as part of activities to mark Autism Awareness Month held from the April 1-30 every year with a view to rendering necessary support. 

He pledged continued support of the FCT Administration to improving the well-being of persons with autism and other neurological disorders to enable them live normal lives. 

“We feel highly delighted to have come here and I share with what you are doing because autism is a reality actually. It is probably just recently that we know autism as a name. Sometimes, you get to know it rather early and sometimes, you don’t know about it till it is very late.

” I encourage you not to lose hope. Let us just keep on pushing. I will continue to give you publicity, and from time to time, I encourage you to do some activities. You don’t need to make it only an annual event during the autism month. If there is any need for support, you can contact my office and we will see what we can do”, he said

He lauded Yusuf for creating a forum where parents of autistic students can come and share ideas, noting that through idea sharing, solutions can be found for any challenge.

On the need for an inclusive environment, the minister revealed that the FCT Administration was working on making public buildings to conform to the Disability Act recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, so as to cater for persons with disabilities and other special needs.

This, he noted and coupled with the planned installation of lifts at the rail stations would provide easy access and movement to persons with disabilities in these facilities.

In her remarks, Yusuf appealed for greater understanding, patience and acceptability of autistic persons to build a much more inclusive world that protects the rights of all children, particularly those with neuro-diversity.

She urged governments at all levels and citizens not to forget the vulnerable populations by implementing the Disability Act and ensuring that proper diagnostic centres are established.

“We want to make autism awareness more centre stage and topic of conversation which is why we are bringing this to the attention of the Honourable Minister who has the capacity to make impactful policies to achieve this herculean feat,” Yusuf said.

Yusuf, who trained as a Chemical Engineer, found practice and passion in special education while researching and building her capacity to support her eighteen months old son, Usman, who had a slow start.

Her son Usman is now 14-year-old and in a mainstream school breaking barriers. Now Yusuf has decided it was time to help others take care of their children with similar challenges.

She pointed out that though symptoms of autism may be similar to other neurological disorders, children with autism are different.

“They all have different clusters because autism hardly exists on its own. There is usually a co-morbidity along with it. Some of them have attention hyperactivity disorder -very short attention span. They cannot focus on one activity for more than five minutes. Some have anxiety issues. They get scared when they want to try something new.

“Some even have dietary issues and cannot deal with certain kinds of food. Some of them have epilepsy, some of them have seizures because they are all related to the brain”.

She appealed to well-meaning Nigerians and corporate bodies to come to the aid of the children, noting that the centre is small and needed to be expanded, while new outlets be established across the Territory in areas easily accessible to the needy.

Her partner and childhood friend, Mrs. Olayinka Afolayan, a Computer Scientist by profession and special needs children advocate, stressed the need for acceptance by the society. 

Afolayan, though not having a child with special needs, regretted that society tends to stigmatise anything it does not understand, calling for more awareness to reduce stigma and increase the possibility of early detection and care.

Narrating her experience where she was told to seek help to get more male children when she had her second female child, Afolayan lamented that such stereotype causes more harm than good in relations to special needs children as early detection was key to resolving most issues surrounding caring for the children.  

 Some parents of autistic children narrated their ordeals, ranging from lack of diagnostic centres for neurological disorders, financial strain to physical and mental stress.

 One of such parents, Mrs. Jamila Ruma Bawa, lamented that the challenge started from when they didn’t even know what the problem was with their child, then to finding a suitable place that understands and cares. She concluded: “Autism, is tasking emotionally,  physically, and particularly financially. 

 “You have to pay school fees, as some of the kids go to mainstream school.  They come here for therapy, so you pay for therapy, pay for mainstream education, pay for some special therapies pay for special diets, pay for supplements, pay for doctors’ appointments and all these are being borne by parents”.

 For Usman Ahmed Modibbo, another parent, it was equally challenging for his family as they faced facts they didn’t want to accept when their son was hyperactive and couldn’t speak a word at three. “But we have seen progress and the best decision we’ve ever made is coming to this Centre”, he said. 

 On her part, Mrs. Fatima Zarau appealed for inclusion of autism treatment in the national health insurance scheme (NHIS): “We as parents of special needs children have a lot of demands. Government should meet us halfway because most of the interventions our children need are very expensive”.  She also called for inclusion of special needs treatment on the NHIS. 

One of the centre’s teachers, a verbal behaviour therapist, Mr. Manji Danjuma, explained that verbal behaviour therapy was the most suitable method adopted in teaching the children since conventional learning methods were unsuitable for them.

 He stressed that the therapy was an approach that applied behaviour analysis and theories of behaviorists in teaching children with autism in communication and language. Simply, verbal behaviour therapy is a Montessori teaching method involving use of images and sounds that represent those images.

Quote “On the need for an inclusive environment, the minister revealed that the FCT Administration was working on making public buildings to conform to the Disability Act recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, so as to cater for persons with disabilities and other special needs”