Raising awareness about autism

(Baonghean) -According to a survey jointly organized by the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital and Vinh Medical University, it is estimated that in the province there are about 4,600 children (equivalent to 1.57% of children under 6 years old) with autism who need intervention. Compared to the rate of 0.7% of children with this disease about 15 years ago, this is an alarming situation. However, to limit autism in children is still a "difficult problem" to solve!

Seeing baby Thuy Duyen playing with friends, recognizing objects, her mother - Ms. Le Thi Thai (Nghi Phu - Vinh City) thought it was a dream. Because from a baby with slow development in both intelligence and language... but after two years of persistently following the therapy program at the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, the baby is now willing to talk, eat rice by herself, count numbers, recognize some letters, colors... This is one of the children who has received effective autism intervention at the Department of Neurology - Rehabilitation - Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. Every day, the department receives 3 - 5 new autistic children for examination. There are often 30 children coming to practice, receive therapy and education to recover and develop their personality. Most of the children coming to the clinic show signs of slow development, slow speech, hyperactivity, decreased attention, and difficulty in communication and learning.

According to the latest survey (conducted for the first time on a provincial scale) by the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital in collaboration with Vinh Medical University on 14,000 children under 6 years old in 7 districts and cities, the rate of children with autism is 1.57%, equivalent to 1/64 children with this disease. The rate of severely autistic children is 0.69%, equivalent to 2,000 children/300,000 children (under 6 years old) needing rehabilitation and reintegration treatment. Notably, the rate of children with autism in mountainous areas is higher than in urban and plain areas.

Autistic children gradually change their perception and behavior after therapy sessions.
(Taken at Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital)

According to scientific research, genetics and pregnancy risk factors (premature birth, asphyxia, elderly mothers, infections, poisoning during pregnancy, etc.) are the main causes of autism. “The number of autistic children has been increasing recently, the reason is that modern life, many parents are busy with work so they have little time to be close to their children; children watch a lot of TV, etc. are factors that aggravate the disease. Dr. Cao Truong Sinh - Vice Principal of Vinh Medical University explained.

In the province, up to now, the Department of Neurology - Rehabilitation of the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital is the first and only center to synchronously examine, detect, consult and treat autism in children. However, Doctor Tran Ngoc Luu - Head of the Department of Neurology - Rehabilitation said: "For autistic children, there needs to be a room for language therapy, music... but the center's campus does not meet the requirements. In addition, in terms of human resources serving the work at the department, we only have 1 master of psychology, 1 bachelor of special education, 1 technician working on the treatment of autistic children, compared to the demand, we need a lot more...". It can be seen that the facilities and the team of doctors are not enough to meet the number of autistic children (4,600 children) needing intervention in the whole province at present.

Disease prevention and early detection are among the most effective solutions to limit autism. However, in reality, basic knowledge about autism and how to prevent autism in the community is still very limited. Phan Van Tan (Nam Thanh - Yen Thanh), 5 years old, has a language disorder, so he stutters, speaks incoherently, and has an erratic temperament... Although his development is not normal compared to children of the same age, his family still thinks he is just slow to speak. His grandmother shared: "He was born prematurely, only 7 months old when he was born, and he was thirsty for milk.

Partly because of the family's economic difficulties, the child's parents were busy with work and did not have much time to care for their child. When the child turned 4, they saw something unusual and worriedly took him to the doctor, who said he had autism and needed treatment. The family only knew that, but did not know what autism was. What is more worrying is that many parents today still have the mentality of "inferiority complex" and "hiding the disease". Mr. Nguyen Viet Cuong (Xuan Lam - Nam Dan) has a 4-year-old autistic son and said: "We noticed that our child had unusual symptoms, but because we were shy, my husband and I did not tell anyone in the family at first. We still sent him to school as usual. When we learned about his illness online, we bought toys to teach him, but the results were not very positive. That was when we took him to the hospital for treatment."

Due to lack of understanding about autism syndrome, many parents discover their children have the disease late. According to statistics from the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, most children are only discovered to have autism after the age of 2. Master, Doctor Tran Thi Kieu Anh - Department of Pediatrics - Vinh Medical University said: "During the field investigation, through the questions of parents, it was shown that most of them still have very little understanding about this disease. Therefore, parents need to try to learn more about autism to have timely intervention, always love and help children develop in the best direction. Late detection of the disease, taking children to the hospital when they are older, this will invisibly make the child's illness worse."

In addition to parents, teachers are the first people to come into contact with children. Therefore, teachers play an important role in detecting psychological and physiological disorders in children. However, the reality is that today, even teachers are not equipped with knowledge about autism. Hoa Sen Kindergarten (Vinh City), one of the few schools that accepts education for children with disabilities, including autistic children. However, the school's teachers also face many difficulties in teaching autistic children. Ms. Nguyen Hong Van - Vice Principal of the school shared: "The school's staff and teachers have not been trained in inclusive education for children with disabilities in general and autistic children in particular. Some staff and teachers have only received preliminary training on this content in general training sessions of the school level".

According to scientific research, if detected and intervened early (before 36 months), autistic children can improve their IQ, language ability, adapt and reintegrate into the community. After this age, intervention will be more difficult and take more time. Therefore, according to Dr. Tran Ngoc Luu - Head of the Department of Neurology - Rehabilitation, Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital: "To limit the current situation of autistic children in our province, it is necessary to strengthen communication measures for parents and teachers to detect, prevent and treat autism in children. Understanding autism syndrome, early detection and intervention will give children the opportunity to recover and quickly integrate into the community...".

Minh Nguyet