Research and social policies should focus on the public health education campaign to positively influence help-seeking behavior for children, adolescents, and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
Medical experts said on Wednesday in Lagos that such policies would help people with ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders and reduce the socioeconomic burdens of late diagnosis and interventions.
They spoke at the second day of a two-day 8th Annual Autism Programme sponsored by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) at Muson Centre.
Autism, according to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, is “a developmental disorder characterized by troubles with social interaction and communication and by restricted and repetitive behavior.
“Parents usually notice signs in the first two or three years of their child’s life.
“These signs often develop gradually, though some children with autism reach their developmental milestones at a normal pace and then worsen.’’
Commenting, Dr. Muyideen Bakare, a Consultant Psychiatrist, Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Enugu in Enugu State, said that social policy formation would improve knowledge and awareness among the general public and healthcare workers about ASD.
Bakare said that in spite of early parental concern about the delay in normal development of their children, children with ASD often tend to be presented late to clinical practice settings.
“Late diagnosis of ASD among Nigerian children and limitations in interventions for them often coincide with the period of peak vulnerability to infectious diseases with neurological consequences.
“This may indeed be responsible for the excess of non-verbal presentations of ASD observed among Nigerian children presented for routine medical practices,” he said.
The psychiatrist said that some of the factors responsible for late diagnosis and presentation of Nigerian children with ASD include: stigma and ignorance about the disorder and negative cultural practices.
“Others are inadequate number of trained personnel and healthcare facilities; financial and psychological factors and delayed pathways to care centres,” Bakare said.
Also, Dr Yewande Oshodi, the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, College of Medicine University of Lagos (CMUL), said that it was important to create a ‘pathway’ to diagnosis, care and support in every community.
Oshodi described ‘Pathway’ as a process that starts with possible identification of autism that would lead to referral for a diagnosis to better the condition of the person with ASD.
“The process will go on to provide individuals with support and advice to meet their needs after undergoing detailed needs assessment,” she said.
Oshodi, who is also a psychiatrist with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, said that there was no specific medical test for diagnosing autism.
According to her, early treatment is key to early intervention.
“An accurate diagnosis is based on systematic interviewing, observation and assessment of the child’s communication, social interaction, behaviour and developmental level,” she said.
Commenting, Dr Doris Izuwah, a Paediatrician, said that children with autism suffer from numerous medical ailments which affect their brain and cause most of the signs and symptoms they exhibit.
Izuwah said that removal of these ailments on time would increase the rate of improvement if combined with speech and behavioural therapy.
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