Autism break the silence

Autism comes from a Greek word ‘’autos” meaning “self’’. The term describes conditions in which a person is removed from social interaction-hence an isolated self. Autism is caused by the way the brain develops, both before and after a baby is born. Around the world about one in every 160 children has an autism spectrum disorder.

I grew up to know my brother has a ‘’crazy man” and I was told that his condition was due to the fact that he was bewitched. As the saying goes ‘’ a mad man is never more ashamed than his family members” that was the feeling we had concerning our brother’s condition with respect to our environment. From childhood he used to attend regular school but he was always the last in his class. As he grew older his ability to reason keep deteriorating and he became more nervous and violent. Most of the time when he is under attack we will close him in his room until he becomes calm. The treatment we gave him was a one of neglect and hate.

Some years back I was fortunate enough to have stumbled on a program on TV whereby a woman was narrating how she struggled with her son from birth suffering from autism. It all started with her mother-in-law accusing her of witchcraft and she was thrown out of her marriage. The relationship between her and her son was a one of hate and resent this was because whenever she saw her son she felt that he was the cause of her predicament. Watching her boy grow the mother realized that the more he was treated with hate and neglect the more violent and restless he became. She also noticed that her son’s violent nature was caused be a difficulty in expressing his feelings. As years went by the mother decided to start paying more attention to her son’s needs, and gradually she realized that what her son needed was special care, love and attention. These qualities afore mentioned helped the son to develop his self-esteem and over time he became calm, friendly and even starting participating in house chores. This lady did not only end with the son but also created a center to cater for children suffering from autism.

All of us are affected directly or in directly by children suffering from autism in our communities especially children from poor backgrounds because they are often neglected without any proper care or attention thereby causing a lot of social problems in our societies. Break the silence, share your story and safe the future of a child suffering from autism as I did for my brother.