As Nigeria Joins the World to Commemorate the 2022 World Autism Day, the President and Founder, Ferdinand Effah Music Heritage Foundation, Mr Stanley Effah has call for inclusiveness of of the altistic person in workplace, education and society in general.
According to World Health Organization (WHO)approximately one in 100 children has autism, which constitutes a diverse group of conditions related to development of the brain.
Meanwhile, Effah while speaking in Abuja on Saturday at a Walk to commemorate the day explained that the World Altisim Day is special not only to the global world or nations but to families and individual because it creates an opportunity for people to help and understand the whole idea about altisim which also gives a prospect of an enabling environment especially for the altistic people who have been denied of opportunities where their hidden potentials are not exploited.
He maintained that the day is special and key to create the much needed environment so that there will be a leveraging ground and it will be easy for people to help altistic people realize their potentials.
Speaking on the theme; Inclusion in the Workplace: Challenges and Opportunities in the Post – Pandemic World” Effah noted that Inclusiveness speaks volume and the need to create that enabling environment for Altistic people has not been there.
“So I hope this day, the world should realize the potential that lies for the Altistic people because in inclusiveness, even those you think do not have anything to offer has something to offer and Altistic people and their families are denied these Opportunities”.
He advised that altistic persons should be given opportunities in workplace, education space and the society.
Furthermore, he charged parents of altistic persons never to give up, nor feel ashamed but should take pride in what God has given them and look into the potentials inherent in them.
“My message to parents with Altistic people is that they should never give up, never feel ashamed but take pride in whatever they have, I have exemplified this on my son because he was given by God, he has always been my identity everywhere I go irrespective of what people think about it and that has paid the price in the sense that we have found a path for him”.
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“Parents should never give up because there is always a hidden potential in each and every Altistic people, am using this opportunity to parents in believing in their child that there is a prospect for them to be better in the society”.
The Clinical Director, Our Lady of Guadalupe Health Foundation and Autism Center, Dr (Mrs) Izuwoh Doris on her part stated that people living with autism should not be locked away or discriminated against but should rather be helped to assess care, assess facilities that will help them improve the quality of life.
Izuwoh added that learning will make them fit into the society and become someone in future and if they cannot be able to go into regular school they can have skills that can help them to become independent in life.
She noted that altisim is not infectious or contagious but rather are set of people that thinks differently with different abilities and because of that we can help them become someone great in future.
She advised that government should create an enabling environment for the autistic people, and train teachers and guidians on therapy that suit them”.
“This is an opportunity to tell the government that children with altisim exist and we want to have equal rights with every other persons to education, healthcare and other facilities and when graduate from secondary school we want to be employed,
“They want accomodation modification in environment where they can work and also contribute their own quota, they have their own talent and can make a mark if given an opportunity”.
Continuing, She said “Therapy are quite expensive, but now parents can be trained on this, if government can step in and do this for us, standardized training that would help us give our best to the children you will see that it will become more assessible, they should train teachers so that they can be able to teach therapy when this children come to this environment”
“Doctors should be trained so that they can come up with some of the issues which include speech therapy, behavioral modification, occupation therapy, nutritional therapy and mental health therapy with there psychologists and psychiatrists which are all very important with our children with altisim”. She added.
