Children, who cannot speak, listen and actively play till five to six years of age, are usually taken to specialist doctors assuming that they are suffering from speechless disorder.
Such children show varying degrees of speech and attention deficiencies which result in their failure to communicate and interact with others. “This is mistaken for a disease. What actually these children need is total support with their overall life needs,” said Praveen Gurramkonda, an NRI, whose elder son is suffering from this condition called ‘autism’.
If a parent devotes considerable time every day, these children would show signs of improvement right from the age of 3 years. Instances of absence of parental understanding and care have resulted in lifetime disability of the respective child. Convinced that a little awareness would go a long way, Mr. Praveen formed the ‘Autism Parents Hub’ to educate parents on different aspects of help needed for these children.
Noted physician Dr. C.V. Subrahmanyam and Indian Red Cross Blood Bank convener Dr. E. Sudhakar, who addressed a meeting here, underscored the need for providing medical help ‘not with drugs but with words of care.’
For involving parents, an awareness meet on “Children suffering from autism” will be held at the Indian Red Cross Society Spastics Centre located at the blood bank premises here on July 27 at 10 a.m.
Mr. Praveen said that wide-ranging information on how to take care of children with autism is collected and made available on their website as well. Needy parents can visit ‘www.autismparentshub.org’ for details. The speakers said that in case of such children, a parent has to help them understand and face challenges to reach next level. If a child is not able to walk, he should be taught to do so. Once he picks up on it, he should be made to run. Later, he can take to playing games.