‘Autistic kids can lead life independently'

Hoping to dispel myths about autism and educate the educators themselves, members of AACTION, a Chicago-based organisation that spreads awareness about autism, will conduct a workshop at Bubbles Centre for Autism. Bubbles founder-director Sarbani Mallik said the team, headed by Christopher Flint, will conduct a two-day workshop for special educators, parents and speech therapists and other members of the public.

“They will also be conducting similar workshops in Delhi and Chennai,” she added.

Flint said parents and teachers need to be trained in order to become caregivers for children with autism. “We will be training them on how to help autistic children work on proper schedules and also teach children communication skills,” he said.

“There is a misconception that autism is caused by bad parenting. It’s a genetic disorder and you can spot the signs in children quite early in their childhood,” he said.

“You can spot if the child does not maintain eye contact or faces difficulty while playing with other children,” Flint added.

Individualised learning is key
“There are some children who benefit from individualised training. When parents find out that their children are autistic, they should seek professional help and should equip themselves to manage their children. There is this thought that autistic children can’t be independent. But with training, they live independently and even  can be in relationships,” he said.

Communication skills are the most important factor to affect autistic children. “The focus of their education should definitely be on improving their social skills. They should be taught to initiate conversation with people and also communicate with their parents and this can be taught through structured programmes and games,” he said.