MASHISHING – Spreading autism awareness is a great way to educate the community about autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
April is Autism Awareness Month. As part of bringing light to the community about autism the Mpumalanga Mental Health Society held an event on Thursday, April 17 at Vuyelwa Crèche.
According to Ms Nokubonga Mnguni, a social worker from the Mpumalanga Mental Health Society, the aim was to alert and educate the community about this disorder.
“We want our community to learn more and to know where they can go if they suspect that their child has the disorder,” she said.
Ms Mary Moeketsi, from Autism South Africa, was the guest speaker.
She shared her experience with the community and gave a presentation about autism. “My son has ASD and I know how it feels to be a parent who has a child that has this disorder,” she said.
“People with ASD may seem to be different from others and may not respond to social interaction or affection. Sometimes they might seem cocooned to themselves,” she explained.
According to Moeketsi most children with ASD are discriminated against since they cannot respond or talk.
“Some people don’t mind saying this person is crazy, because the child cannot respond they assume they don’t understand either, and they do understand,” she explained.
“The community needs to know that people with autism are not mad, they just don’t understand things the same way we all do. For example if you tell them that they should pull up their socks, instead of improving, they will literally pull their socks up,” she added.
“I would like to urge parents with autistic children to teach them to be independent. Just because your child has autism, it does not mean that they have to depend on you. My son has ASD, however, he doesn’t depend on me for everything, he can drive a car and go out alone,” she said.
“We need to teach our children how to bath and feed themselves,” said Moeketsi.
“We would like to thank Moeketsi for her presentation, Vuyelwa Crèche for allowing us to use their venue, Otees Power Trade for providing us with drinks and the community for attending our event,” said Mnguni.
“If there’s anyone who has a child with ASD, who needs our help, contact us on 072-854-6315.”
