Awareness on autism, Kathmandu

Autism is a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts. "My child could not speak even though he seemed to have no other problem. I took him to a hospital for diagnosis, but the doctor could not establish the reason for my child's silence," said Rachana Ghimire, a nurse and mother of autistic child. "We found out five years later that our child was suffering from autism." Autism is a spectrum disorder which includes a large range of symptoms and behaviors. This video is part for Behavior Frontiers Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Training Program with an Autism Specialization. Available via web based training program or at seminars across the country. "All that I knew about autism came from reading its definitions. But now I am well aware about the problem as I have been taking care of my own son who suffers from autism," she added. Most people are completely ignorant about autism, doctors say. Autism is not a disease but a mental condition which gets in the way of a child's ability to communicate, form relationships, build language skills, and use tools, according to them. "Children with autism need more care and support for their mental and physical development than their peers who are born normal," said Dr Merina Shrestha, a pediatric consultant to Autism Care Nepal Society (ACNS) at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. "Many parents have scant knowledge about autism and they simply lock their children up or put them chained as they cannot devote adequate time for the proper care of their autistic child." According to a report of the Autism Care Nepal Society (ACNS), about 300,000 children suffer from autism in Nepal. One in 68 children is born with autism in the world.