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Autistic Children And Family Life In The Bahamas
Related to country: Bahamas

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Stresses of autistic children on families:
By Nadine Thomas-Brown, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter -
Nassau, Bahamas:



A child screaming loudly, darts into the men's rest room, her father scrambling to stop her. He asks a small boy trying to gain access if he minds using the women's rest room, while he waits for his daughter to emerge.

"She is a special needs child, she is not being hurt" he tells onlookers, as the child's loud wails could be heard. "What's wrong they ask?" He explain that she is autistic.

Outside, her little sister, rhetorically asks "Why do I have to have a sister like that?"

Dad returns and reveals that the autistic child is 13, and tells onlookers that they noticed something was wrong with their child at around 18 months when she was not hitting her milestones.

He excuses himself again and returns with the teenager. The hair peeping out from under her baseball cap is lank and wet with sweat, her face puffy from crying. She is sniffling. The crying has stopped at least for now. "She wanted to play soccer but was told no. This is what set her off," dad explains. "This is nothing new. My wife and I have been going through this for 13 years. Sometimes it embarrases us. Sometimes it makes us angry. Sometimes it makes us sad," he says before waving goodbye.

This man whether he knows it or not is not alone. He is part of a large group of parents in the Bahamas whose lives are centered around the care of autistic children.

According to Karen Hanna-Ayton who controls two government run units for autism in New Providence, the disorder affects 1 in 150 children.

A pamphlet from REACH [a registered voluntary organization consisting of parents, teachers, medical persons and others concerned with the disorder] says that autism is more common than childhood cancer, cystic fibrosis, and multiple sclerosis combined.

Autism is a developmental disorder that makes it hard for the individual to properly understand what they see hear and otherwise sense. This results in difficulty with communication, language social skills and relating to people. First signs occur before the age of three. Autism spectrum disorders include PDD-NOS [pervasive development disorder] Asperger's Syndrome and Rett's syndrome.

No one has discovered its cause but researchers have established a link between mercury and autism. However recently there have been reports from researchers who have dismissed this theory.

There is no cure for autism and it is four times more common in boys than in girls. The usual onset of the disease is around 18 months. Parents are usually alerted to the fact that something is wrong when children fail to hit milestones such as walking and talking, loss of words unusually long attention span as well as other peculiar behavior not displayed before.

Canon Basil Tynes, pastor of St Barnabas Church, Nassau, began noticing some of these symptoms in his son when he was around the age of two. The child was consequently diagnosed with autism. He is now five-and-a-half years old.

"He had already began talking and doing the normal things that children would do. He was saying words such as 'mommy', 'daddy', 'bird' and 'dog'. He would call certain words and even though it was not as fast as we expected he is fine. We noticed that after his immunization his development in terms of his speech slowed down and came to a halt," Tynes said. "Words which he knew before he did not have anymore. We noticed a change in his behavior; he would stay to himself; he was no longer interested in toys."

Sandra Munnings, a single mother, who describes her child as a savant (genius-like abilities, with the ability to do complicated things like Math, but unable to tie own shoelaces), says she realized something was wrong with her child Wenrick "Ozone" Johnson, 23, after she left the hospital.

"He would not sleep, and at eight days old, he was turning over in the bed. You could not leave him in a king size bed. I went to my doctor and said something was wrong with him."

She said no one could give her an answer as to why the newborn was doing that. "When it came to the milestones, he would not sit up, creep nor eat. Then suddenly at two, he got up off the stomach and ran. At this point I was looking for wheelchairs because I thought he would never walk. I thought he would never talk when he finally talked, he spoke in sentences. He never did the baby talk.

"His memory is like a computer. He forgets nothing. But if you make him sit down he blanks you out. He will run around and you will be teaching and it appears as if he is not listening but he would be able to tell you all that was said."

For Genya Brown and her family having her child, who is now six years old, diagnosed as autistic at age two was heartbreaking.

"He was not showing the developmental progress at the ages he should and that caused us concern.

"My initial reaction was, 'Why me, Lord?' I felt like I was robbed of a child, especially because he was diagnosed with severe autism. Most of my family members were in denial as they thought it was something he would grow out of."

She says the disorder has changed the family's routine because her son needs constant supervision and someone reliable who understands his needs.

This is a challenge that most parents of autistic children face. Because the Browns can't leave their child with a sitter they take turns going out many times.

According to Tynes, the biggest problem for his family has been the child's lack of communication skills. "He is a remarkably intelligent child. He knows how to go to the computer and turn it on. He knows how to go to the internet but as far as expressing how he is feeling it is very difficult.

"When he is ill he cannot explain himself. He will come and lie beside us and we will know something is wrong. He is not completely non verbal- we have gotten a few words out of him; but getting him to repeat it is very difficult."

Munnings also stressed the importance of having help from family members when dealing with an autistic child. The single mother, said her two older sons were instrumental in the care of Ozone when he was a child.

Unfortunately Munnings recently, had to place her son in Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre. She shows her hands where a scar the size of a quarter is very evident. She said that her son had gotten violent and she had required stitches to close the wound. She explained that sometimes when people with autism can't verbalize their feelings they hurt themselves or become aggressive.

According to the Secretary of REACH Fruzan Langdon Bethell, in recent years, there has been a more proactive role in providing much needed services such as diagnosis and education to aid in the fight against autism.

There is a national screening program, followed up by diagnosis by psychiatrists, psychologists and neurologists. Currently there are two autistic units — one at the Stapledon School and the other at Garvin Tynes Primary School.

As for support groups for parents dealing with autistic children, De'Costa Bethel president of REACH said simply, "REACH".

January 21, 2008 | 7:53 AM Comments  0 comments

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