Persons with
neurobiological disorders need special facilities -
Medic
Accra, April 27, Ghanadot/GNA – Dr
Ebenezer Vincent Badoe, Director of Neurology
Development Clinic, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has
advised government to set up special pre-schools,
classrooms and job facilities to suit persons with any
neurobiological disorder like autism.
He said a plan needed to be initiated to encourage early
treatment of autistic children which would facilitate a
faster speech and language development of the child to
make life easier for both parents and diagnosed
children.
Dr Badoe said this at a seminar on Autism in Accra on
Saturday under the theme: “Bridging the Gap - Stand up
for Autism”. It was organized by Awaawaa2, a centre for
children with communication disorders, as part of World
Autism Month celebration.
He tasked parents to assess their children’s
communication and language response for early
intervention if they were diagnosed with autism.
Autism is a condition or neurodevelopment disorder which
impacts on the whole communication system of a person by
experiencing among others, a language delay or disorder
and difficulties with understanding languages and rules
of communication.
Dr Badoe said even though there was no official
prevalence rate in Ghana, there were 67 recorded cases
of autism over a period of four years at the Korle-Bu
Teaching Hospital and it was overwhelmingly common in
males than in females in the ratio of 5:1.
He said there were many diseases similar to autism,
hence the need for in-depth evaluation to attain the
real diagnoses for a reported case.
Dr Badoe added that there were no specific causes of
autism but evidence suggested biological causes
including genetic factors, viral infections and birth
and pregnancy complications.
Mr Andrew Okaikoi, National Executive Chairman of the
Disability Council of Ghana, who chaired the function,
said there was a promising future for persons with
disability and autism since the newly inaugurated
Disability Council was working hard to create an
opportunity for the impaired to be empowered.
He said about two million Ghanaians were physically
impaired and the Council had organized a programme to
address the negative perceptions people had of them and
urged the public to serve as ambassadors of persons with
any impairment by helping them with their needs.
GNA
