Autistic people in Egypt without state support скачать в хорошем качестве

Autistic people in Egypt without state support

(1 Apr 2016) LEAD IN: One in 68 people globally are believed to be autistic. In Egypt that means possible hundreds of thousands of people suffer from the disorder - but they have little state help. STORY-LINE: The Abaseyya Hospital for Mental Health is one of only two fully functioning public facilities catering to autistic children in Egypt. Its Daycare Centre for Autistic Children provides therapy sessions for autistic children such as Adam Abbas. The five-year-old comes to the centre in Cairo four times a week to receive therapy. He is 32-year-old Marwa al-Zarae's second autistic son. Al-Zarae could tell early on that Abbas was autistic. "When he was a few months old, I noticed that he did not know how to play with toys, how to move things between his hands," al-Zarae says. "He did not interact with others or react to his environment. I understood that he was autistic like his elder brother." Al-Zarae lost her eldest son in a car accident three years ago. Now she devotes all her time and effort to help Abbas make progress. Autism is a developmental disorder in which the child has problems interacting with his environment. Most autistic children suffer speech issues. And with such a large population, Egypt is expected to have a significant number of people with autism. According to Iman Gaber, Head of the Department for Children and Adolescents' Mental Health at the Health Ministry, Abbas is probably one of hundreds of thousands of Egyptians who are affected by autism symptoms. "We have no statistics on the autistic population in Egypt. However, international studies have been suggesting that one out of every 68, 80 or 150 people worldwide is autistic. "If we take the average of these figures and say that one out of every 100 is autistic, then the autistic population in Egypt can be estimated at 900-thousand or one million," says Gaber, who is a psychiatrist by training. Gaber mentions statistics released by the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which suggest autism is spreading worldwide. In 2007, CDC stated that one out of every 150 people is autistic. Since then, CDC has been updating the ratio. One out of every 68 is the most recent statistic issued by CDC. The disorder occurs in all ethnic and socio-economic groups, according to CDC. In recent years, autism has been highlighted globally. April 2nd has been designated World Autism Awareness Day. It is also a day when monuments are lit in blue in recognition of the disorder. Last year, the Egyptian government lit the pyramids in blue. But for autistic people in Egypt it is hard to receive help. "It is difficult to treat autism. There is no medication that can cure it," Gaber says. "Behavioural therapy is the only thing that has consistently proved to be successful in treating autism. The child has to receive 25 to 40 hours a week of behavioural therapy." Al-Zarae was eager to get Abbas enrolled in the Abaseyya facility, which require parents to pay only ten pounds (1.1 dollar US) a day, rather than pay for expensive private help. However, getting one of the centre's limited number of spaces is difficult. Abbas was on the waiting list to get in for seven months. The government fails to provide sufficient healthcare services and private facilities are expensive, al-Zarae says. Gaber agrees: "Public treatment facilities are almost non-existent. There are only two public places affiliated with the Health Ministry that provide therapy programmes over many-hours. Gaber further laments the lack of effective social structures to help these vulnerable people: Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...