Autistic children can be overwhelming. They suffer because they want to communicate – but nobody understands them.
Shouts and crises were common when five-year-old Gioele Merloni wanted to eat only chocolate and chicken McNuggets from the box.
His mother Maria Giulia Merloni shared that his screaming went on for a year. Dining out was impossible because he would start to scream. He wouldn’t socialise or talk.
The turning point came when Gioele was included in a national pilot project for children on the autism spectrum to receive intensive early therapy from the Arcobaleno Group in Sorengo’s Ticino Charity for the Assistance of Childhood (Otaf), in Switzerland.
Games and exercises are designed to break down “wrong” behavioural patterns that have not yet planted their roots and to build new ones that will help these children communicate with the world.
Gioele patiently went through this phase as well. Month after month, he learnt to talk, and to build relationships with the outside world.
Ten years ago, these children would have been treated for different conditions, while attending special schools.
The tide turned as the benefits of intensive treatment before the age of three started gaining recognition. Early treatment allows autistic children to attend regular schools and to better integrate into society as adults.
Two years of therapy can cost up to 150,000 Swiss francs (S$208,000).
For now, the Federal Office for Social Insurance (Ufas) foots most of the bills of five pilot projects taking place throughout Switzerland.
From two to four years old, children on the autistic spectrum fail to build normal neural links for social interaction, experts say.
A kind of social “blindness” arises, making early diagnosis and therapy crucial.
Since 2009, paediatricians have been implementing a new screening system in Ticino. According to Professor Gian Paolo Ramelli, head of the paediatric neurology department at the Bellinzona Canton Hospital, a questionnaire is used to confirm suspicious behavior, after which, a diagnosis is determined and they would need to intervene before age three.
Ms Veronica Mantegazza, Arcobaleno Group team leader, shared that the group works with the Applied Behaviour Analysis method and each child has a personalised programme.
They help children acquire skills that they will practise later and apply to different circumstances, added the specialist.
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Source: The Straits Times, 30 June 2019