DSWD Celebrates World Autism Awareness Day

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Field Office VII joined other government departments in celebrating the 7th World Autism Awareness Day in Barangay Inayawan Gymnasium, Cebu City on Thursday morning.

Accompanying the Welfare department in the said activity were the Cebu Normal University and Cebu City Health Office.

Simeon A. Remata, DSWD-7 Information Officer said that one of the highlights of the activity was a motorcade from Sergio Osmeña Boulevard to Barangay Inayawan.

He said that to answer frequent questions related to autism, an orientation was also held at the Inayawan Gymnasium which was participated by parents and children from the barangay.

Remata explained that Cebu Normal University (CNU) President Dr. Marcelo T. Lopez in his welcome remarks revealed his difficulty on determining a person whether or not has an autism.

Dr. Lopez considered the importance of the said celebration with the rest of the world and asked everybody to become more aware of the plight of persons with autism.

In fact Lopez also advised parents to bring their children to health center for early diagnosis if they feel that their child has autism. He added that there are children with autism who excel in math, science, music and computer better than normal children.

Meanwhile Sandra Espina, the adviser of Autism Society of the Philippines, Cebu Chapter, being a mother of an autism child, talked about the challenges that parents have encountered having an autism child.

She said that the most important thing to do is to accept it.

Espina told the parents present during the orientation that a person with autism has several symptoms which are visible early on at childhood.

When a child is having difficulty in mixing with the other children or when a child does not do eye to eye contact when you talk to them are some of the symptoms of autism.

Remata told that as the lead implementing agency on Person with Disabilities (PWD), DSWD has tied up with DOH and the Autism Society of the Philippines in a joint program to monitor all organizations that provide social services to persons with autism.

DSWD-7 Regional Director Mercedita Jabagat explained that “A person with autism has a problem with their senses and has a mental disorder, thus considered as a PWD,”

She added that “DSWD supports advocacy activities and awareness campaigns to especially promote the plight of children with autism ages 0 to 12 where autism prevalence rates are high,” she said. (with Press Release)

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org