Written by Mina Yirga - Horizon Ethiopia Staff Writer
Friday, 23 May 2008
Addis customarily commemorates April as the International Month of Autism mainly by creating awareness among the public and professionals in the medical, educational and vocational fields. Perhaps dedicating a month on such will save parents with autistic children who are crying in the dark and confused about how to deal with their child or how to explain the disorder to a society that attaches a high stigma to it. And even more importantly, such awareness mobilization is one way of serving the victims of the disorder to get a timely treatment so that they can finely tune their life and find their special talent.
A Special Place for Special Kids
Despite the dramatically increasing prevalence of autism in many parts of the world, there are not very many centers established for such purposes in Ethiopia. Joy Center for Children with Autism and Related Developmental Disorders (J-CCARDD), is the first of its kind in Ethiopia and was established in May, 2002 to save these autistic children from the restrictive confinement of their condition. Founded by Zemi Yenus, a mother of a 16 year old autistic child herself, the center, has been giving unreserved service of identifying, counseling and struggles to reach more people every year by recognizing April as a public to public event. “Being a mother of an autistic child I had faced an overwhelming sense of confusion, denial and frustration. At the same time I was determined to accept and face the reality. After a long stay in the USA, finally, I decided to come home and help those that are in need here in Ethiopia. I had to pool my resources together to help improve the future of my child as well as other children with the same condition. Today, I have 45 precious children in the Joy center who have made tremendous progress socially and personally,” says Zemi, the center’s founder and Managing Director.
Epidemic Proportions
Autism can be best described as developmental disorder which affects the way the brain uses information. As a result, sight, sound, taste and feelings may be experienced very differently. Children with autistic disorder may tend to withdraw themselves ignoring much of what goes on in the environment which results in sever difference of social relationship, communication and behavior.
A recent study shows that 300,000 children suffer from autism in the USA and one in every 150 children is now diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Interestingly, boys are four times more likely to suffer from autism than girls. There is no definite answer to what causes autism. Medical research shows that hereditary disorder, neurological problems, chemical imbalance, environmental factors such as toxic chemicals, vaccines and other are possibilities in the search for its cause.
Due to the level of stigma attached to this condition in Ethiopia as well as the lack of specially trained personnel to diagnose and/or treat it, it is almost impossible to guess what its prevalence might be in Ethiopia. For Ethiopians in the Diaspora however, access to diagnostic resources is generally not a problem and while there is no separate collection of statistics for Ethiopians, it is clear that there are more and more Ethiopian parents caring for autistic children. While most of the evidence to that effect may be anecdotal, there are also more concrete signs that point to the increased prevalence. In Los Angeles, a support group has been formed for Ethiopian parents of autistic children. This group meets on a regular basis to provide a support framework for its members and help them and their children cope with the challenges of living with autism.
There is hope!
No matter how hard the challenge gets, Zemi affirms that the conditions of autistic children can be improved if they are approached systematically, “Autism can be confirmed around 2 years of the child’s age. Even though there is no known cure for autism it can be treatable. The most successful method for treatment and educating these children involves structured and intensive behavioral intervention programs, proper diet, reduction of pollution and detoxification. If all these are met, the individual can function better at home, in the community and eventually can be responsive to others. They can lead nearly a normal life.”
Quite often children with autism have different skills in one or more areas of cognitive development. Most of the time they are exceptional either in paintings, music or sport. At times their amazing talents can be seen in subjects like science and mathematics. Usually these children often enjoy the same recreational activities as their peers without autism. Accordingly, children at the Joy Center participate in a number of activities on the compound using facilities such as a swing set located on the grounds.
Joy center has a full time psychologist and it’s technical wing which includes a Psychiatrist, Neurologist, Developmental Pediatrician, Psychologist, Linguist and a special needs educator. Joy Center always advises the public to distinguish autism from mental retardation or other disorders since diagnostic confusion may result in inappropriate referral and ineffective treatment techniques.
As the center moves towards its 6th year, there are quite a number of achievements they that are proud to recall. They have seen a 13 year old girl talking for the first time. Parents have started to open up a little more about their autistic kids thanks to the awareness work the center has done. So much so that more than 200 kids are on the waiting list at the center needing treatment. There has not been enough space to welcome more numbers and most of all enough experts that can efficiently deal with each child. Though the 20 devoted social workers and educators receive regular training in the area it has proved difficult to meet the growing demand. Therefore, a collective effort of professionals and the wider public is all what it takes to enhance the center into a larger institution since it’s a foundation where the future of such children are improved.
I was wondering if there is any chance I can contact someone at J-CCARDD. I live in USA and I have a cousin who is living with autism and I was thinking about getting involved in helping the children who are living with autism. I tried searching the internet for contact information about the organization but I couldn't find anything. Is it possible to get an email or a mailing adress so that I can contact them about helping out.
Sure, we are verifying the appropriate contact information and will email it to you as soon as we do so.
To our readers in general...we do intend to provide the appropriate details for any organization/charity that we feature in this section of the website inclusive of how you can help any given one. Please bear with us while we implement the general framework that will allow us to do this for more articles to come in the 'Helping Hands' section of our website. Until we do, feel free to direct specific queries our way via comments or email at info@addisconnexion.com.
I am a mother of autism child I have plan to establish institution/shelter for severely affected autism children in coordiantion with other parents. Due to the nature of the disability and to provide our dear children with permanent shelter, I call parents of autism children to contact me at my e-mail address.
Contact Information written by Tabetha Cameron , January 27, 2009
Could you please send me the contact information for the Joy Center.
The main telephone number for the Joy Center is 0113 20 61 59/60. You can also reach the founder (Zemi Yenus) via email at zemiyenus@yahoo.com.
Mighty proud of your work written by Hussein Najee , February 03, 2009
Read much about you and a friend who visited told me about the miraculous job. Pleased to inform you that I am putting your contact address on our address to give your center visibility. Lots of workshops are being held in the Middle East and want you to participate. God bless you.
Any San Jose Groups written by Martha Smith , February 18, 2009
I read about the group in Los Angeles to help with the Ethiopian population there. Are there any groups for the San Jose or San Francisco area to help with autism in the Ethiopian population?
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