Dubai: Speech and communication is one of the major impediments in children who suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), said experts at a major medical forum in Dubai on Thursday.
The key to helping children is early intervention, said international speech and communication specialists at a two-day, fifth annual Autsim Around the World Conference in Dubai organised by the Child Early Intervention Centre in collaboration with the Dubai Health Care City (DHCC).
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the conference Dr Amer Ahmad Sharif, Managing Director — Education, DHCC, remarked: “Collective efforts and voices are required to address the challenges faced by people with special needs in general. Specifically, there is a pressing need for support towards Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) given the incidence numbers. In this, today’s conference is well positioned to advance dialogue based on a global perspective.”
Children with ASD often are self-absorbed and seem to exist in a private world where they are unable to successfully communicate and interact with others. One of the most important impediments in reaching out to them is this break down of social communication and their lack of language skills and refusal to interact with others. Addressing this issue could perhaps hold the key to integrating ASD children into mainstream.
“Intervention should begin at the parental level as early as six to seven months, the moment parents spot that their child is not interacting, looking or following a lead and there is a distinct lack of connectivity,” Dr Nancy Creaghead to Gulf News at the event. A renowned US specialist in Speech and Language Pathology (SLP). Dr Creaghead is one of the speakers at the conference.
“Speech and communication is important and parents need to take the help of speech and communication therapists at the earliest,” she said.
Throwing light on new technological breakthroughs which can facilitate early intervention in communication for children with ASD, Dr James Feeney a US-based SLP expert said: “Technology can play a very important role sensitising ASD children. From a piece of paper with a symbol to a dedicated speech generation device, new technologies can help provide an integrated approach to Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC).”
He pointed out that even I-pods, androids and other tablets employing photo-based apps such as movies, photos and embedded texts could help in providing integrated interactive communication to help ASD children.
The ultimate goal of early intervention in children with language, behavioural and developmental delays is to help with their transition into main stream schools, said Dr Erica Edwards spokesperson from the Child Early Intervention Centre.
