AUTISTIC children have rights like any other child and they are now being afforded meaningful assistance with the establishment of the Guyana Greenheart Autistic Society (GGAS).
GGAS Chairperson, Mrs. Glynis Beaton, said the Society is looking to have a school opened, hopefully in September, for autistic children in Guyana.
The centre for the school will be based at the Young Christian Women’s Association (YWCA) headquarters in Brickdam.
The school is expected to run two sessions; one in the morning, from 8:30 hours to 12:30 hours, to focus on teaching different skills; and in the afternoon a one-hour session, which would address therapy.
“Autism is moving forward and the needs of the children are being addressed,” she said.
However, even as these moves are being made, Beaton stressed that the GGAS needs more support to effectively reach all those who need the services.
To support the cost of engaging tutors, as well as the operational costs, parents are being asked to pay a fee of $15,000 per month for a child. Also to assist those who might not be able to afford the sessions, the afternoon therapy is being made available at $4,000 per month.
According to Beaton, over 15 children have already registered.
Mr. Keon Cheong, the Educator with the GGAS, said each child will have an individual programme plan, which was developed in collaboration with parents and specialists supporting the Society.
“We are expecting the curriculum to be very beneficial since it employs different methodologies, which were researched and proven to work,” he said.
Cheong said included in the curriculum is art, physical education, dance, music and swimming.
The afternoon sessions, he said, involve speech, occupational and physiotherapy.
The Educator maintained that he is optimistic that the school will be a success story and impact the lives of autistic children, which is most important.
Cheong noted that he is in communication with the Guyana Council of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities and the National Commission on Disability (NCD), to provide additional support.
“Till now there has not been a group that deals specifically with autism and I am sure the GGAS will do much more,” he said.
Important to note is that the Society was established on the strength of a few parents who, being frustrated at the lack of support systems in Guyana to address Autism, took matters into their own hands.
At present the GGAS partners with the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), volunteers and other parents of autistic children.
The Vice-Chair of the Society, Mrs. Karen Hughes, told the Chronicle that while the GGAS has support, much more is needed.
Another challenge, she pointed out, was that of funding.
“Right now I am working on seeing how best we can get support from organisations like Food for the Poor and other corporate agencies,” she said.
The Vice Chair pointed out that among the needs to get the school up and running are furniture, materials to renovate the space and additional resource materials.
Hughes made it clear the Society needs all the support it can get to address, in a holistic way, the needs of autistic children in Guyana.
“A lot has changed for autism in Guyana. We are getting through to people and we have volunteers coming on board with us…we have come a long way, but there is much more to do,” she said.
She noted, too, that the GGAS is looking to partner with the Ministries of Education and Health to further advance support for autistic children.
“We need a multi-sector approach,” the Vice Chair said.
Additionally, Hughes noted that Autism Researcher attached to the National Centre for Educational Research Development (NCERD), Ms. Mira Howard, will take Guyana’s success story to Mexico at the World Conference for Autism.
In a recent interview with this newspaper, Howard said, “I am trying to put together enough material to say at what point Guyana is…at this point I can say that Guyana is no way far in addressing Autism but is coming along.”
Also, the GGAS is working to set up their website ggasgy.com.
Over the past months, in addition to the establishment of the GGAS, there have been several efforts to advocate for awareness and promote recognition of autism in Guyana; all the stakeholders are in acknowledgment of the lack of scope in Guyana to deal with Autism.

Autism is a novel concept in Guyana

Here in Guyana, like many other countries, Autism is a novel concept among the majority of its people but, for a handful of households who have had to deal with an autistic child; it is an integral part of everyday life.
Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others.
It is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum disorder” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause for Autism
Autism is also called Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD).
All these disorders are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions, and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior.
In other words, Autism:
* is a mental disorder which means it affects the way the brain works;
* is not contagious;
* is more common in boys that in girls, for reasons that are still unknown;
* is found throughout the world in families of all ethnic and social backgrounds; and does not have a cure, but there are treatment options that can help an autistic child lead a fulfilled life.
For children with Autism, specialist individual education, therapies and structured support can make a difference.
It is known that there are biological or neurological differences in the brain, but the nervous system has remarkable plasticity and one part can take over and compensate for another part.
Early diagnosis and treatment programmes are therefore crucial for the improvement and progress of a child with Autism and the general concurrent is that with assistance autistic children are able to learn to maximize skills and achieve their full potential.
Though there is no cure and children do not outgrow autism, stakeholders agree that autism is treatable and this can lead to significantly improved outcomes.
More importantly, with the right services and support, people with autism can live full, healthy and meaningful lives.