AS National Autism Awareness Month began, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has said that new classrooms are being prepared to cater for children with special needs.

The Health Minister made these remarks during a recent COVID-19 update when he noted that Autism Spectrum Disorder which is commonly called Autism, is a developmental disability that affects how a person interacts with the world.

Globally, he said, there has been an increase in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The minister noted that amid the pandemic, naturally, children or persons with autism have experienced challenges with regard to learning and as the country gradually reopens and children are back at school, these children should have more attention paid to them.

“During the pandemic, the schools that would normally offer the support, most of them were closed so it was very difficult for parents with autistic children and now that we are reopening schools, we would want to ensure that these children, more attention are paid to them,” he said.

Dr Anthony added that the ministry is currently constructing new classrooms at the Ptolemy Reid Centre to cater for those children.

“In the ministry one of the things that we are doing, we are constructing new classrooms at the Ptolemy Reid Centre and there we would be able to accommodate children with special disorders and hopefully, they’ll have a better environment in which to learn,” he said.