Spotlight falls on autism spectrum
With April known as autism spectrum awareness month, the Namibia Association of Occupational Therapists (NAOT) launched an awareness campaign to explain the role of occupational therapy in the treatment of persons diagnosed with the condition with the general public.Autism spectrum is a neurological disorder that some people are born with. Its cause is unknown and a diagnosis must be made by a medical doctor, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist.
Autism spectrum causes dysfunction in language development and sensory processing problems and in general, people can struggle with socialisation and activities in their daily lives. As the name implies, the disorder appears on a spectrum. This means that each person diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder is unique and has unique strengths as well as challenges.
Occupational therapists Christine Glen-Spyron, Heidi Schmidt, Karen Kunz, Lian-Marie Drotsky and Leopoldine Matamu, as well as Asteria Ekandjo and Joy Ndawedwa, students in occupational therapy at the University of Namibia (Unam) participated in NAOT's awareness campaign.
The therapists did a live stream on Instagram throughout April and also on Good Morning Namibia on NBC, Kosmos 94.1FM and Radiowave 96.7FM carried the message of the campaign.
The emphasis was on the essential role that occupational therapists play and that people diagnosed with the autism spectrum benefit from treatment by a multidisciplinary team (MDS). This includes the family and carers who usually also need support as part of the treatment. The main outcome that an occupational therapist will work towards is that the person feels like a valuable and contributing member of his or her family and society. The occupational therapist will set goals for therapy in collaboration with the client and the MDS, so that the client can participate in activities that they want, need, or are expected to participate in.
Karlien Burger, occupational therapist and NAOT member said this can be as simple as tying your laces up to and including the ability to go away with their friends for a weekend to attend a big rugby match.
For more info, visit www.naot.org or the NOAT Facebook page, or send an email to [email protected].
NAOT encourages every Namibian to remember that "autism is not a disability, it is a different ability (American Autism Spectrum Network)".