Maia Chung Autism Foundation renews call for autism legislation support
Published:Friday | April 29, 2022 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE MAIA Chung Autism and Disabilities Foundation is making a fresh appeal for legislation to provide support for persons with autism, including employment for high-functioning autistic persons and protection from various types of abuse.
Maia Chung, the organisation’s founder, made the call on Monday evening while addressing a joint Zoom meeting of the Kiwanis Clubs of St Andrew, Greater Portmore, and Diverse Professionals Portmore Pines. The meeting was held in observance of Autism Awareness Month, under the theme ‘Focus on Autism: Always Unique, Totally Interesting, Sometimes Mysterious’, and sponsored by SunCity Radio.
“The reason why we have not had the success stories with autistic persons, or even heard them on the road, is the lack of coherent attention by the Government. At least 10 years ago I called for affirmative action for high-functioning autistic persons to get jobs, but there has to be some governmental action,” Chung told the meeting.
“Where does cohesion need to lie in order for real change to happen? It has to have policies, it has to be implemented, and it cannot be ad hoc to anyone,” Chung added. “The country has three decades of dealing with autism, and they have anecdotal evidence, research and developments that they can draw from. There has to be a consensus and agreement that this issue matters, and if there is a will, there is a way.”
Chung was repeating a call she had previously made last year April, for inter-ministerial cooperation to provide proper social support for autistic persons and their caregivers. At that time, she had noted that a critical issue that should be addressed is the lack of definitive and current data in health and education to properly map how to assist autistic persons.
Autism is a developmental disorder that affects communication and behaviour, for which symptoms generally appear during the first two years of life. It is categorised together with Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Asperger’s syndrome as Autism Spectrum Disorder.
According to the World Health Organization, a resolution was adopted by the 67th World Health Assembly in 2014 that called for member states and partner agencies to strengthen national capacities to address autism and other developmental disabilities. That resolution was supported by more than 60 countries.
While addressing Monday’s presentation, during which her foundation received a $50,000 donation from the three Kiwanis Clubs, Chung noted that a recent Mico University College-led conference revealed that Caribbean residents are the most likely worldwide to be diagnosed with autism.
“Mico set up an international conference which I was a part of last week, all across the region, broadcast to the international diaspora, full of specialists, and in that particular gathering it was disclosed that Caribbean people are number one for presenting with autism. The figures that we have to use, because our local databases are not up to par, are that one person in 44 worldwide will have autism,” said Chung.
“With Caribbean people being at such high risk for autism and the numbers just increasing and nobody knowing what is causing it, how is it to be addressed? If you have 10 people in a country or parish and they have the same diagnosis, you have to design individual programmes for each of them, but Jamaica does not have that capacity,” Chung explained. “People need assistance with funds, child care, and jobs, since most of them have to stop working at the rate they normally would because they are afraid to leave their children who are misunderstood in the care of others.”
Her position was supported by Diane Mills, a retired educator and a mother to a severely autistic 30-year-old son. Mills told Monday’s meeting that she has seen no adequate facilities that could provide proper skills training for her son or others like him.
“I sent my son to a place ... in Kingston, and I thought they would be teaching him a skill, but when I went there they were not teaching him anything. They were teaching him mathematics that he could do, and by the time you write it down he would know the answers already, so he got frustrated and he used to run away,” Mills recounted.
“My son can play the piano by ear, and there is nothing to assist him in that area. They need to put more skilled areas where people with autism can go; even the other day I said that I would go with him to learn tiling at HEART Trust/NSTA, but there is nothing in place to assist non-verbal persons and persons who are on that end of the spectrum,” added Mills.