‘I’m so happy to see him play with other children’

Mother-of-three Josephine Zammit noticed something was wrong with her youngest son Nathan, aged two years and six months, when he stopped interacting and started throwing frequent tantrums.

It hurts a lot when I hear people say children like Nathan shouldn’t be included in mainstream classes

The child stopped eating and talking and started to hurl objects, said Mrs Zammit, who alreadyhad two other children which meant she saw the difference immediately.

However, it was only six months later that Mrs Zammit knew what had changed her son’s behaviour after the school nurse directed her to a speech therapist who diagnosed Nathan with autism.

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder describes a group of complex developmental difficulties that appear in early childhood.

The symptoms and severity may vary but all those who suffer from autism have difficulties with social communication, interaction and imagination.

They may find it hard to predict what will happen next, to understand the concept of danger, or to cope with a change in routine or a new situation.

There are several signs for parents to look out for – such as a lack of smiles and happy expressions in babies aged six months and over, lack of sounds and other facial expressions by nine months, the absence of words by 16 months and no spontaneous two-word meaningful phrases by the ageof two.

Mrs Zammit urged other parents to immediately seek professional advice as soon as they suspect something is wrong. Parents should not wait for their child to get older as every day mattered, she added.

She turned to the Inspire Foundation – a voluntary organisation that works with people with disabilities – which provides specialised services to people with autism from early childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

The programmes are highly individualised to support the child, family and school. Parents and educational staff are encouraged to visit the programme and see exactly what, why and how it is possible to make a positive impact on the life of an autistic child.

Their programmes promote Inspire’s commitment to inclusion, while support for those pupils for whom inclusion is not so straightforward.

“It hurts a lot when I hear people say children like Nathan shouldn’t be included in mainstream classes. He takes an active part in class and it gives him the opportunity to communicate and socialise,” Mrs Zammit said.

Since Nathan has been taking part in Inspire’s programme, his frequent and intense behaviour tantrums stopped while his communication skills improved immensely.

“It’s wonderful seeing him answering the phone and I’m so happy to see him play with other children – he is definitely more social,” she said.

To mark World Autism Day, Inspire is organising a lecture presented by Richard Mills, director of research at the UK National Autistic Society, tomorrow at its premises in Marsascala.

For more information, call 2167 3706/7 or e-mail doreen.mercieca@inspire.org.mt.