Autism Awareness Day is being marked by calls from campaigners for politicians, medical officials, schools and the media to pay more attention to the issues of health and bullying that affect people with autism.
The initiatives come as the incidence of autism has increased to an estimated one in 50 children in the US, according to official National Health Statistics Reports, and one in 64 in the UK, according to a Cambridge University study.
The Treating Autism and Autism Treatment Trust charities have kick-started the day with the launch of Medical Comorbidities in Autism Spectrum Disorders, an in-depth scientific review that highlights the medical issues that affect people with the condition.
The charities are making the document available to all medical and healthcare professionals involved in the care of people with autism, as well as policy makers and politicians.
Elsewhere, figures released as part of a UK survey by the Anti-Bullying Alliance showed that nearly all children with autism who were surveyed (97 per cent) are seen by their parents and carers as being vulnerable to bullying. Nearly three in every four children with the condition (73 per cent) said they found break times extremely difficult and in some cases frightening. And nearly half of the children (42.4 per cent) have told their parents they are often bullied in school.
Autism campaigner Anna Kennedy OBE, who has been involved in spearheading a campaign called ‘Give us a break’ and is working closely with the Alliance, called on schools to “take action on what is evidently an extremely serious issue”.
Treating Autism said: “On this Autism Awareness Day, the message that autism can and should be treated needs to be shared with families of children, their teachers, health workers, government officials and all tax-paying members of the UK.” It pointed to the burden of the costs of not treating autism on families, carers and the wider state.
Four in every five parents (80 per cent) who took part in a Treating Autism survey said their child’s health issues were not being properly investigated.
Parents reported that doctors often assume that their children’s behaviours, such as head banging, night waking and aggression, were “just a part of autism”.
Treating Autism’s review details research into health problems commonly experienced by people with autism and which parents report are “routinely” overlooked by the medical profession. Common complaints include gastrointestinal problems, seizures, allergies, eczema, asthma and ear and respiratory infections.
Medical testing of people with the condition has often revealed shared abnormalities that point to neuroinflammation , immune dysregulation, abnormal gut flora, autonomic dysfunction, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction.
Treating Autism asserts: “Behaviours in the ASD population are often physical in origin, identifiable through investigation and treatable or manageable through appropriate medical care.”
Gillian Loughran, editor of Autism Eye Magazine, suggested that the media could play a more active role in helping families and people affected by autism by covering the issues that are blighting their lives. She said: “Autism is a condition that is having a devastating impact on the lives of an increasing number of families and they need to find ways to get their government and medical officials to pay attention.”
Dr Lorene Amet, a member of the Autism Treatment Trust who has experience of treating children with ASD, said that people with autism need to be empowered against bullying and abuse by improving their health and level of functioning. She said: “In the wake of recent health care scandals such as the abuse at Winterbourne View, we cannot afford to be complacent about the treatment of people with learning disabilities.”
The ‘Medical Comorbidities in Autistic Spectrum Disorders’ scientific review can be seen here: http://www.autismtreatmenttrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Medical-Comorbidities-in-Autism-Spectrum-Disorders-20131.pdf
Published: 1 April 2013
