Parents and guardians of children with autism have compelled both the national and the county Governments to support the awareness activities of the condition in the rural villages of the country.
The director of Jonathan Rays of Hope Caroline Kisuge said that they decided to organize World Autistic Pride Day as a way of creating awareness campaign for parents and guardians of people living with autistic conditions so that the Government and other stakeholders can be aware of the conditions that have made some parents hide their children due to societal judgment and discrimination of the person’s living with the autistic conditions in the society.
She said that the pageant activity was also a way of appreciating the people and recognizing autistic children and people so that society can start to treat them well and not abandon them as it has been in the past where many of them have been left lonely and not recognized at all spheres of life.
Valent Adhiambo, the founder of Geno Epileptic said that the main issue was to make the people living with autistic conditions feel loved and appreciated by society.
She said that the intention was to make the parents, guardians and caregivers know that the children also matter in society and can be appreciated and be loved by the members of society so that the negative judgment about the autistic condition is reduced and curtailed by those who allegedly abuse the rights of the people living with the conditions.
Another stakeholder Wilberforce Koome an Occupational Therapist in Migori County said that the condition has no cure and that people and parents have to contend with it as society is also supposed to be made aware and learn how to treat children and people living with autistic conditions.
He called on the national and the county Government to offer more services and resources to people living with these conditions.
He said that most schools cannot accept children with that condition and those available are few and sometimes very expensive for some parents who are struggling with the harsh economic times across the county and the country at large.
The stakeholders called on the Government to train more occupational therapists so that they can help cap the many conditions that the few occupational therapists in the country.
They want awareness campaigns and more resources allocated to create awareness in the villages so that autistic people can be recognized and be treated in the right way and their human rights are respected and upheld.
