Autism Awareness Month: ‘Parental counselling a cornerstone for treatment’
Many parents find it difficult to accept that their children have symptoms of autism, said Konika Bansal, who has been associated with Mom’s Belief in Lucknow.
LUCKNOW While experts agree that early intervention and therapy are the key ways to manage and mainstream children on the autism spectrum, the training and counselling of parents of the children with autism are equally important, if not more.
“Once diagnosed, we assess the child’s need, and share a plan for home-based practises with the parents, which they must follow -- if the conditions and requirements of the child change during treatment or as they grow older, the plan is updated, so the parents might behave at home in keeping with their child’s needs at that time,” said Dr Konika Bansal, who has been associated with Mom’s Belief in Lucknow. Mom’s Belief is South East Asia’s largest organisation dedicated to empowering families of neurodivergent children for over a year now. She said, of the approximately 100 patients she saw in the last year, nearly 30-40 of them were children with autism.
Many parents find it difficult to accept that their children have symptoms of autism, said Bansal. “Starting from a child not making eye contact to being too hyperactive to sitting in one place, these may also be symptoms of autism. Parents imagine that these symptoms will slowly dissipate as the child grows older, however, the symptoms only get exacerbated with age if not addressed early,” she said. “We train the parents, equip them with videos of do’s and don’ts, and ensure that they are consistent with the child’s long-term therapy, through their counselling. It is a cornerstone for autism treatment.” She believes that an autistic child cannot be treated unless the parents are on the same page.
Anurag Sonkar, the father of a four-year-old with autism, said that he too has benefited a lot from being counselled at Mom’s Belief. “We started our daughter’s treatment here almost two years ago, our prime concern at the time was that she was exhibiting some overall development delays for her age,” he said. “We were told to shadow the therapist at the centre and learn her techniques,” said Sonkar. He said that training the parents in supervision, therapy, and exercises for the children goes a long way because the child gets more of the right kind of attention.
Sonkar and his wife were taught how to teach their child floor-based exercises at home, this helped to improve the overall physical strength of their child. “Since we started at this centre and became trained by the specialists here, my daughter’s speech has improved, and her overall cognitive abilities as well.” Bansal said that the family environment is a significant consideration when it comes to autistic children. “We regularly counsel the parents at every session, and their feedback has revealed that their child has improved following their informed involvement,” revealed Bansal.
In a similar vein, Urmila Yadav, who has a six-year-old autistic son, also spoke about the importance of being counselled and trained as a parent. Her son is receiving therapy at Saksham Child Development Centre, where parents’ involvement in the child’s therapy is required as a non-negotiable. “A few centres will focus on training parents to handle their autistic children. I have been to three-or-four, and in only three months, I found one. The centre trained and guided me on how to act or treat my child at home,” said Yadav. “We learn the exercises, and tactics to keep the child occupied and busy,” she added.
The parents’ work at home is also assessed by the therapists here. Mina Agarwal, founder of Saksham, who has been treating Yadav’s son, says that in between sessions, she asks the parents to send multiple videos as proof that they are practising these techniques at home. According to Yadav, her son’s attention span has improved in a matter of months, after she started continuing his therapy and putting her training to work at home. “He has started conversing with me. He used to be extremely hyperactive before. Lately, he is sitting for some time and putting his attention into reading and writing, which was not the case earlier. Parents must undergo training and counselling for the special needs of their autistic children, and the change seen then is undeniable,” said Yadav.