Since 2007, 2 April has been designated as World Autism Day by the United Nations. Autism is a struggle that many parents have to deal with. What may initially seem as a late bloomer or a quiet child may be later diagnosed as being a child who suffers from autism. Malta is not exempt from this medical phenomenon.

Surveys and reports prove that autism is on the increase and while it may be due to an increased level of awareness on the part of parents, teachers and medical professionals, it is also due to the fact that boundaries to the condition have been opened up so that now even minor and subtle cases can be identified by those who are well-trained.

Autism is a developmental difficulty that affects communication, socialisation, imagination behaviour and play. It is a condition that begins during early childhood and lasts a lifetime. Autistic people may present totally different symptoms which may range from mild through to severe. There are three conditions within Autism Spectrum Disorder, namely classic Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder. ASDs may have genetic causes but there is also much speculation from scientists as well as parents, as to another cause within the environment. The condition is predominantly one which hits four males to one female, although since language difficulties are not so common in females, these may simply slip through the net.

Typically autistic children are very often thought of as being quite unruly and undisciplined. Parents are very often regarded as being poor parents in this regard, but this is in fact unfair on them. Autistic children will not stop to evaluate a stranger but will sit on a stranger’s lap and be over-friendly where other children will shy away.

Signs of ASD are many and varied. A child may not look at objects when another person points at them, he may have trouble relating to people or not have an interest in people at all. When interest is shown, the child may not know how to talk, play or relate. They tend to have trouble expressing their needs using typical words or motions. Tantrums and extreme distress are manifested for no apparent reason. Typically they would repeat actions over and over again, such as spinning or lining objects.

Today, in 2015, parents do receive more support and respite from the daily struggles which they face every day. The least we can do, as society in general, is to try and be more patient and less judgmental. The child who might be making noises and behaving ‘not normally’ might be autistic and the parents might be trying their hardest to make life as comfortable as possible for the child who might be in distress. We ought to be, as a society in general, less judgmental.