First Lady leads autism awareness campaign |03 April 2009
These included slideshows about parents with autistic children, the testimony of a mother whose child suffers from autism, and an overview of the various activities being carried out in Seychelles to focus attention on the disorder.
Among those present were Minister for Health and Social Development Marie-Pierre Lloyd, her principal secretary Anne Lafortune, representatives from various agencies involved, and maternity, child and school health nurses.
It is not known how many cases of autism there are in Seychelles, but it is believed that 1% of the world’s population – 67 million people – suffer from it. Four times as many boys as girls have the condition, and so far no cure has been found.
Juliette Henderson, from the Family Health and Nutrition Unit, explained that three groups of people are being monitored in child development studies to shed light on the situation here.
They are using social communication questionnaires, which will be sent to the University of Rochester in New York, USA, to be analysed.
One of the main queries they are trying to answer is whether autism in Seychelles can be linked to pre-natal exposure to mercury, especially through eating fish.
Marie-Annette Ernesta, a parent whose child suffers from autism, then gave those present an idea of how it is to live with an autistic child, touching the hearts of many with her story.
Psychologist Patricia Gemmell gave weight to her story by explaining autism and its symptoms in a separate presentation.
Speaking to launch the event, Mrs Lloyd highlighted the government’s commitment to “stand up for autism” and to lead efforts to combat it.
She said that commemorating autism action day fits in well with the government’s commitment to ensure that people with disabilities or disorders are not discriminated against.
Mrs Michel handed over information packs on autism issues to the child and school health nurses.