ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday performed the groundbreaking of Center of Excellence for Autism at the Rehabilitation Center for Children with Development Disorders in Islamabad, promising to mobilize all resources to benefit children with specialized needs.
According to the non-profit Autism Society of Pakistan (ASP), around 350,000 children in the country have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn and behave, though there is no reliable official data to corroborate this figure.
Autism spectrum disorders range from Asperger syndrome, a relatively mild communication disorder, to severe autism in which patients communicate little or not at all with others and may display severely debilitating behaviors such as rocking or banging their heads. About 40 percent of children with autism do not speak at all.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, the prime minister said this Center of Excellence for Autism would be established in one year, adding that it is the collective responsibility all Pakistanis to support children with autism.
“It is the duty of the government to mobilize all available resources for the nation’s special children and enable them to stand on their own feet as productive members of society,” Sharif said.
“We will establish the best vocational centers, skill-development programs, trained teachers, and provide modern instruments, advanced equipment and modern technology to equip these boys and girls.”
Autism is usually diagnosed between the ages of 3 and 5. There is no cure and no one knows the causes, but doctors are eager to identify autism as early as possible because therapeutic intervention can reduce its effects at an early age.
The prime minister announced the Center of Excellence for Autism in Islamabad would also be provided 15 buses for the transportation of children.
“It is our responsibility and whatever we do for these children will still be too little,” he added.
