(VOVworld) – The United Nations has designated April 2nd World Autism Awareness Day, calling for greater attention to autism. People with autism in Vietnam are being helped to lead a normal life and become integrated into society.

Le Thi Lan Anh of HCM city has an autistic daughter, whose syndrome was detected when she was just 23 months old. Lan Anh was shocked because she had thought autism was caused by parents’ neglect of their children. She learned that autism is a kind of developmental disability with many manifestations, whose causes remain unknown. People with autism often have difficulties in social interaction and communication, display unusual behaviors, and sometimes have emotional disorders. Lan Anh said she has been trying to find effective treatment for her daughter for the last 15 years: “There have been a lot of difficulties. I first had to get over the pain of a mother and a lack of sympathy from other people. Many people, even my relatives, think a child gets autism because his parents don’t give him enough attention. It’s been a psychological struggle for me and others to overcome this thinking.”

Early detection of autism can help children integrate into society more easily before complications arise. There is no cure for autism and the treatment of autistic people in Vietnam is beset with difficulties. The struggle with autism is always long and difficult but early detection and prompt intervention will give the children a better chance of independent living. Vu Thi Thanh Dao, Director of the Minh An special education center in Nghe An province, said: “Many of the 3,000 people with autism in Nghe An are disadvantaged children. They can’t just follow all the intervention processes. Autism is a life-long developmental disability.”   

Increasing awareness of autism and sharing between families whose children are autistic is helping to minimize the burden of autism. In April, 2015, Ha Long city’s Center for Social Affairs established a club for with autistic children, which provides its members with effective ways to help their children integrate into society.

Pham Thi Kim Tam of Ho Chi Minh city, whose child is autistic, established the Tuoi Ngoc Special Education School in Binh Thanh district. She hopes that there will soon be more medical centers capable of providing diagnostic autism assessments and early autism detection materials: “If children with autism remain undiagnosed they will lack proper medical and educational intervention. The state should have statistics on autistic children from which to devise appropriate policies.”

Special education centers for children with autism have become reliable places for parents to find treatment for their children. These centers give autistic children greater access to proper care and treatment and help them adapt to social groups.