Child with autism expelled from school in Astana

"The problem of autism has been recently discussed in Almaty together with the Prime Minister. As per average statistical data of the World Health Organization, there are 33,900 children with autism in our country. Slightly more than 1,000 have been recorded by the Ministry of Healthcare and 1,938 ones have been registered by the Ministry of Education. And where are the other children? Did we make a right diagnosis? Or did we just close them with their mothers at home and do not pay enough attention to them?" said Baliyeva.

The Deputy added that autism is a disease of the civilization, a challenge of the modern time. The earlier autism is diagnosed the faster we can heal it. The cause of the disease has not been identified yet, doctors say.

"Due to the achievements in global medicine, sometimes doctor can diagnose this disease in two months after a child's birth. As soon as the diagnosis is confirmed, we need to work with such a child every second of time. Unfortunately, there is no program or a comprehensive action plan on early identification, treatment of autism and integration of such children into the society in our country," Baliyeva emphasized.

The mothers of such children need psychological support, she added.

"We did not teach the parents and we did not learn ourselves to be patient towards such children. For example, a boy with autism was expelled from a school, after the children, parents and even the school staff forced his mother to take him away," noted she.