<i>Autistic children display talents at cultural show</i>

An autistic child performs at a cultural programme at LGED auditorium in the city yesterday. HANS organised the programme with the participation of autistic children.Photo: STAR

The children look so cute and innocent that anyone would tend to be fond of them.
They can sing, dance, act and speak, but cannot communicate effectively like other children with natural psychological growth.
They are none, but the autistic children with impairment in socialisation, verbal and non-verbal communication.
Their behaviours are of restrictive and repetitive patterns.
But there are examples that with early identification of the symptoms and proper treatment, these children also can lead normal life.
These were learnt from the people working with the autistic children during a cultural programme titled 'Share with innocence' at LGED auditorium in the city yesterday.
Different schools for the autistic children including Autistic Welfare Foundation, Society for the Welfare of Autistic Children (SWAC), Kallyani, Scholars Special School, Beautiful Mind and Caring Glory took part in the show.
At the show, organised by Hello's Association of Neophyte-Students (HANS), autistic children danced as their teachers showed, sang as their teachers played the harmonium and acted as was dictated from behind the curtain.
"These children have communicative problems, but they can be expert in any particular subjects," said popular novelist Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, who was a special guest at the function.
It is unfortunate that people are not aware of them and therefore behave differently not only with the autistic children, but also with other physically or mentally challenged people, he said.
"We must treat all human being humanely because all deserve so," said Zafar Iqbal, professor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.
He said there is one autistic child in every 166 people in the United States.
"This is a global problem, but there is very little awareness about it," he said urging the government to be attentive to the issue of autistic children.
SWAC Chairman Engineer Anwar Hossain, who is also a father of an autistic child, said his child is so expert in home management that an adult is not so smart in doing so.
He said scientific causes of autism and its treatment are not identified yet but people sometimes forget that they are also human being and term them as mad.
This attitude must be changed, he noted.
Dr Shamim Matin Chowdhury, a child psychiatric, said doctors in the country know very little about autism.
"So sometimes they apply wrong treatment," he said.
"What we need most is conducting researches and training for the teachers and doctors on autism," he added.
Former governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Farashuddin was present as chief guest at the function.