Autistic children thriving in model school

Matovu owned a school that admitted all students but with time and after getting several referrals from Mulago and Butabika Referral Hospitals, he expanded the school to include a section for autistic children. In 2015, the school opened its doors to children with all three levels of autism but closed at the end of the year because they did not know how to run it.

Matovu then concentrated on research about autistic children and how to help them. In the meantime, he continued creating awareness about the disease in different parts of Kawanda. 

In 2019, the school management reopened for autistic children and got permission from Nansana Municipality to allow children with levels one and two of autism to study with the rest of the children while having to do outreach for those at level three.

“With proper diagnosis, the level of autism can also be identified so at level three, we go to their respective homes and occasionally send them a teacher to help the parent cope and manage the child while also helping the child establish a routine,” Matovu says.

Inclusive
Wisdom Elementary School is a special school in such a way that although it is a community school that enrols normal children, it also has a provision for children with autism; a special class and teacher for them.  While some children are referrals from Butabika and Mulago referral hospitals, most of them are from the community.

About 10 children with autism live within the community near this school and five of them are at levels one and two while the rest are level three. The five children are in school and since they need special care and attention, their fees are slightly higher than that of the other children.

Miriam Nassali, the special education teacher, is trained specifically for the job and although she remarks that it took her some time to learn each of the children’s behaviour, they are progressing well. 

“I took time to learn their likes and the things that cause them to throw tantrums. They need a lot of attention and as a teacher, you must be calm,” she says.

In order for them to academically catch up with the other children when it comes to classwork, the autistic children attend classes with normal children but under the watchful eye of their special education teacher. Joining other children helps them learn to socialise. 
Matovu remarks that there are lesson plans and notes for children with autism and they sit special exams. 

In order to increase acceptability and awareness, the children at Wisdom Elementary School have a better understanding of children with autism. 

“We introduced a topic about autism that is taught in all classes to help other children learn and know how to associate with their autistic friends,” he says. He emphasises the need for government, through the Ministry of Education and in conjunction with the National Curriculum Development Centre to include a topic about autism in the curriculum which will help create awareness to both teachers and the pupils.

Since the other children now have a better understanding of their peers with autism, they closely work with them. One of the children with autism, Melisa is in Primary Five and is in the boarding section. Her friend, Hope Atuhaise (P7) has been so helpful to her. 

Atuhaise says, “Melisa is a good friend. We wash together and since her hands shake while washing, I help her so that we finish quickly then go and do other things.” 

The special class
Autistic children have different abilities and are handled differently and each child has different study targets, depending on their level of the spectrum disorder. There are special lesson plans and lesson notes for their work and they also sit their own exams. 

There is also a clinic near the school where the children are taken in case they get any health challenges. 

At home 
Madina Namatovu’s fourth child has autism. When her daughter Bushira was six, she noticed some strange behaviour and she thought that she was being stubborn. Until that time, her speech was not clear. She took her to several hospitals because she was always sickly but she was not helped.

When she turned nine, she would do things that were really disconnected and they kept her home because they did not know what to do with her.

“I was then directed to Bbosa Ward at Mulago National Referral Hospital where I met children with the same behaviour. After a month of routinely going to the ward, she was diagnosed with autism and a doctor recommended a special diet that would help her improve,” she says.

When Namatovu got to know about this, she started giving her local eggs and pumpkin and also enrolled her into school. With time, she noticed that Bushira does not like dirty places and her tantrums are brought on by chicken which she thinks makes the place dirty. 

“She does chores well, washes her clothes but hates chicken. She shouts at them and throws tantrums over minor things. However, I now know how to calm her down,” she says.

The 14 year-old goes to Wisdom Elementary School and she has friends at the school. Bushira had refused to eat food at her previous school. She would go back home and return in the afternoon but at her new school, she seems to have found a solace. At school, when she throws a tantrum, her teacher says she feels better when she interacts with younger children.

Namatovu urges fathers to take part in caring for their autistic children. 

What is autism?
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a complex mental condition characterised by trouble with social interaction, impaired communication, restricted interests and repetitive behaviour.

The commonest characteristic of people living with autism is inability to communicate easily and interact with others. In fact, some people with autism are unable to communicate at all while others just have difficulty interpreting body language. 

Causes 
The cause for autism disorder is not known but there are risk factors that are said to increase one’s chance of having an autistic child.

Having a sibling with autism also increases the likelihood of a child being diagnosed with autism; a parent being older at the time of pregnancy is additionally linked with greater risk of autism.

Male children tend to be diagnosed with autism more often than females, albeit this ratio is changing over time.

Treatment
While there is no cure for autism, according to Dr Richard Idro, a paeditrician, there are several effective interventions that can improve a child’s functioning.

Applied behavioural analysis, social skills training, speech and language therapy and other interventions help   children with autism to create a structured behavioral plan for improving their adaptive skills and decreasing inappropriate behaviour, improve their ability to navigate social situations as well as speech.

Parent support groups help parents cope with the stressors of raising a child with autism and learn effective ways of responding to problematic and appropriate behaviour for their child.

Dr Idro says, “Treating co-occurring conditions such as insomnia, anxiety, convulsions and depression is also important. While drugs and medications have been traditional responses to autism treatment, they do not fully address the problem.”

Breakthrough treatment

However, a new breakthrough has been said to be an effective therapy for autism. With Stem cell therapy, a patient’s bone marrow cells from the hip joint are injected into the patient’s spinal cord. The cells impact on the patient’s immune system and restore the damaged brain cells.

Treating autism with stem cells improves blood and oxygen flow to the brain to help regrow the damaged neurons and form new arteries in the brain but the therapy is more effective when the child is below 10 years.