Experts warn parents against relating Autism to witchcraft 

The Executive Director of the Autism Society Uganda, Ms Dorothy Nambi, has warned parents with children living with Autism against attributing the condition to witchcraft. 

Ms Nambi said many parents, especially in rural areas, don’t want to associate with autistic children and isolate them from society. 

“Some people still think this is witchcraft.  It is not witchcraft. These are just ordinary children who need to be loved, understood, and accepted,” she said at an event organised by the Autism Society of Uganda to commemorate the International Autism Day in Kampala yesterday.

Ms Nambi also asked the government to recognise and celebrate International Autism Day to create awareness about the disease. 

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological development disorder which affects a child’s speech and social interaction. Its symptoms include repetitive behaviour, difficulty in communication and interacting with others, and aggressiveness.

The Minister of State for Disability Affairs, Ms Hellen Grace Asamo, urged the parents to seek medical advice from professional doctors to manage the disease. 

“I have seen some parents throwing away their children because they don’t know what to do with them. Some parents have beaten these children because they are over-hyper but this is not good. Parents must learn how to take care of these children and see how to progress,” Ms Asamo said. 

She added: “We are working on what we call a blueprint on disability. I hope the Autism Association, my commissioner here, gets their issues into the blueprint because I’m soon presenting it to the President. It’s going to be like the real Constitution on issues of disability.” 

Ms Sarah Kisitu Kasule, the Spokesperson for the Autism Society Uganda appealed to the government to develop a curriculum that can best suit the needs of children on the autism spectrum and also equip them with vocational skills. 

“This is a challenge where you find that many organisations are lacking the skills to train these children because of lack of training from the government, we need the government to come in and put in more energy to this,” she said. 

“… many children will become productive, or many persons [on the] autism spectrum will become productive in their communities. This will also help us to reduce the stigma and boost their self-esteem and confidence in whatever they are doing and also feel appreciated by the public,” she added. 

Ms Kisitu also said late diagnosis of the disease is hindering its management. 

“Early diagnosis should go as early as almost one year or three years and you can tell that your child has a problem. When you do early diagnosis and intervention, there are high chances that your child will be able to become productive and learn just like others. But once you delay that, those are the challenges we are going through,” she added. 

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) indicates that the prevalence of this condition is estimated to be between 70 and 80 people out of every 10,000 people in Uganda living with autism. 

The central region has the highest number of people living with autism, at 106,790, followed by the eastern region with 101,334 cases, while the northern region has 80,705. 

Mr Gad Kirenga, the co-director of Genuine Kunga Therapy and Kunga Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, said Ugandans still lack awareness about the condition. 

Kunga Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation is a centre that provides therapy to people living with conditions such as Autism.

Mr Kirenga says the treatment of this condition costs between Shs80,000 and Shs100,000 per session and each Autistic child needs 70 to 80 sessions in four months.

“But as I said, the challenge we are having now, most of them, are not from Uganda. We have one Ugandan, and even that Ugandan is from the Diaspora is in America. This could be caused by lack of awareness,” he added.