It would have broken any childs heart: the note sent from the Moscow Aquarium last April to teachers who tried to organize a visit with a group of autistic children read: Refused. Visitors do not like to see the disabled it disappoints them. It is unacceptable.
Devastating though it may have been, its but one example of the difficulties autistic children face in a conservative, often intolerant Russia. And while efforts are being made in the battle against autism, experts and those on the frontlines agree that Russia is still a long way from success and so they look abroad for advice.
On American websites, it says that around age one or one-and-a-half, the symptoms begin appearing, says Lev Tolkachev, whose 5-year-old daughter is autistic, on the sidelines of a September 10 seminar at RIA Novosti featuring international experts on autism. But unfortunately, the majority of parents in Russia say, So what if a child doesnt start talking until age five? Thats a huge catastrophe.
Tolkachev is one of the many Russians who brave the storm of raising autistic children in Russia as best they can. But frustrated with the lack of dedicated, appropriate care in Russia coupled with societys less than welcoming attitude Tolkachev and his compatriots are increasingly adopting foreign methods to treat autism, such as the applied behavior analysis (ABA) technique, developed in the United States in the mid-20th century.
The system, developed by American B.F. Skinner and Norwegian Ole Ivar Lovaas, is an approach to treating autism that focuses on personal interaction, improving a childs verbal, motor and other skills through a series of individual exercises. The childs progress is also closely monitored over time.
Having become a standard for treating autism in the West, the system has helped countless children there and has steadily boosted their chances of successful treatment and societal integration.
Israeli expert Mikhail Ben Zvi, a leading expert on child autism, advocates the ABA approach and stresses the importance of an early diagnosis of the disorder in children advice critics say is largely ignored in Russia.
If there is even a suspicion that a child has autism, it is necessary to begin work and not lose any time, he told the crowd of Russian parents at the seminar. Believe me the sooner you start, the better the result.
While Tolkachev says a handful of high-quality autism treatment centers exist in Russia among them, the Center for Curative Pedagogics in Moscow clinics and researchers are still largely playing catch-up, either unfamiliar with approaches such as ABA or not using them to their fullest potential.
As far as I know, this kind of rigorous monitoring is not used at all in the Russian system, Tolkachev says, adding playfully that the method is somehow quintessentially American.
Read more from the original source:
Autism in Russia: Still Catching Up