Materials. Between the raindrops

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Dear friends!

On June 11, a seminar “Supporting children with autism spectrum disorders in the education, healthcare and social protection systems” will be held in Bobruisk. Part 2".

This is the second seminar organized jointly by the TCSON of the Pervomaisky district of Bobruisk and the MBOO “Children. Autism. Parents"

Its participants will get acquainted with the experience of the MBOO “Children. Autism. Parents” is a public organization that unites parents of children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and specialists working in this field.

– There are only 786 children in Belarus with an officially diagnosed ASD, – says the chairman of the board of the MBOO “Children. Autism. Parents" Tatyana Yakovleva. – Autism in our country is still a latent problem: according to the authoritative international organization Autism Speak, approximately every hundredth child on the planet has an autism spectrum disorder, and the number of such children is increasing year by year.

Countries that realized the scale of this problem before us also saw the enormous potential of people with autism before us. We are pleased that the Minsk authorities see this potential and are taking steps to include children with autism in society. We will definitely talk about this experience at the seminar. We are glad that Bobruisk parents and specialists also strive to keep up with global trends.

Minsk guests will present two projects of the MBOO “Children. Autism. Parents,” who will help children with autism fit into mainstream schools and find their place in society.

The “Autism: Easy to Understand” project is an information resourceautismschool. by and the children's computer game “My Friend Has Autism,” created by parents of children with autism to help their children and their peers, as well as specialists working with such children.

The Happy Home project is a phased program for creating jobs and supported employment for young people with autism.

Irina Dergach, coordinator of the project “Autism: Easy to Understand”:

– Recently, Belarus has taken some steps to integrate children with autistic disorders into mainstream schools. An interdepartmental working group on autism problems has been created in Minsk; a city resource center began operating on the basis of the Minsk City CCROiR; Since September, secondary school No. 5 has been running the country's first integrated class for children with autism. In the next academic year the number of integrated classes for our first-graders in Minsk will increase.

Unfortunately, we, parents of children with autism, see not only positive changes, but also a huge number of obstacles that our children have to overcome. Moreover, most barriers exist only because neither teachers nor peers understand their features.

Fictions about children with autism wander from one publication to another: supposedly they do not need friends and new impressions, they have attacks of causeless emotions, including anger.

In the world, the causes of “groundless emotions” have long been studied. The experience of countries that realized the problem of autism much earlier than us shows that with proper pedagogical attention and respect for their characteristics, children with autism grow up to be full participants in society. They can be responsible employees, have talents and abilities. And no less than other people, they need friends, love, and acceptance. Moreover, it is not at all difficult to understand and accept their features. Our experience says that even a child can cope with this “science”. And to help ordinary children understand their unusual peers, a computer game “My Friend Has Autism” created by parents will be posted on our website autismschool.by. The main character of this quest, the boy Sasha, has autism. He sees and hears the world around him differently than everyone else. To successfully complete the game, you need to adapt to Sasha’s sensory characteristics and establish communication with him.

It’s the same in life: a society that finds mutual language with “not like that” people, he wins.

By the way, along with the instructions, the game comes with two dozen real stories children with autistic disorders who find themselves in the education system. Visit our website, get to know them, and you will understand that there is nothing frightening about the diagnosis of autism.

Inna Belousova, project coordinator“ HappyHome”

– “Happy Home” is a project for employment and separate living of people with autism in Belarus. This is a phased program to introduce a workshop, a store and a hotel staffed by people with autism. Our project is not a utopia; it is based on the experience of neighboring countries and economic calculations. Much has already been done in this direction: we plan that from September 2014, the first 20 children participating in the project will receive labor skills in our workshops.

TCSON of Pervomaisky district of Bobruisk (street 50 let VLKSM, no. 19)

11.00-11.15 - Registration of participants. Opening of the seminar. Presentation of participants.

Pryemko Svetlana Nikolaevna – Director of TCSON of Pervomaisky district of Bobruisk

11.15-11.50 – Presentation of the International Charitable Public Organization "Children. Autism. Parents." Answers to questions from specialists and parents.

Yakovleva Tatyana Georgievna - director of the MBOO “Children. Autism. Parents".

11.50-12.20 - Presentation of the website "Autism: Easy to Understand", created to support the education of children with autism in public schools. The project includes a computer game for schoolchildren, “My Friend Has Autism,” which will help them acquire basic communication skills with children with autism. About how to use these materials in teaching practice. Answers to questions from specialists and parents. Irina Dergach, Vera Zhibul – authors of the project and members of the board of the MBOO “Children. Autism. Parents".

12.20- 12.40 - COFFEE PAUSE

12.40- 13.10 - Labor education children with autism and prospects for independent employment. Presentation of the Happy Home project, which will start operating in September 2014. Inna Belousova – author of the project and member of the MBOO “Children. Autism. Parents"

13.10- 13.20 –Problems of families raising children with autism.

Galina Osipovich – representative MBOO "Children. Autism. Parents" in Bobruisk

13.20-13.30 - Summing up the seminar, filling out the questionnaire

Additional Information

representative of the MBOO “Children. Autism. Parents" in Bobruisk Galina Osipovich

Vanya comes up to me, hugs me and kisses my forehead. Vanya is 10 years old and has autism. I'm 25 and I feel like he knows a lot more about life than I do. Although this boy with big sad eyes does not speak, he has difficulty brushing his teeth on his own and cannot pack his briefcase without his mother’s help. “When Vanya was three years old, they put a cross on him. How many times were they told to send him to a boarding school! But I'm not mad at these people. I’m worried that time was lost, that I didn’t know how to help my son then, nine years ago... Although why say this? Regret is not constructive,”- Tatyana Golubovich interrupts herself. Read the story of a Minsk family who lives with autism and fights for their child every day in the material Onliner.by.

- Vanya was born absolutely normal child. A wonderful, beautiful baby, he developed like a book. But after a year we began to notice something was wrong. Vanya did not pay attention when his name was called. We sounded the alarm, took our son to the doctors, but the speech therapist said one thing, the speech pathologist - another, the pediatrician - a third... No one could make a diagnosis. As a result, the doctors decided that the child was deaf and therefore did not respond to calls. “God, what grief! I have a deaf child! What could be worse!" - that's what I thought then. How wrong I was... By the age of two, Vanya simply stopped talking. I remember I was sitting at an appointment with a speech pathologist, sobbing, and she answered me: “Mommy, everything is fine with your son. Don't label me!" And it’s true, Vanya was such a sweetheart! He hugged everyone and smiled. It was impossible to imagine something terrible. Only after many months did we finally get to a specialist who said in plain text: “Your child autism», - Tatyana recalls.

We walk through the Staiki sports complex, and Vanya rides ahead on a scooter. The wind mercilessly lifts collars and ruffles hair, the gray sky prepares to lighten with rain, but none of this matters. Vania. On his way. Myself. On a scooter. You probably don't know, but it's almost incredible. Many people with autism don't ride scooters, write poetry, or go to school. Vanya’s mother did everything to change reality.

- Autism is a disability that in most cases is invisible to the eye. At the same time, it does not go anywhere, it remains forever. I remember how my husband and I looked at our beautiful, smiling child, read terrible things about autism and couldn’t believe it. The puzzle just didn't fit. To our Vanya - and all these horrors? Outbursts of aggression? Absolute helplessness? Inability to live independently? Can't be! I kept waiting for a miracle to happen. And my husband also hoped: a little more of our efforts, just a little - and Vanya will become an ordinary boy. That's it... Now we both understand that the most difficult thing was to accept autism, to come to terms with the fact that it is forever. Only when we were five years old did we decide to apply for disability. Then we finally realized that life would never be simple,- Tanya admits.

The problem for Belarusian parents is that it is not enough to accept their child’s characteristics. People with autism have to fight for happiness, every day. Starting from the very moment the first signs of this neurological disorder appeared. Alas, Belarusian medicine still does not know how to diagnose autism. Parents find themselves in a complete information vacuum. There are no kindergartens, no schools, no teachers for such children. With the exception of the only specialized preschool, where children with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome study together, and a small number of integrated groups in kindergartens.

- Let’s say the diagnosis is finally made: it’s autism after all. So what should I do? The state only offers a few hours correctional work in Week. But this is a drop in the bucket! “Take care of your son, mom, and don’t whine.” How to do it? How to work with it? I myself turned over mountains of literature, searched the Internet for everything I could, and realized that there are ways, methods. I read a lot of theory, but it just didn’t translate into practice... This is terrible despair! It's like I have a child dying in my arms, time is precious, and there is some medicine that can save him, but I don't know where to get this medicine!- Tanya manages to talk about this without tears.

Tanya and her son go to “Staiki” almost every day. A walk along the shore, a circle or two on a scooter around the stadium, a snack on a bench... The same routes every time. Rituality is very important for people with autism. All life consists of a huge number of rules. Vanya always brushes his teeth with his white brush, takes out T-shirts from the shelf with the inscription “T-shirts”, and after getting out of the car, he checks whether his mother has closed the door.

-You are never free of autism. Never. Your child always needs you,- Tanya reveals the truth of her life.

Vanya grew up, but speech did not come to him... Tanya had a dream - for her son to study in a regular school. Sounds a bit strange for a dream. Just think, school. A stern math teacher, a backpack, table porridge... But for children with autism this is practically impossible. Their behavior is often seriously different from the behavior of their peers, because they have a different sensory perception of the world. They may, for example, suddenly get up and start running around in the middle of class. It seems like they are officially accepted into school, but they do everything possible to get rid of the “inconvenient” child. So that the parents themselves take him home, away from stress. In the West, this issue is solved with the help of tutors - personal assistants who are constantly close to special children during lessons. But where do tutors come from in post-Soviet Minsk?.. Stubborn parents independently solved this problem by sending a request to officials. The Minsk City Executive Committee did not immediately give the go-ahead. But in the end he still agreed. This unique case. Thanks to the efforts of Tanya Golubovich and other proactive parents, the first integrated class appeared in Belarus, in which 17 ordinary students and three boys with autism study.

- We simply asked the parents of our classmates to give us a chance to study with their children. After all, this is vitally important for Vanya and other such boys - to be among their ordinary peers, to hear their laughter, to play, to adopt behavior... At the last teachers' meeting we watched a video. There is a piece where my Vanya dances with a classmate, a wonderful girl Anya. My child, who two years ago couldn’t even fold a briefcase by himself, is dancing with an ordinary girl! Let it be awkward, clumsy. But he dances! I cried when I saw this- Tanya admits. - The most amazing thing is that Vanya and the other boys with autism were accepted at school. Classmates take care of them and take care of them. Even the high school students are friendly. For this I have a lot of gratitude to the 5th school!

Each of the three boys with autism who study in 2 “A” has their own tutor - a personal accompanying person who spends the entire school day with the child. Most of the time, the trio study separately in the so-called resource room, which the parents equipped at their own expense together with the school. But now the boys go to drawing and singing with the rest of the class. If possible, they sometimes come to math or reading classes. But during breaks they always spend time with their classmates. This is all called inclusion. Behind the beautiful foreign term is the opportunity to be together with your peers, to see and accept the otherness of other children.

- The school year will end soon, and we are thinking about how to organize summer camp for our sons. Another challenge is maintaining the first shift next year. School 5 does not have enough premises, and our tutors will not be able to work the second shift. But these are all local difficulties. The most important thing for me is to have time to create a whole system of help that would accompany Ivan until his death. So that I can grow old and not think about Vanya dying in a boarding school! This is my biggest pain... That is why my parents and I created the “Good Jam for Good People” initiative. We are about to be officially registered as a public association that helps children with autism and their families,- Tanya says proudly.

If autistic children are supported in time, many of them will be able to avoid disability.

Symptoms of this disease can be seen in many famous people: Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Albert Einstein... The list of people with signs of autism can be continued endlessly! It is lists like these that help parents of autistic people not lose hope that their children will be able to live in society. The concept " autism"(from Greek auto- sam) means deepening, withdrawal into oneself. For example, a child with autism may not react to a bee sting, but will scream in fear when it rains. He may become attached to some thing, but he will hardly react to his own mother. Many children with this disorder do not want to leave the house, and some never begin to talk...

The heroine of the article admitted that she does not like a film about a man with autistic disabilities “ Rain Man" In the film, an autistic father bequeaths all his property to the psychiatric clinic where his son lives... " I don’t have money that I could leave to the clinic, and besides, I’m not happy with the thought that my son might end up in such an institution!- she says. And she hopes that her story will help parents of such children fight for the right of autistic people to live in society, and not in a home for the disabled.

« Timur- a long-awaited child, we were preparing for his birth. But I soon realized that he was different from my eldest son. Of course, the eldest was also “not a gift,” but so scream, no matter whether he is full or hungry, dry or wet... The baby grew, and I began to notice other features: he avoids eye contact, has no interest in other children, and generally cannot do anything for a long time... But he has the energy for three: even when he ate, he could not sit. He chews a pie and runs circles around our seven-meter kitchen. It was impossible to stop him...

When it's time to go to kindergarten, we went to speech therapist. There, in the specialist’s office, Timur saw a toy airplane and began to play with it. The speech therapist tried to establish contact with my son, to somehow attract his attention. Where there! Timur was silent! The speech therapist gave us “ early childhood autism(RDA)" in question and sent to psychoneurologist.

Problems also began in the garden: Timka cried every morning, and the teachers complained that Timur does not listen, does not eat, does not know how to dress independently... In the group he played only with himself, almost didn’t talk to anyone. They reassured me: they say that the boy is not “kindergarten”, he will get used to it over time. Then everyone agreed that my special child could not go with the general flow. But there are no child care facilities or groups for autism. There are correctional groups for children with mental retardation, speech therapy for children with speech problems, special kindergartens that children with cerebral palsy can attend... but nothing for us.

Finally we got to speech therapy group. One might say that an exception was made for Timka. But the speech therapy group program - systematic sessions with a defectologist - is not very suitable for those children who have difficulties in communication.

During my next visit to a neuropsychiatrist, I heard something terrible: “ Let's apply for disability" Probably every mother unusual child These words are shocking: it’s one thing to raise a “special” child, and quite another when they give you a disability pension, free medications and make it clear that medicine is powerless here...

I still feel like something is wrong here. Well, what kind of disabled Timur is when he and I have been swimming in a large pool for three years, and in the evenings we douse ourselves with ice water according to the Ivanov system? Over the past year, my boy was sick only once; the temperature lasted for a day. Maybe this is too much luxury - to erase healthy, intelligent, albeit disharmonious, autistic people from society? And at the same time, their young and able-bodied mothers who are forced to care for a disabled person.

Home schooling was recommended for us, but I decided to send my child to school. Precisely general education, so that from childhood he communicates with ordinary children. I went to the district education department and asked to find a friend like him so that we would have someone to go to the integrated class with. But it turned out that my son is the only one like that in the entire Pervomaisky district.

Now that it has appeared in Minsk public association of parents of autistic people, I know that There are about 200 families with such children in the capital. This is the official figure. There is another one, ten times more. Not every mother will find the strength to recognize a psychiatric diagnosis in her child. But to combat a problem, you first need to recognize it. We did it, and since then we have made no secret of our diagnosis. And I tell Timka the truth: “ You are different from other people, but I know that you will find the strength to live in our society».

There were other reasons not to stay at home with Timur. I love my job and wouldn't want to quit. And I have two children. I am raising them alone and cannot allow my family to live only on pensions and state benefits.

The district education department offered me place in an integrated class(in such classes both healthy and special children study). At first there were only two special ones - my Timur and a girl with poor hearing. A special education teacher works in parallel with the teacher in the classroom. The defectologist takes the “integrated children” to his office for lessons that require more attention. And during breaks and other lessons “special” - together with other children. The girl, by the way, has improved her hearing and is studying with the class, but Timur was added two boys. The three of them go according to the program "with learning difficulties". Yet again - good program, but not for autistic people. We have other difficulties...

The first two years were very difficult for Timur, despite the fact that we were lucky with the teacher. Already on the first of September, surprises began: after the lesson, Timur ran away. He was able to leave the school unnoticed, although I was waiting at the entrance. We found Timur on the playground in the kindergarten. The teacher then told him, so calmly and confidently: “ Timur, have you decided to visit kindergarten? Well done. Just next time you want something again, tell me and I’ll help you».

Timur is still hyperactive, I used to be able to get up in the middle of class without permission and go do something. The teacher understands this too: when she saw that Timur was starting to fidget, she gave him instructions: open the curtain, wet the cloth. She let him sit wherever he wanted. In first grade, he chose the last desk and sat alone, but today he loves to study with his neighbors. The teacher was able to explain its features to the children- silence and ridiculous statements in class, absent-mindedness, “terrible” behavior. Our kids really behave sometimes like aliens who just descended to Earth from a spaceship. Timka could collect earthworms on the way to school and put this “gift” into the teacher’s hand in a dark corridor, or scatter food in the cafeteria and say: “ Better to die than eat cakes" You need to be a real teacher to understand the reason for this behavior: in reality, my “alien” just read a fairy tale about the Kid and Carlson. And he quoted the words of the main character, who also thinks that “ It's better to die than eat cauliflower».

Of course, there were also very difficult periods. For example, Timur was never able to get used to the after-school group. Broken glasses, flowerpots, torn wallpaper, broken toilet - this is all my Timur. Moreover, I learned about all the troubles from the lips of the teacher or children. Autistic people don’t know how to tell stories, I could only guess from the look of “nowhere” and sudden tears at night that something was wrong with Timka. Sometimes my head was spinning, I thought: I’ll finish my work for a week and that’s it, I’ll take it to home schooling. At such moments, a psychoneurologist supported us: “ Wait a couple more weeks and maybe things will get better" We waited like this for almost two years. I had to switch to shortened working hours and find a nanny who picks Timur up right after school. And then... it happened small miracle.

I remember this day well - May 31st. Timur had just finished second grade, and in the evening he told me: “ Mom, I’m already an adult, I’ll go to third grade, so I won’t be mischievous anymore." And he still keeps his promise. Today he behaves like an ordinary boy - sincere, curious, a little naive. I think a lot of people at school loved him. And our school No. 203 can really be proud that it was able to integrate such a difficult child.

Autistic people usually have preserved intelligence, they just need help to adapt to our world. And my experience has shown that such children the need for communication can be developed. Timur has already seen other children around him, he can run with them, ride down the slide... We have a friend - however, much younger than my son. It’s easier for Timka, since it’s difficult for him to negotiate. He wants to be friends with his peers, but he doesn’t yet know how to do this. I hope to teach him.

I sometimes think that if I had not taken Timka to kindergarten and school, my son would now be sitting alone. Yes, we have a disability now, but the diagnosis will be reviewed every two years. We hope to say goodbye to him forever someday.

I talk about my experiences on forums on the Internet. Many parents have lost hope that their child, with the same diagnosis, will be able to socialize. But I see my son, who has changed a lot. Yes, it’s still easy to offend and deceive him: social intelligence develops slowly. If a stranger takes him by the hand, he will go with him. But just because of this, considering a child to be hopelessly disabled is wrong.

I'm sure we need to create more integrated classes. They are needed not only for children with diagnoses, but also for healthy ones. Why? I will explain. My Timur is very absent-minded, he can forget his briefcase in the corridor or in the dining room he can forget why he came there. Classmates take care of Timur without humiliating his dignity. They will simply bring that briefcase or place a plate in front of him. And one very correct seven-year-old boy, when he saw that I was angry with Timur for something, even reproached: “ How can you swear at him? Timur is simply an extraordinary person!»

Agree, these words are worth hundreds of broken glasses!

Autism is a mental disorder that occurs as a result of disorders of brain development, characterized by a deficit of social contact and communication, limited interests and the same type of repetitive actions. This disease manifests itself at the age of three.

In the Republic of Belarus, from 2005 to 2012, the total number of children under the supervision of psychiatrists due to general developmental disorders, including autism, increased 2.8 times (from 251 to 699 cases). As of October 1, 2013, there were even more children with an officially established diagnosis of ASD (autism spectrum disorder) - 786 people. An increase in the incidence of autism spectrum disorders is observed in all regions of the republic, without exception, and in the city of Minsk.

Childhood autism is a special type of disability mental development. Due to the clinical diversity of manifestations of this distortion, the term “autism spectrum disorder” (ASD) arose, uniting all variants of autistic disorders and denoting a group of children in need of specialized help.

Today, autism can probably safely be called one of the most “strange” mental disorders V childhood. And not only because such children are often called “strange”, but also because it is still unknown what causes it and what exactly is disrupted in such a child. There are different theories, but none of them can fully and completely explain the nature of this disorder. There is currently no cure for autism.

Portrait of a child with autism.

In order to understand what is happening to such a child, imagine that everything you feel has increased or decreased a hundredfold. Light touches can cause you pain or, conversely, a strong blow can go unnoticed. A bright thing, previously familiar sounds will become frightening, and the interlocutor’s speech will simply turn into a melody. It is difficult to imagine this, but one can understand that in such cases the world of people and the world of things are perceived differently by him. But how this is “otherwise” we can only guess, assume... Such children have many different characteristics, but what really distinguishes them from other, even sick children, are pronounced difficulties in interacting with other people and with the world around them in general.

In a child with autism, as a rule, the process of personality formation is greatly distorted. He has difficulty independently identifying himself with his body and with even greater difficulty distinguishing himself from the world around him, which significantly distorts his interaction with others, and sometimes makes it completely impossible, because when there is no “I” it is not clear who should interact with whom , and most importantly “why?” Such children may have disrupted emotional connections even with the closest people.

He can be alone for a long time, does not know how to express his desires, ask for help, even with his gaze, and he can use an adult as an inanimate object: climb on him to reach a shelf, use his hands.

Some children with autism may not use speech at all, while others produce detailed adult monologues and quote phrases from books and cartoons. In both cases, their speech practically does not act as a means of communication. As for their intellectual abilities, the picture here is the same as with speech - from partial giftedness to mental retardation, which is caused by deep immersion in oneself, pronounced withdrawal from any contacts and complete limitation of oneself from natural learning experience. An autistic child may solve complex math problems and be unable to go to the store or tie his shoelaces.

If such a child was able to somehow integrate into this world, then he will protect his usual way of life. Not because he is stubborn, but because any changes, even minor ones, are like a nightmare. We went for a walk along a different route - hysterical. Mom changed things - a scandal, and moving to another place of residence can turn into a real disaster. At the same time, not every autistic child will express his emotions vividly and violently; the reaction may be imperceptible and delayed in time - he stopped eating, speaking, or the temperature rose. Such a child is distinguished by extreme unusualness, often pretentiousness in behavior and habits, which is in no way associated with poor upbringing or bad character, which others often attribute to them.

Symptoms of Autism

Contact your doctor if you notice the following in your child:

The child does not respond when his name is called;

Can't explain what he wants;

Experiences a delay in the rate of speech development;

Does not follow any instructions from adults;

Hearing disturbances appear periodically;

Does not understand how to play with this or that toy;

Poor eye contact;

Doesn't smile at others;

Does not babble or coo at 12 months of age;

Does not make pointing, waving, grasping or other movements by 12 months of age;

Does not speak single words at 16 months;

Does not say two-word phrases at 24 months;

Loss of speech or social skills occurs at any age.

Often the parents of such children have the feeling that the child lives in his own separate world.

Treatment of autism

People often misinterpret autism. Claims that autism can be completely cured can be heard in many families. Exist different models treatments for autism, regarding education in this area (educating people) and the treatment itself. However, the most effective direction in treating this disorder is to educate or inform the person about the disease.

There is a tendency to place children with autism in small classes so that they are free from auditory and visual stimulation. Educational information is given to the child in small parts. Since September 2013, the first integrated class for children with autism has been operating in the capital’s school No. 5, the main task of which is to create and further disseminate an effective model of teaching children with autism within secondary school. The work of this model is based on world-recognized methods of teaching children with autism with scientifically proven effectiveness (ABA - Applied Behavioral Analysis and TEACCH: the basics of structured training for children with autism). In the next academic year, the number of integrated classes for children with autism in Belarus is planned to increase. Minsk schools No. 5, No. 76, No. 108, No. 81, No. 104 are preparing to accept children with autism.

People with autism need to be taught how to communicate and interact with others. This is not an easy task and it involves the whole family as well as professionals. Parents of a child with autism should stay informed about new treatments and remain open-minded. Some treatments work for some patients but not for others. The effectiveness of many treatments has yet to be scientifically proven. Treatment decisions are always made on an individual basis after careful assessment, and are based on what is the appropriate treatment for both the child and the family.

It is important to remember that autism is a condition that requires ongoing treatment. The treatment program may change as the individual develops. Families should beware of treatment programs that offer false hope of healing. There are no medications yet that have been fully proven to be effective in treating autism. There are no cures for autism, and there is no sufficient level of willingness of society to accept children with special needs into its ranks, and this is much more important for children and their parents than searching for a magic pill.

Under the organization of provision medical care Children with this diagnosis primarily require early diagnosis and treatment of those mental disorders that accompany or complicate the course of autism. The emphasis is on psychocorrectional assistance and rehabilitation, which can change the quality of life of children with autism, their social adaptation and integration into peer society. If you use conditions, forms and methods of teaching that are adequate to the problems of autistic children, you can significantly reduce the impact of autism on the course of the child’s further development, thereby changing a person’s life towards the most complete, included in society, independent and independent.

In Belarus, the most active part of parents of children with autism is united by the International charitable public organization “Children. Autism. Parents". Members of the organization touched upon a wide range of problems related to providing assistance to children with ASD, which entailed making adjustments to the provision of psychological, pedagogical, medical, and social assistance at the interdepartmental level.

In May 2013, a coordination council was created in Minsk, which included: representatives of the committee on education, health, labor, employment and social protection Minsk City Executive Committee, representatives of public organizations.

World Autism Awareness Day allows us to dispel myths and prejudices about such children, provide more objective information, and unite the efforts of parents, specialists from various ministries and departments, and people who are not indifferent to other people’s problems.

Modern approaches to the diagnosis and rehabilitation of children with autism and other disintegrative disorders require close interaction between the educational, social and medical systems, public organizations, continuity in the interaction of rehabilitation structures and departments of the Ministry of Health that provide psychiatric care to children. The need to develop such a system of assistance to children with RDA, where specialists from various Ministries and Departments would be involved, is beyond doubt.