Parents of children with autism are urging the government to increase support for vulnerable children who desperately need financial assistance and better services.
Patricia Naisara told fijiVillage News that the government needs to support children and people with autism, starting from early childhood because early intervention is important.
She says the government needs to better support existing services like the one provided by Frank Hilton Organization.
Naisara says being a mother of a child with autism has been a journey, but she feels blessed to come from a family of educators, where her mother in particular played a big part in encouraging her.
She says she noticed early on some key indicators that her son was not meeting the criteria of typical development, such as the lack of eye contact associated with autism.
She further says there is nothing wrong with the children having autism but they just think differently in the process.
Naisara further says a lot of awareness has been done over the years but it needs to be transformed into reality.
Her message to every parent who has children with autism is that they need to reach out for help and be strong.
