“Legislative changes are needed to ensure a better future for children with autism spectrum disorders”

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Cristina Burciu, PNL deputy from Cluj, supports the urgent need for legislative measures to ensure an optimistic future for children suffering from autism spectrum conditions.

Cristina Burciu, PNL deputy from Cluj. PHOTO: Facebook/ Cristina Burciu

The International Autism Awareness Day, marked on Tuesday, is a suitable opportunity to draw attention to the need for legislative changes, given the existing gaps especially in guaranteeing an optimistic future for children suffering from autism spectrum conditions, according to deputy Cristina Burciu (PNL ).

As the deputy from Cluj points out, currently, public voices in the field of autism campaign only to ensure the conditions related to the present time, mainly related to the settlement of therapies and the achievement of inclusion in the education system. “Indeed, the children are engaged in therapies, they are socially accepted, but we must remain focused on the neurological differences, because that means autism, which, often, is bundled with other comorbidities”, declared Cristina Burciu.

In autism, professionals recognize that there is no 100% recovery. Nor could such a thing happen, since the brain reacts differently, and the percentage of those who will be relatively functional in adulthood will be quite small.

However, behavioral problems will constitute a real social danger in adulthood, all the more so since the parents will no longer have the physical or financial means to deal with them.

“We can see this situation even today, when children benefit from everything necessary from a young age, but the behaviors are either towards episodes of aggression (irrespective of how frequent they are, a single moment of anger is enough in which one can produces a tragedy), or they are the ones attacked”, explains the PNL deputy from Cluj.

The number of autism cases, increasing

The reality indicates that in the last ten years the number of children with autism in Romania has almost tripled. Both free therapy centers and therapists, including private ones, cannot cope with the large number of children suffering from this condition.

The most urgent problem of the parents of these children diagnosed with autism is the lack of treatment places. Few of the specialized centers currently existing in the country have specialists with good training in the autism spectrum. In these conditions, parents are sent from one center to another, because there are not enough places, and the evolution of the condition can worsen until a place is freed.

Measures to improve the health of children with autism spectrum disorders

Cristina Burciu shows that the Ministry of Health must come to the support of parents whose children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.

“Consequently, I believe that the Ministry of Health has a duty of honor to support the efforts of the parents of children suffering from these rare diseases, because any action carried out in the early period may have the consequence of improving the health of the little ones.

As such, Romania needs the establishment of specialized permanent care centers, which can be financially supported from disability allowances/pensions, donations, European funds, where autistic children can receive the necessary care (various forms of therapy), but which to be able to carry out occupational, income-generating activities. We have very well-trained specialists who can support these centers, psychologists, psychiatrists, social assistance staff, as well as parents who have taken care of self-development and can provide the necessary human resources”, said Cristina Burciu, PNL deputy from Cluj .

“Last but not least, we must take into account the neurological condition of autistic adults, who do not have too much of a margin of independence, and we must be prepared to ensure the quality of their future lives”, explained the deputy from Cluj.

On the other hand, it is necessary to increase the degree of education of the society in relation to autism. Romania now offers a fairly good framework for these children, but many decision-makers omit (willingly or not) to talk about the long-term situation, through the lens of particular interests.

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