Dr. Phan Thieu Xuan Giang is an expert with many years of experience working in the field of diagnostic assessment and intervention orientation for children with autism spectrum disorders. Currently, Dr. Giang is a visiting lecturer in Neuropsychology, Faculty of Psychology at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU-HCM and a visiting lecturer in Developmental Psychopathology, Speech Therapy Program, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine (HCMC). The doctor has studied in Australia and the United States on diagnostic assessment and early intervention models for autistic children with scientific evidence.
- Doctor, what signs can parents rely on to determine whether their child has autism spectrum disorder or not?
Warning signs of autism in children include: under 1 year old, children do not pay attention to the sounds or voices of caregivers, do not listen to conversations, do not smile at adults, like to pay close attention to repetitive stimulating objects such as spinning, like to look at fingers, do not communicate with eyes.
Children under 1 year old do not respond or respond very poorly when called by name, do not know how to point to express requests, do not look in the direction pointed. Children do not make full eye contact, are slow in language, do not know how to nod or shake their heads to show agreement or disagreement, do not know how to show off, do not know how to invite others to play with them.
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Doctor Giang said that for children with mild autism, the treatment intervention process can progress dramatically by 80-90% if intervention is early, scientifically correct and with enough time. |
Children with signs of autism often have repetitive behaviors or over- or under-response to sensations such as: liking to spin a wheel, pushing a car back and forth and staring, liking to touch, liking to knock, liking to smell, being overly sensitive, spitting out everything they are fed, being afraid of smells or being afraid of high-intensity sounds such as drills, blenders, etc. In that case, parents should take their children to see a specialist who is trained in autism assessment.
- So what is the "root" cause of autism spectrum disorder in children, doctor?
Autism spectrum disorder is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder. That is, children have early brain dysfunction, which can be related to genetic factors due to family inheritance or mutations during pregnancy, affecting basic brain functions such as: social motivation, gesture communication, eye contact, facial expression, speech and gesture coordination... Older parents who give birth also have a higher risk of their children having autism.
Information that parents do not raise their children well or that grandparents let their grandchildren watch electronic devices causing children to become autistic is self-imposed, and so far there is no scientific evidence.
- Doctor, what should parents do when they know their child has autism spectrum disorder?
Parents need to intervene early for their children as soon as they detect it. In the first 3 years of life, nerve cells are highly flexible and customizable, so children can learn new things easily, especially early communication.
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The program for children with autism spectrum disorder always receives the support of many experts and artists. |
Professional interventionists will base on the child's developmental assessment to see where the child's strengths, weaknesses, and potential are to develop an early intervention program that is appropriate to the child's level of development and potential.
Early intervention, with scientific evidence, and enough time, maybe 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours continuously every day, after a few months, the child can see progress. The child's progress after a few months of intervention is only the beginning, it is necessary to persevere in long-term intervention and evaluate development repeatedly to have more appropriate intervention goals for the new stage of development.
- So what role do parents play in accompanying their children, doctor?
Parents play a decisive role in the intervention and treatment of autism spectrum disorders in children. If parents actively participate and invest time and knowledge in learning how to play, interact, and communicate with their children, and find experienced professionals and intervene according to scientific evidence, children will make progress.
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Parents play an extremely important role and are the decisive factor in treatment intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders. |
On the contrary, if parents do not accept their children's problems, do not care, do not find scientific methods, parents have conflicts, the family has a lot of tension, do not communicate with their children, the children will not progress, sometimes even worse.
- After many years of working with autistic children, how have you seen society's perception of autistic children change?
It must be said that the project to Raise Awareness of Autism in Vietnamese Children initiated and organized by PNJ and BTTEVN Fund over the past 5 years is a meaningful and useful activity that has created a lot of value for the community, including thousands of autistic children across Vietnam.
Specifically, PNJ has published books that provide scientific and accurate knowledge, guiding the community to have a correct understanding of autism spectrum disorders such as "Supporting rehabilitation for autistic children in Vietnam".
Furthermore, the Project regularly organizes training sessions for centers in many provinces and cities to raise awareness of autism among people working in various fields. The program has contributed greatly to bringing extensive knowledge to the centers and families of autistic children.
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The project to raise awareness of autism in Vietnamese children initiated and organized by PNJ over the past 5 years has brought many values to Vietnamese autistic children. |
Thanks to a lot of scientific information, parents and the community are increasingly wise in finding scientifically evidenced solutions and action strategies to accompany their children. Early detection, early intervention and scientific correctness can help children make great progress.
Thank you doctor!
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