As the world observed the International Day for Persons with Disabilities on Wednesday, local advocates have highlighted the need for greater understanding of autism spectrum disorder, challenging widespread misconceptions.
Suzy Hall Fontaine, Vice President of Helen’s Association for Persons with Autism, emphasised the importance of recognising the distinct ways autistic children experience the world.
Recalling a past encounter, Fontaine said, “I remember this woman came up to me one time, a Jamaican woman, who said to me, ‘oh, she just needs a good licking.’ And I said to her, if I hit my child, then for the next week she will be hitting everybody in sight. She couldn’t understand that.”
She explained that many people mistakenly assume that autistic children should be treated exactly like their typically developing peers. “A lot of people feel that an autistic child needs to be treated like any other child. Yes and no. The way we deal with a child who is having a tantrum, a typically developing child, and a child whose autistic is different.”
Fontaine highlighted one of the key challenges faced by autistic children: sensory overload. “Most autistic children tend to hear every sound very loudly. They can’t differentiate between different sounds. So if we’re in a room, the clicking of a fan, someone talking in the background, the wind blowing, or a horn blaring, all of it is one sound to them,” she said. “So that works on their senses and it becomes too much and it actually becomes painful.”
She shared a personal example, recalling how her daughter experiences sensory overload.
“When my daughter would undergo a sensory overload, she would literally start to tremble and I could see she was in pain,” Fontaine said, emphasizing the physical and emotional impact of such experiences.
Helen’s Association for Persons with Autism continues to work to dispel myths about the condition, advocating for patience, understanding, and tailored approaches to supporting autistic children and their families.
