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| Albanian teacher teaching a child with autism how to draw |
The number of children with autism spectrum disorders is increasing in Albania. According to official data, they make up about 26% of the total number of children with disabilities. Psychologists claim that some of them fail to be diagnosed and treated due to the mentality of the parents, while in schools they have difficulty integrating due to the lack of qualified teachers and individual programs.
The year-on-year increase in the number of people with autism, especially children, has worried the psychologists, who say there is a need for early diagnosis and treatment. According to official data, says psychologist Megi Lazri, in Albania, from year to year, there is an increase of 30-40% of cases with autism.
"We see that the number of children seeking treatment is higher than the number of children with autism spectrum disorders, as opposed to the other disorders or difficulties we currently have," she told to Voice of America in Albanian.
Autism was recognized and started to be treated late in Albania, only in the early 2000s. Now, in every generation of children that are born, there are 300 cases of autism spectrum disorders. This number, according to clinical psychologist Erodita Shazi, should be even higher, because, due to the mentality, there are parents who do not accept the diagnosis and treatment of the child or find it difficult to accept the fact that their child has autism.
"We have families with social problems. There are cases when the mother accepts her children, asks for help, but the father does not want to accept this fact, and the child remains without receiving the service. And this is a disaster."
With the increase of cases, in recent years efforts have been made to open treatment centers for autistic children, but also for their psychological treatment clinics. However, says psychologist Shazi, the situation in education remains problematic, where children with autism find it difficult to integrate, as qualified teachers and individual programs are required, in accordance with the needs they have.
"It is very problematic, starting from the involvement in schools, where the support teacher is provided, but he is not qualified to provide support service for children with problems. Also, the classrooms are not suitable for them, because the classrooms are full of children's works, with letters, numbers, which increase their distraction in the classroom ".
The long pandemic period and restrictive measures were also obstacles to the timely treatment of children with signs of autism spectrum disorder. This has further aggravated their condition by endangering their further continuation with the respective therapy.