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MT 17 April 2016

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 APRIL 2016 10 News 'My three children are autistic... I fear for their future' A wareness about autism has undoubtedly increased over the years, with added services and support being made available to children diagnosed at an early age. But for coming-of-age boys and girls who grow up in a world insensitive to their needs, leaving the sheltered world of child education and navigating the teenaged and adult world can be something like falling off the edge. Valerie Brincat is mother to 14-year-old Craig and 12-year-old twins Hope and Yvonne. All three have varying degrees of autism, with son Craig having the most intense form of the condition. The over- whelming challenge is easily per- ceivable for Brincat, but to a world that is inured to ignore autism, it is no wonder this mother is crying out for a greater emphasis on individual cases to better equip people with au- tism to face the adult world – rather than having a one-size fits all ap- proach. Echoing her comment is the sen- ior speech language pathologist Dr Rita Micallef who describes autism as a severe and multi-faceted devel- opment disability which never truly goes away. "Diagnoses need to be made sensitively and following a lot of different aspects to make sure that therapies selected are as effective as possible… it is essential that more than one person participates in the diagnosis given the fact that symp- toms are not the same in everyone with autism." Parents and educators will need to have a clear image of how the condi- tion affects all ways of life, if they are to make intervention at every stage of their children's life as applicable to individual conditions as possible. Valerie Brincat's experience is in fact a testament to the different ways that autism can affect people. "My daughters go to a mainstream school, but my son attends a re- source centre now, for instance," she says, recounting how he had been suspended from a mainstream school due to his difficult behaviour. "Although his behaviour can in fact be challenging, I also realised that he wasn't feeling comfortable at the school because he wasn't feeling understood," Brincat says, pointing out that children with her son's se- verity of autism require specialised Learning Support Assistants who understand what causes certain dif- ficult behaviour, as well as how to handle and avoid it. But those LSAs are nowhere in ample supply as the fledgling sys- tem's first intake of LSAs has so far only provided assistants to teach- ers in a bid to cater for the urgent demand that the change in schools streaming reform necessitated. Brincat explained that treating her son's meltdowns just like ordinary problematic behaviour, can never be conducive to giving children with autism the necessary skills to ulti- mately face adult life. "If educators don't understand that a child with autism needs to be taken to a low- stimulus environment when they start showing signs of a meltdown, for instance, then the risk is that the situation can get out of hand and culminate in violence," she says. "Children might even catch on and manipulate the situation so that they can be sent home for their behav- iour," Brincat says, which is why she insists that specialisation for LSAs ultimately makes their job easier. The observation was in fact also underlined by Dr Micallef, who says educators, therapists and parents all needed specific training to under- stand that varying degrees of things like routine and visual aspects are es- sential to people with autism. Brincat explained how her experi- ence of mainstream education with her son had revealed that many schools needed to be made aware of how to deal with autism, even in the physical environments they provide. "The vibrant colours, big letters, shapes and numbers that typically decorate classrooms, are tanta- mount to an assault on the senses of someone with autism. "Schools need to understand the importance of having a so-called 'quiet-room' to take autistic children to when they are having an intense meltdown." E ven the learning styles of children with autism are different from other children, and vary from one child with autism to another. "My son, for instance, cannot grasp abstract concepts like religion, history, literature or design skills, so it's no use trying to teach him these subjects. "However, he would have ben- efitted much more from learning a number of life skills, social skills, an- ger management and perhaps learn- ing core subjects like English, Maths and Maltese through life skills. Such skills could ultimately help my son even in facing the employment sec- tor in the future… but basic behav- ioural therapy would even put my mind at rest for the future. "We can't expect these children to become functional adults in society or even to understand how to act in a residential home when they grow older," she said. Brincat adds that although her Valerie Brincat is seeing her children grow into teenagers and exiting childhood. She tells MARTINA BORG about the challenges they face and her fears for their future GRTU members up in arms over 'rushed' billboard law MATTHEW AGIUS SIGN manufacturers and import- ers have suffered a 90% drop in sales "overnight" as a result of the confusion caused by the haphaz- ard implementation of regulations on billboards, according to the GRTU, the chamber of small and medium enterprises. A recent legal notice amalgam- ating the existing billboards and advertisements regulations into one law has resulted in widespread confusion, according to the cham- ber. Speaking to MaltaToday before a briefing by the GRTU for its mem- bers and the media, CEO Abigail Psaila Mamo explained that ME- PA had immediately started en- forcing the new regulations with the billboard operators. "As soon as we noticed that the legal notice (LN103 of 2016) was published, we went through it and were shocked both at the content and the impact it would have, as well as because it was introduced without any form of consultation. "We were very taken aback at the introduction of the legal notice. Everyone knows what the GRTU is, they knew who to consult," Psaila Mamo continued. "Signs sellers saw an overnight 90% drop in sales, when the LN was pub- lished on March 29th. "The government seems to think that because they removed the €1,500 fee, all problems have been solved, but this is not the case. "We assessed that the impact would be massive and would af- fect every business. On Friday, the government issued a statement saying that all shop signs are ex- empt from permits and licensing. "The situation is that there are shop signs on one hand and bill- boards on the other, but there is uncertainty as to into which cat- egories other types of advertise- ments fall. What will be exempt- ed?" Government departments were calling on the GRTU to confirm whether reports that were circu- lating were true, as they had not been informed, she said. " The government said that a clarification is needed, but we think that a bit more than that is required – the law needs to change. The removal of the Trans- port Malta €1,500 fee does not fix things." The 0.5sqm size limitation had been introduced in 1993 and was subsequently superseded by other laws. "But much of the 1993 law was incorporated into the new le- gal notice, rendering it immediate- ly outdated," Psaila Mamo argued. The law as it currently stands re- quires that any advert visible from the road needs to have the permit number integrated into the design of the sign. "We cannot under- stand how this is doable." The daily €50 fine for non-com- pliance is also unclear as, while it appears to have been capped, there was a separate possibility of a €1,000 - €5,000 fine, imposed at the discretion of the Planning Authority. The GRTU CEO de- scribed the fines as "terrifying." Addressing a gathering of GRTU members, the CEO said the gov- ernment could not avoid consult- ing with the chamber. "The way they carried it out and the way it was implemented is not accept- able." She accused the government of "downplaying the impact and trying to calm the panic" instead of admitting that the GRTU was right. "But it is still there, in black on white." In addition, previously, adverts in place for 28 days or less did not require a licence or a permit. The new exemption is only on licences, but the MEPA permit is still re- quired. " A meeting to discuss the issue with Parliamentary Secretary Deb- orah Schembri will take place on Wednesday. The GRTU was very happy to have achieved a positive result in such a short time, Psaila Mamo said. "We are proud to have achieved this result and so should you, as members." GRTU president Paul Abela pointed to a press release issued on Friday evening saying that the law would be repealed, but added that as of yesterday afternoon, the legal notice was still in force. "We are going to insist that the legal notice is clarified. There is still a big problem with the bill- boards regulations. It is still in force and every billboard now has a notice attached to them warning that they will be removed." Deborah Schembri's ministry falls under the PM's remit, said Abela. "I think the problem was the rush to remove the billboards, but I think we could have had a better result. I appeal to the gov- ernment to work as they used to in the past, through continuous dialogue." He seemed confident that the situation would be resolved. "We always end up issuing a joint state- ment with the government. We always reached a solution. The GRTU is like a lion, it's quiet as long as it's fed, but once you step on us we get up." He decried the alarm caused by the issue. People had cancelled orders for billboards because of the confusion. Autism Parents Association spokesperson Valerie Brincat

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