Children with autism are gifts from God – Parent leads awareness campaign

Parents whose children are living with autism have been urged not to see them as disadvantaged individuals, but as ones with various special abilities.

Monica Plange whose son has the condition said children with autism are not a curse or demons as many perceive them but rather gifts from God.

Autism Spectrum Disorder, which is popularly referred to as Autism, is a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences.

Mrs Plange said the knowledge of her youngest son’s difficulty presented the family a new challenge and a poised determination to do their best for her and to provide her with every single opportunity

What every growing child did, young Dwayne could not but is very special in his own right.

Whatever effort, time, money, they put in raising their earlier children; they invested twice as much in raising Dwayne.

It was fun and pain mixed together caring for Dwayne but neither her Mom nor her family is broken by the experience.

As part of her commitment to creating awareness, Madam Monica on her 50th birthday she raised funds decided to form a foundation in her son’s name to motivate other parents living in despair.

The Dwayne Plange Autism Vision (DePav) Foundation is to serve as a platform to break the stigma about autism, especially in Ghana.

Monica Plange maintained that children with autism are fearfully and wonderfully made thus should be accorded the needed care and love.

Donations

To demonstrate her commitment to supporting special schools, Madam Monica donated cash she raised on her birthday to the New Horizon Special School and the Autism Awareness, Care and Training Centre in Accra.

The donation to the two schools is to enable them to rehabilitate their sensory rooms for children with autism.