PPD afflicting more children, say doctors

JAKARTA (JP): Doctors are calling for a greater awareness of Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD) such as autism, as statistics show a dramatic increase every year in the number of children in this country suffering from the ailment.

PDD is a condition where the basic development in children, such as their social behavior, oral and motor skills, and ability to concentrate are impaired.

While the exact cause remains unclear, experts say viruses, genetic factors, complications during pregnancy or delivery, blood RH factor incompatibility between mother and child or even air pollution, may contribute to the illness.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, the number of children afflicted with PDD has been rising by around 10,000 to 12,000 annually in the past few years.

This number accounts for 0.15 percent to 0.2 percent of the total number of births annually.

"But this problem is still untouched, even by doctors, as proven by the lack of treatment centers for the illness, leaving thousands of children untreated," former chairman of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) Merdias Almatsier told reporters on Wednesday.

These children, Merdias said, will become a burden to the country in the future as they will be highly dependent on others for their daily needs.

Merdias, who also chairs the Atira Treatment and Education Center for PDD patients, said awareness of the disorder is very poor as many still misperceive the condition as mental retardation or mental disorder, when it is neither.

Psychologist Tisna Chandra said the general symptoms of the illness include repetitive movements such as hand clapping and moving about in circles, avoiding eye or other physical contact, emotionally unresponsive and delayed or robotic speech tones.

"Autism patients also overly respond to sensory stimuli. They can't stand light, pain or sound. They can be hypersensitive or lacking sensitivity, aggressive, have sleeping or eating disorders, a tendency to hurt themselves and laughing or crying without reasons," she said.

According to Tisna, while autism is the most common type of PDD, there are actually several other types of PDD that afflict children such as Asperger Syndrome and Rett Syndrome.

The former is similar to autism but with normal cognitive and verbal development. These children respond faster to therapy.

"Rett syndrome exclusively afflicts girls where the motor abilities they once acquired gradually disappears. The other symptoms are similar to other PDDs," she said.

PDD, she added, must be treated at a very early age, the best period is between ages two and four.

The treatment is a combination of medical therapy and behavior, speech, relaxation, sensory and occupational therapies. The treatment also includes an educational program.

"It can't be 100 percent cured, maybe only 80 percent. But some cases show that PDD patients are brilliant," Tisna said, adding that Einstein had been autistic and Indonesian designer Harry Dharsono was said to be autistic too.

PDD patients, she said, have an incredible visual capacity, many even have photographic memories.

"While normal people think with language, they think visually. That's why they have problems in associating things with words. Their mind is like a video camera which records everything as pictures," she said.

Unfortunately, parents are often late in recognizing the telltale signs, thinking that their children are deaf, or worse, mentally ill.

"Doctors, especially pediatricians are often unaware of the signs too. They often tell parents that their children are normal and that they should just be patient. By then, it will be too late to treat them," Tisna said.

In an effort to increase awareness, she added, Atira will hold a seminar on Nov. 10 to Nov. 11 at Le Meridien Hotel.

Any questions about PDD can be addressed to Atira at Jl. Mampang Prapatan Raya No. 28, South Jakarta, telephone number 79191271 and e-mail address atira@satumail.com.(hdn)