What is autism and other definitions of an expert in the disorder that manifests itself in childhood?

"Autism is not a disease but a neurobiological disorder that manifests itself in the first two years of life," he says vehemently. Eduardo Sotelo is a professor of physical education and has specialized for more than a decade in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders "and other developmental problems," he said. Infobae.

The specialist celebrates several recent initiatives such as the Argentine State has added to what is happening in the world and that it was created on April 2 as the National Day of Awareness of Autism, by incorporating it into the school calendar.

"It's important emphasize diversity as a value and not as a problem to be solved", says the expert.

– Is there a definition of autism? What is autism?

-If you ask me what is autism and you will see the most famous researchers, People with autism will have difficulty interacting socially in communication, not being able to do it properly or interpret something in one way, and in reality it is another. And on the other hand, they have narrow, stereotyped interests, behaviors and activities, things they like a lot, that isolate them from the social context.

-Because they connect with what they like so much.

-And actually is to connect with something that they know and understand, because the social context is much harder to understand. If, for example, you constantly interpret that in a playground, boys are just running and you start running, they criticize you because, in reality, you do not play, you run … All of this stuff is starting to move away from the social context. In reality, we all cling to what we love, we are pbadionate, and at some point it works like a self-protection mechanism.

-Why did you choose to work with autistic children?

– It was a coincidence. I received my education (physical education) at 21 years old and my first interview took place in a therapeutic education center that was dedicated to working with people with autismespecially teenagers, and with boys with a higher level of support. Because there are nonverbal children, even very verbal children, children who need constant support on the side and people who can be totally autonomous.

– How was this work experience?

-When I went to the interview, they told me that the boys had gone out to ride a bicycle, that they were going to the pool, that they were doing a lot of work. ; activities. I had this preconceived idea that autism was a person who was closing in on himself and who was not interested in the social world. I ended up realizing how wonderful this world was and how much things could be done by children.

-Were you born with autism or can it occur at any time?

-It is said that it is a neurobiological disorder and that we are born with autism. Although we do not determine the cause, we know that there is no cure for the moment. There is a growing body of research that argues that it is not a disease but a neurobiological disorder that manifests itself in the first two years of childhood development life.

– Are there statistics?

-The statistics are very solid, especially in the United States and Europe. In the United States, the most recent speaks of a boy every 59 people, but last year a relevant study was conducted in Denmark and dates back to one in 38.

– In other words, one in 38 children has this disorder.

-Of course, an autistic boy every 38 years. We could take an average, maybe the United States has a larger number of respondents and the number is one in 58. But what he tells us is that everyone knows one day a family member with autism or a friend whose son has developmental problems.. That is why it is important that there is more information and knowledge about what is autism.

– Do you think there is a form of awareness about autism or is it still missing?

-I have been working for 14 years and what has been advanced is a lot. Argentina acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009 and families of people with autism have become much more organized. On April 2, in Congress, about 10,000 people, including family members, autistic people and professionals, and some people joined the cause. Whenever there is more discussion, there is more opportunity to communicate, social networks are a huge tool in this regard. But he misses a lot.

– Does the state work the issue or is something more private and private?

– The state at a given time provides or should provide the necessary conditions for the smooth running of inclusion processes.

-And carry out information campaigns, right?

-The truth is yes. In 2014, the State designated and promulgated April 2 National Day of Autism, the World Day of Autism. But the Argentine state declared this national holiday and integrated it in the school calendar. In this type of actions or laws that set out the rights of people with autism or disabilities in general, access to education, health, gambling, sports, tourism, the role of the state is relevant.

– Can boys be integrated into any school or depend on the degree of autism?

– I am a teacher and a teacher and one of the difficulties is to be able to transmit information to other teachers. My fight is because all boys are in a conventional school, it's their right to access an education. The problem is what tools and what information we have. And how we teachers are willing to change our practices in the pursuit of education for all.

-Yes, and integration with your companions.

-Exactly. This is why information, awareness and diversity are important as a value and not as a problem to be solved. And this does not only concern people with autism, but also someone who emigrates from another country.

– Or with someone who for the media is different and ends up giving rise to bullying.

-C is that misinformation and ignorance generate discrimination and segregation and our struggle is about creating a better world for our children and for the children with whom I work in this case. To be able to provide the conditions in which they can collaborate, cooperate, understand the virtues that each has, and how these virtues can interconnect and create together a better solution.

-In December, I interviewed a mother who has an autistic child and she told me how bad they were during the holidays because of the theme of pyrotechnics.

– Autistic children have difficulties in the areas of self-regulation to give an adequate response to a specific context. All that relates to the sensory, to the senses. There are children who do not feel the heat and who bathe in hot water or cold water because they do not finish to interpret what relates to the temperature. The same goes for touch, vision and hearing. The places where there is a lot of noise, like cinemas, are a huge challenge, but also pyrotechnics. For people with autism, this feeling hurts but to everyone, to a certain extent, we are bothered by this kind of stimuli.

-But we have the tools to contain ourselves.

-Yes, or self-protection and in a proper way to get rid of this stimulus. People with autism, having these difficulties of communication and interaction, can not have this possibility. It is there that they enter a process of great frustration and sometimes crisis. And this obviously also concerns families, because having a boy in crisis because of the sound of pyrotechnics, the truth is that it is not pleasant at all.

– This mom said that evenings, because of the theme of pyrotechnics, are the worst time of the year.

– Yes, last year, I wrote an article referring to the World Cup because it is also an extremely stressful quote. Many times because not even (the autistic child) understands or makes sense of what is a football match. Then, for everything related to routine changes, with an environment in which everyone shouts. And what has to do with the parties, with this moment in which we are already billed for the whole year and we are also stressed, and that we have pbaded on to the children.

-The cinema, the world cup, what other contexts are presented as challenges?

-When boys have their own challenges, as long as we can provide the necessary help in the context, these challenges will be less important. In the case of cinema, should they have the volume at their best and that they bother us too? It is to be able to study these problems. Or of create more user-friendly contexts and relaxed functions where they know that the light will be dim and will not be completely extinguished.

-That is, the company can change some practices to include them.

-Of course, or that the sound is not complete. All of this helps boys to access this type of activity. For people with autism, not so much because of their own limitations, but because the context is hostile, in general, they end up not having access to a lot of activities that are normal for us. Particularly for leisure and recreation that we enjoy and can relax, it is a constant challenge for them or they come up against the barriers that we put all the time.