Even though the disease cannot be treated, continuous training and attention inspires hope.
The Njinga family in the Nyom neighbourhood in Yaounde definitely has a story to tell the world. The family is going through a bitter experience which no one would like to live. In the Njinga family home on Wednesday April 4, 2013, life was going on normally but what easily caught the eye was the presence of one child, Patrick Nyawa. From his behaviour, one could easily notice that there was an element of abnormality in him.
Patrick Nyawa, 11, is an autistic child. He lives with his grandparents, François Njinga and Mrs Bernadette Njinga. His parents, Salomon Nyawa and Christiane Nyawa, live in Ebolowa in the South Region. In the home of the Njingas in Nyom on Wednesday, the grandparents were not around. François Njinga had travelled to the village in Bangangte in the Nde Division of the West Region while Mrs Njinga had gone to the farm. However, Patrick's aunt, Chimène Yateou Njinga, happened to be at home to take care of him.
In a brief conversation with Cameroon Tribune, she recounted the story of Patrick. She said Patrick was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old. "Patrick was talking but we noticed that he was aggressive, he always wanted to be alone, he did not like to be taken photographs," she remembered. Today, he hums songs, he makes gestures to indicate what he needs and he listens to music, especially cool music. Even though Patrick is autistic, he washes plates in the house. He even fetches water for the family. His grandparents take him to school everyday. Every week he is taken to the Chantal Biya Foundation for routine health checks. According to Chimène, Patrick is like any other child in the family. He relates well with other children in the family and even in the neighbourhood.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterised by social impairments, communication difficulties as well as restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour. In Cameroon, social and cultural beliefs associated to witchcraft have been used by various families to explain the situation regarding children with severe developmental disorder that often begins at birth or within the first two-and-a-half years of life.
