A banner is hung up at the National Monument in Jakarta as part of campaign to seek better care for autistic children on April 1. (Photo supplied by the Indonesian Autism Foundation)
Indonesian parents and an autism support group have accused the government of not doing enough to help a growing number of autistic children in the country.
They said many autistic children are abandoned by their parents, and at the very least, the government should provide rehabilitation centers and care homes for them.
According to Statistic Central Agency, there are 1.5 million children with autism in Indonesia.
"The Indonesian government has shown good intent through seminars, but in practice it has done very little such as provide cheap therapy centers," according to Melly Budhiman, chairwoman of the Indonesian Autism Foundation.
She was speaking at a gathering at the National Monument in Jakarta, on April 1, at the start of a publicity campaign to seek government support and make Indonesian society more aware of the condition.
There is a misunderstanding about the condition in Indonesia, she said.
Autism is a condition where a child suffers developmental delays and is not a disease, which means these children desperately need to undergo therapy, she explained.
There are autistic people who are brilliant academically and go on to become doctors, archaeologists or whatever. But those with low intelligence quotient (IQ) need special treatment, she said.
She called on the Ministry of Social Affairs to provide therapy, work training and even care homes for those abandoned by parents who could not cope with raising an autistic child.
"Parents can't pay for private therapy centers because it's expensive so the government should provide them," she said.
