The Ministry of Health launches this Tuesday (02), World Autism Awareness Day, the Guideline for Rehabilitation Care for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The guideline will bring, for the first time, a table with indicators of child development and warning signs so that doctors from the Unified Health System can make an early identification of autism in children up to three years old.
“Early treatment of ASD is very important in the development of a child with autism. This makes it easier to refer them to the first appointments offered by the Unified Health System”, highlights the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha.
In addition to the table, the Ministry will make available to health professionals instruments for free use (without the obligation to pay copyrights) for the tracking/screening of development indicators that can diagnose ASD.
Treatment – After the patient’s diagnosis and communication to the family, the treatment and habilitation/rehabilitation phase begins at the points of care of the Health Care Network for Persons with Disabilities. Autism implies changes in language and sociability that directly affect – with greater or lesser intensity – most cases. The patient may also suffer limitations in their functional abilities and in social interactions, which demands specific and unique medical follow-up care, habilitation and rehabilitation throughout the different stages of life.
“The form of treatment, respecting the uniqueness and specificity of each patient, is fundamental for successful care for the person suffering from autism. These guidelines are bringing this possibility”, says the Health Care Secretary, Helvécio Magalhães.
It is exactly the degree of intensity of the disorder that will define the treatment of patients. Those with less intensity should be treated at the Specialized Rehabilitation Centers (CER) of the SUS. Today, there are 22 CERs under construction in the country, 23 undergoing qualification and 11 qualification agreements so that entities that already function, start operating as CERs.
Patients with a higher intensity of the disorder will be referred to specific centers that will be qualified by the Ministry of Health throughout the country.
The investments are part of the Viver Sem Limites plan, which just last year invested R 1.4 billion in three years.
The guideline is the result of a joint effort by civil society and the Brazilian government. Coordinated by the Ministry of Health, a group of researchers and specialists and several entities, it prepared the material, offering guidelines regarding the health care of People with Autism Spectrum Disorders, in the field of habilitation/rehabilitation in the Care Network for Persons with Disabilities . The guideline will be distributed throughout the Unified Health System.
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