The Role of Media on Autism in Liberia and Africa as a Whole revised

The Role of Media on Autism in Liberia and Africa as a Whole
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The Role of Media on Autism in Liberia and Africa as a Whole
Abstract
According to Podzimek (2014), in Liberia, there is a high prevalence of autism where intellectual disabilities have been determined as the most common occurrence of diagnosed conditions among the population. Autism has become one biggest health problems affecting both the young and old in Liberia and its cause has often been claimed to be related to witchcraft. The co-morbid conditions associated with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) are not only affecting Liberia but also many of the African countries. The ASDs such as neurodevelopment disabilities, epilepsy, hyperactivity disorders, oculocutaneous albinism, self-mutilation, and intellectual disabilities continue to affect a majority of the population mainly from the Western, Central, and Eastern African countries. With the inclusion of Liberia, some of the most affected African countries include Angola, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic (Podzimek, 2014). Pinchevski & Peters (2016) posit that the people with Autism, due to their mental disabilities have difficulty in relating with people on the face-to-face basis as most of them have communication and physical mobility difficulties.
Though ASDs remain prevalent in many Africa, the media outlets only in a few countries have been in the frontline of undertaking important programmes geared towards promoting public awareness on the issue of autism so that that general public can accept the individuals with autism and educating the parents with autistic children on how to take care of them.

For instance, in South Africa, SABC (South Africa Broadcasting Corporation) has been an important partner with the University of KwaZulu-Natal on broadcasting the health initiative of “Autism Speaks” since 2010 to discuss the challenges experienced by the people with autism and the pathways to cure and care (Ruparelia et al., 2016).
In Ghana, the media has been heavily advocating for the protection of children with ASDs from abuse, stereotype, and neglect. Ghana Broadcasting Corporation in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection has been conducting “autism campaign awareness” on the need to take the children with autism to training institutions to be taught on independence and self-help skills as well be imparted with academic literacy on communication, sensatory issues, and language (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRDHpW1WRXI). Consequently, due to support shown to the autistic children in Ghana so as to be regarded with equality and prevented from discrimination, Yacoba Tete-Marmon, Maame Bema Baffour, and Nana Ohenewaa, all autistic teenage girls won model awards in 2018 and were subsequently made the brand ambassadors for the Ghana Water Company Limited.
References
GBC (2017). Ghana: Autism Awareness. Youtube.com. Retrieved on September 11, 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRDHpW1WRXI
Pinchevski, A., & Peters, J. D. (2016). Autism and new media: Disability between technology and society. New Media & Society, 18(11), 2507-2523.
Podzimek, K. (2014). Emerging from the shadows: a case study on the quality of life of students with disabilities in Monrovia, Liberia (Doctoral dissertation).
Ruparelia, K., Abubakar, A., Badoe, E., Bakare, M., Visser, K., Chugani, D. C., & Skuse, D. (2016). Autism spectrum disorders in Africa: current challenges in identification, assessment, and treatment: a report on the International Child Neurology Association Meeting on ASD in South Africa and Ghana, April 3-5, 2014. Journal of Child Neurology, 31(8), 1018-1026.