Austism Centres And Matters Arising

The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has announced a plan this newspaper considers overdue in the best sense of the word: six regional Autism Centres, one in each of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones, alongside an expansion of university training in Audiology, Speech and Language Therapy, and Occupational Therapy.
The announcement acknowledges a reality Nigerian families raising autistic children have lived with for years without much public attention from government. As the minister himself put it, “Today, many families still have to travel outside Nigeria to access care for their autistic children. This is not acceptable, and the Federal Government is determined to change that...