One of the biggest challenges as parents is taking care of an autistic child as it is never a walk in the park.
Recently, a local freelance preacher, who is also the founder of a kindergarten has found herself under fire for claiming that autism & speech delays in children are caused by the disturbance of the jinns (genies).
“A jin disturbs and gives the children this illness because they’re weak.”
Public Health Malaysia (PHM) took to their Facebook account yesterday morning (27 March) and urged the people to stop the stigma towards autism.
“So many accusations towards the parents with autistic children. Some say they don’t do a good job in taking care of their children, some say too much access to gadgets. Now jinns are at play.”
PHM later expressed their stand in solidarity with the parents who are affected by this allegation.
No Jinns, only autistic child who is smarter
As expected, the preacher’s statement did not sit well with netizens and some of them even shared their experience raising an autistic child.
“Everything is the Jinn’s fault.”
“I’m not a Muslim, but almost all preachers, regardless of where they’re from have said a similar thing. I have an autistic child and he’s far more talented than any other kid. We’ve got to be patient in taking care of these special children.”
“I hope this preacher speaks to therapists who treat autistic children. My kid is autistic, has a speech delay and ADHD, but his therapist has not mentioned anything about Jinns at play.”
“Jinns will cry reading your statement, preacher.”
“That’s ridiculous. There’s a reason why things happen, don’t blame it on Jinns.”
“People can say anything they want when they don’t have to experience it for themselves. Move on, dear parents.”
“Dear preacher, please refer back to Form 4 Science textbook. Autism is caused by differences in genes X & Y in someone’s body. The textbook explains about gene mutation and others.”
It is never easy to care for an autistic child but genuine & unconditional love has made everything possible. In the meantime, the stigmas towards autism and any other illnesses have to be stopped pronto!
Also read: Study: Depression & Anxiety Cases Spike Due To Covid-19
