The thirty-two-year-old woman presents herself on Instagram as the mother of two boys, aged 10 and six. He says that he is a conductor by profession and leads a choir for children and adults at a church in Belgrade. But, as she says, her primary priority is to work on the education of parents with children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
She claims that she has been educated in that field for years, in which she got a master's degree with her older son.
It offers two courses. One is called "Autism Reads" and consists of two "Zoom conversations" and accompanying materials, at a price of 197 euros. While the second one is called "Solve Autism" and in it he offers his seven-year personal experience of working with modern methods. That course lasts four weeks, you get the materials, you can even talk to her on "Zoom" four times for one hour, and you can also ask her additional questions by e-mail for 497 euros.
Parents of children with autism left in a wasteland
Parents of children with autism were disturbed by the advertising of such methods, and they turned to the support of "Autism - Right to Life" in order to publicly point out this problem. Given that the promoter of the mentioned courses does not have the necessary qualifications, the president of this association, Dario Rossi, spoke to the portal "Vremena" about whether such offers on the market are allowed and regulated.
"Both the system and society have given up on autism. They gave each family a flask of water and left them in a deserted field to go round in circles. The Ministry of Health's Autism Guidelines might have, but unfortunately they have not directed them anywhere. To the part about alternative methods of unproven or harmful effects, the market reacted like a bull to a red coat. Because the guidelines are optional, without evaluation and control instruments and without any desire to influence the rampant market, or by any chance to blame market-oriented colleagues," Rossi told the Vremena portal.
He adds that the market knows best how profitable human suffering can be.
"A market like a market, hungry. Even if the torment is lifelong, hahaha. Our market is set to be turbo-liberal, where no one asks you who you are, what you've studied, or whether you're even literate or have any references. Instead, he lets you beat him like a hawthorn. And the system is silent, society turns a blind eye, parents are passive... Is there anything worse? There is! It's worse when a parent becomes proactive, but in a completely wrong way. Parents of autism models aside, but there are also those who want to grab a piece of the market. And charge their parenting experience and their parenting expertise. And not from the system, tycoons, IPA and other funds, but from the church of other parents", says Rossi.
Parents' comments on Instagram
On the Instagram posts of the "Resolve Autism" profile, you can also see the comments of parents who found themselves in disbelief that such things are being sold so easily, for not so little money.
"Is there anyone to protect us, apart from our common sense, which is sometimes clouded by anguish and the desire to help our child", is one of the comments of parents on social networks regarding the services offered by the aforementioned mother.
Another mother wonders: "Wouldn't each of us, if we found a solution for our child, go on the loudspeaker and help all parents with free advice", while one father asked why this person has not received the Nobel Prize until now, because the cure for autism deserves this prestigious award.
It is not known how many people there are with autism
The "Autism-Right to Life" association states that in February 2020, they sent a letter to the Batut Institute asking how many children there are with developmental disabilities.
"They told us that there are 57 children with developmental disabilities in Serbia. I met 2000 children with autism, and I didn't move around much," says Rossi and points out that they asked Batut the same question again in February of last year and that this time their answer was - 164.
In the Law on Health Documentation and Records in the Field of Health, Article 56, it is written that a fine in the amount of 50.000 to 2.000.000 dinars will be fined for a misdemeanor if the public health institute established for the territory of the Republic of Serbia does not keep a register of persons suffering from diseases from of greater public health importance. As far as is known, not a single sentence has been imposed so far.
"For years now, I have had a serious dilemma in the range of asking which is older, the chicken or the egg. I am thinking whether the total professional system amateurism is a consequence of the fact that we as a society have become individualized and spoiled, and therefore become uninterested in anything beyond our own ass. Or such a system, pierced by the favoring of docile disobedience, stopped dealing with society, abandoned it and left it to itself. Which never and nowhere turned out to be good", says Rossi.
This association says that systemic change could only be brought about by parental rebellion.
Sanja Zrnić
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