Archive for November 15th, 2008
Autism in Brunei: Interpreting the statistics
I get restless when it comes to reading journal articles. Why do they have to be soooooo long? My restlessness is directly proportionate with the lenght of the article, i.e. the longer the article, the more restless I become.
So.
“Since 2004, 315 individuals have so far been diagnosed with autism in Brunei Darussalam, 50 were diagnosed last year, and 50 more up to June. This means that we have 1:150 autistic births, which is similar to USA.” – 9th Sept 2007
(Original article can be read HERE)
Statistics. Hmmm. I could go on an on about how statistics may not be the most representable and reliable source of evidence, but I’ll save that for another day. Yes, statistics and I have a love-hate relationship 
In reference to the quoted text; Brunei has reported an increase in individuals being diagnosed with autism. One might think that, “Does this mean that there is an increase in people with autism?” (I sure do hope none thinks about it this way!). Well, not necessarily. It could just mean that people (parents, teachers, practitioners, etc) are becoming more aware of the disorder and thus with this knowledge, they are able to detect more individuals with autism. So it could actually be a good thing. However, this increase might call for an attention shift from the relevant parties eg. Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, parents, and the society as whole. They could expect a surge in demand for the appropriate resources (in terms of skills and training, finances, and locations) to assist these individuals in managing the disorder. Hence, the key players would need to be on top of everything to prepare for these demands. Now, THIS is the sort of message that needs to be communicated and stressed upon.
Now, I wonder if Brunei has looked into the elderly population. Has it increased over the years? Has it been the same throughout the years? Or has it decreased? Since the other parts of the world are faced with a growing elderly population, would it be safe to assume that it’s the same case for Brunei? If so, I wonder if Brunei is doing anything about it.
