Excess of Non-Verbal Cases of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) Presenting to Orthodox Clinical Practice in Africa: A Trend Possibly Resulting From Late Diagnosis and Intervention

Background:

Characteristics of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in Africa are not known because of unavailability of large scale epidemiological studies in this region. 

Objectives:

This review explored the age at first presentation of African children with ASDs to orthodox clinical practice and their expressive language ability at presentation.

Methods:

Literature search of case series and case reports of ASDs coming from Africa was done through PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, African Journal Online (AJOL), and archives of Nigerian Journal of Psychiatry. Six literatures included the content related to age of the child at first presentation to orthodox clinical practice and symptoms presentation related to expressive language ability and thus fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Postulations were made to explain the observations emanating from the review.

Results:

Excess of non-verbal cases over verbal cases of ASDs were presenting to orthodox clinical practice and there is a common denominator of late presentation/diagnosis and in turn interventions with most cases presenting for the first time well above eight years of age. The postulations made to explain these observations included; low level of knowledge and awareness about ASDs in Africa; problems with help seeking behaviour and lack of mental healthcare facilities and trained personnel.

Conclusions:

There may be a shift in the trend of excess non-verbal cases of ASDs over the verbal cases presenting to orthodox clinical practice with enhancement of processes directed at ensuring early diagnosis and interventions, especially interventions aimed at improving speech and language development well early enough.