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When two-and-a-half-year old Apurva was diagnosed with autism a few years ago, her family was in disbelief. Specially her mother, a teacher by profession, who did not see the initial “signs and symptoms” of autism in her first child. As a new mother of a healthy baby who had just started speaking, learning nursery rhymes and walk­ing, it was only when relatives point­ed out the anomalies in her behavior that Binita Bhandari decided to seek medical attention. “I went to a famous hospital in Kathmandu and the doctor there diagnosed Apurva with autism. But that was all he could tell me about it. He asked me to look it up on the internet for more information,” she says. The distraught mother then started trawling the internet. But with no personal experience in rais­ing a child with special needs, she did not understand most of what she found. “That is when I came across Autism Care Nepal Society (ACNS). I took my daughter there and she was properly diagnosed. Then I started parent-child training and therapies for my daughter, which helped me enroll her in a mainstream school.”

Now aged 8 and in Grade II, Apur­va is a brilliant student. Science is her favorite subject. Blessed with exceptional memory and uncanny ability to concentrate, Apurva is one of the few children with autism in Nepal who have been able to pur­sue their studies in a mainstream school. “Timely diagnosis and ear­ly intervention helped a lot,” says Bhandari.

“For a parent, acceptance is the most difficult thing. To realize and accept the fact that your child will have this disability lifelong is the first thing a parent needs to do,” says Kalpana Ghimire Baral, found­er of ACNS, the only organization in Nepal working for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). With her husband Dr Hem Sagar Baral, she started the ACNS in 2008 when most doctors, parents and other medical professionals in Nepal were still unaware about the disor­der. Now the society has more than 400 families from all over Nepal in its network.

“My daughter was diagnosed with autism in 2006. At the time, we had no idea of what this disorder meant and how to take care of someone with autism,” Baral says. “We found a few parents with the same prob­lem and started a group to help out each other.” This coming togeth­er culminated in the formation of the ACNS, which is a parent-run non-profit organization. It helps children with autism as well as their parents in assessment and diagno­sis, counselling, parent and child training, therapies and catering to the needs of children with autism.

Autism, one of the most common types of Pervasive Developmental Disorders, is a neurodevelopmental disability characterized by chal­lenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, problematic speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differ­ences. The severity of autism differs from person to person. Its exact causes are still unknown but mainly suspect a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Daily struggles

Although this disorder has been recognized in the more developed countries for decades, the study, assessment and diagnosis of autism in a relatively new thing in Nepal. In fact, the Ministry of Health used to recognize autism as a ‘mental dis­ability’ until a few years ago. But the “Disability Bill 2072” re-categorized it as a disability on its own and not as a metal disability.

“The problem for children with autism starts from their inability to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADL). At the society, we start by trying to make students capable of performing ADL to make them self-reliant,” says Surendra Bajra­charya, Chief Administrator/Project Manager of the ACNS. “The next step would be to teach them how to socialize with other children.”

The society also works with par­ents to create a conducive envi­ronment for children with autism. Parents are trained on the steps to take after diagnosis: understanding autism, accepting their children will need help all their lives and creating a progressive and structur­al environment for their children. “We also do parent-child pairing activities, which helps them bond better despite their many struggles,” says Bajracharya. “These training sessions for parents also work as morale boosters.”

In the shadows

The data on people with autism is unavailable in Nepal, mainly because of the lack of diagnosis and awareness. Based on global prevalence data, an average of one percent of the total popula­tion of any country has autism. On that basis, the society estimates that there are around 300,000 Per­son with Autism (PWAs) in Nepal, out of which 60,000-90,000 are severely affected.

The problem right now is three-fold: lack of awareness, poor diag­nosis and treatment mechanisms and a shortage of qualified medical manpower. Nepal government is has also begun to realize the importance of urgently dealing with autism.

The Ministry of Education, for instance, has included teaching of PWAs in its “Inclusive Education Policy 2073.” Similarly, the Ministry of Health is also including autism in its National Health Strategy Plan (2073-2082).

Autism is not something that can be treated completely by medicine and therapy. It requires time, patience, perseverance and empathy. “Every small achieve­ment for us is substantial in helping children with autism,” Bajracharya says. “There have been instances where our children have been inte­grated into mainstream educational institutions, which is an enormous positive for us.”

For parents of children with autism, any support from the gov­ernment or the private sector is god-sent. “In the beginning, we wanted to move abroad to get our child treated. There were no resources available here. But then we real­ized that the problem is lifelong and we had to do the best to make her life comfortable,” says Baral. “Now we have a strong community to help each other out and living with autism in Nepal is not as difficult as it used to be.”

One of the most popular international franchises, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, is making its debut on Nepali tele­vision, thanks to AP1 HD TV. At a press conference organized last week in Kathmandu, AP1 formally announced the Nepali version of the international franchise as “Ko Bancha Crorepati?”—to be aired on AP1 HD with the co-sponsorship of SRBD media.

The television game show, which is of British-origin and created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight, is one of the many international reality TV franchises AP1 is bringing to the Nepali market.

Participants will be selected on the basis of SMS and IVR. For each episode, ten participants will be selected who then will play the iconic “Fastest Finger First” to make it to the “Hot Seat” for the top prize of Rs 10 million.

The program, to be hosted by veteran Nepali actor Rajesh Hamal, also has a dedicated mobile app (QR codes above) where aspiring participants can practice for the show and win prizes in the process as well. APEX BUREAU  

Hotel Yak & Yeti celebrated the Chinese New Year, or China’s all-important Spring Festival, between February 15 and 17. According to the Chinese 12-year animal zodiac cycle, this is the Year of the Dog. Yak & Yeti was decked up for the Spring Festival and served special Chinese dishes in a three-day lunch and dinner buffet event at the Sunrise Restaurant.

The 'seven lucky dishes' served at the event are highly symbolic: Noodles sym­bolize happiness and longevity; dump­lings and spring rolls stand for wealth; tangyuan (sweet rice balls) are for family togetherness; tiangao (glutinous rice cake) for income or status; tangerines and oranges for fullness and wealth; and fish for increase in prosperity.

APEX BUREAU  

YouTube, which started as an online video-sharing platform in early 2005, soon grew into a behemoth: today, almost 30 million peo­ple watch five billion videos on the site every single day. Alexa ranks YouTube the sec­ond most popular website in the world, after Google. The site has come a long way, as it today functions not just as a vehicle for con­tent-creators to showcase their creations, but increas­ingly also as a money-making platform. Various YouTube stars now dedicate all their working time to it.

Feliz Kjellberg’s ‘PewDiePie,’ with more than 60 million subscribers, is the most subscribed channel on the website, allowing its Swed­ish creator to earn around US $12 million annually. There are other artists who are also mak­ing good money on YouTube.

“Even in Nepal the notion of someone building a career out of YouTube isn’t farfetched,” says Adeel Manandhar, Man­aging Director of ‘SongsNe­pal,’ a YouTube channel.

Mockery and money

Akash Sedai, better known as prankster Akash, started making prank videos and posting it on YouTube five years ago. Today, his chan­nel ‘Nepali Pranksters’ has over 170,000 subscribers. His success, in crossing 100,000 subscribers, has been recog­nized by YouTube with a silver play-button, making ‘Nepali Pranksters’ among the most viewed channels in Nepal.

Every 100,000 views on YouTube bring Sedai around Rs 8,000-10,000. On average, he earns Rs 70,000-80,000 a month. Sedai has earned as much as Rs 300,000 from a single video, ‘Nepali Boomb Prank,’ which was viewed over two million times. He has also signed various sponsorship deals to boost his already healthy earnings.

“I am satisfied with my income from YouTube,” says Sedai.

YouTube is the most popu­lar website in Nepal. But even though people like Akash earn handsomely from it, what they get is puny compared with what other YouTube artists make abroad. YouTube earn­ings depend on ad revenues. As digital marketing is still in its infancy in Nepal, there is not a lot of money to be made.

Bright future

“As of today, a Nepali You­Tuber cannot fully sustain himself just by uploading vid­eos,” says Girish Khatiwada, a music artist and YouTube vlogger. “Production cost is high and returns low.”

Khatiwada is a popular Nepali rapper who has been able to gain a sizable online following, with over 130,000 subscribers to his ‘Girish Kha­tiwada’ channel.

“Ideally, YouTube should be used as a platform where you build your online presence and which you can leverage to pursue a career in showbiz,” Khatiwada advises.

According to the Nepal Telecommunications Author­ity (NTA), every day, 6,581 new internet users are being added in Nepal, and pres­ently one in two Nepalis use the internet. Nepal is digi­tizing. As it does so, online marketing revenues will also increase, further boosting the earnings of online content creators.

“The day when Nepalis can aspire to be full-time YouTu­bers may not be far off,” Khati­wada says.