In Croatia, persons with autism live without systemic support and with a quality of life below the average of developed countries, Ombudsman for Persons with Disabilities Anka Slonjsak warned on Friday, noting that all levels of government were responsible for the present situation.

Persons with autism cannot develop their full potential in Croatia as they can in developed countries. They are frequently committed to psychiatric wards, and when their families can no longer take care of them, they are institutionalised, the ombudswoman said in a statement ahead of Autism Awareness Day, observed on April 2.

Autism is a complex developmental disorder found in four to five out of 10,000 newborn children in the world, and its specific cause remains unknown.

In Croatia, there are 3,648 persons with autistic spectrum disorders with no access to accommodation services and specialised health care, and the regular education system is not adapted to them, Slonjsak said.

Blaming all levels of government for omissions in the system, she said that not even after 20 years had the relevant ministries and local government units managed to agree on a comprehensive protection and support system to meet the educational, social, health and rehabilitation needs of persons with autism.

The existing autism centres in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek are not adequately organised and lack professionals, and no services have been developed to make it possible for adults with autism to live in a community. Croatia has not recognised the need for an unconventional approach to care for persons with autistic spectrum disorders and there is resistance at the highest levels of government to systemic solutions, the ombudsman said.

The Croatian Union of Associations for Autism said in a statement on Friday that persons with autism and their families were left to their own devices to fight bureaucratic obstacles. It called for forming a high-level team headed by the prime minister to address their problems.

“Prevalence has been on the rise continually in the last ten years. Despite the appeals for an efficient support system for persons with autism and their families, progress is frustratingly slow and insufficient,” the organisation said.