Autism is not a disease and certainly not something that can be ‘cured by prayer’, the Autism Advisory Council said on Friday.

Its reaction came after parents of children with autism were left aghast after singer and TV presenter Phyllisienne Brincat broadcast a video showing a child who was allegedly ‘cured’ from autism through prayer, during her show Il-Verita on F-Living.

The council called on the Broadcasting Authority to take action, suggesting once again that a person with disability should be on its board.

The council said: “Autism is a lifelong neurological difference, and while certain behaviours and co-occurring conditions – such as anxiety – are regularly linked to it, autism itself is part and parcel of a person’s identity, and not something to be ‘grown’/ ‘prayed’ out of.”

It stressed that the behavioural manifestations linked to autism are often a reaction to a person “trying to cope with a world that is inaccessible to them” – such as a cluttered classroom at school – which warrants a shift in understanding and approach by those responsible for the social environment the children are in, rather than a change in the children themselves.

“While behavioural management, as from an early age – and with the involvement of family members and other close persons – can help a person on the autism spectrum – this should never be a replacement for condoning society’s current lack of willingness to understand and adapt itself to the needs of all persons with disabilities – including persons on the autism spectrum,” it argued.

“Pushing forward the idea that autism is something to be cured is pushing forward the wrong idea of autism, and a great disservice to persons on the autism spectrum and their family members.”