considering that until now the cause of autism is still
unknown and is debated by experts and doctors of
the world.
Unlike the case with America, Britain, Hong
Kong and South Korea, but in Indonesia the number
of children with autism is not known until now, but
the latest data shows that in 2013 there were 112
children with autism with ages ranging from 5 to 19
years (Priherdityo, 2016). An organization working
in the field of handling autism in the United States
makes a surprising statement regarding the increase
in the number of autism sufferers. In 1987, the
prevalence of autism was estimated to be one (1)
compared to 5,000 births. Ten (10) years later, that
number changed to one (1) child with autism per 500
births. In 2000, it rose to one (1) child with autism
per 250 births. In 2004, autism rose to one (1)
compared to 150 births. Even in 2006, autism had an
estimated one (1) compared to 100 births
(Puspaningrum, 2013). In addition, the ratio between
men and women is 4: 1, but the affected girls will
show more severe symptoms (Hasnita & Hidayati
2015).
From the various explanations above we can
know that every year children with autism
experience a very drastic increase, not only in
Indonesia, but in other countries too, this is very
concerning. From the increasing number of children
with autism, the number of Sekolah Luar Biasa
(SLB) and inclusive schools should increase as well.
Because children with autism really need proper
attention and education.
In America before the passage of the
Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of
Rights Act in 1975, children with autism were often
excluded from education programs in public schools
(Devison, Neale, & Kring, 2010). Therefore, the
majority of children with autism who do not get a
decent education, their development tends to be less
good, even though the development of children with
autism should be monitored continuously so that the
diagnosis of development is known, if this often
happens as long as there is no training and education
for children with autism, this will become
increasingly alarming and become a very serious
problem in society.
Whereas in Indonesia alone in 2008 the number
of inclusive schools nationally from elementary to
high school was only 254 schools, but in 2014 the
number increased significantly to 2,430 formal
schools that participated in organizing inclusive
education. In 2016 more extraordinary schools were
26,617 (Didik, 2016). Inclusion schools need to be
increased in quantity and quality because the number
and quality of special schools is not comparable to
the number of children with special needs who
increase each year. The pure enrolment rate of
children with special needs for the 2010 primary
education level only reached 29% or 75,000
children. SLB faces the problem of lack of standard
learning facilities, even lack of special teachers
(Musfah, 2016).
Just as in TK Negeri Pembina 1 Malang is a
kindergarten level inclusion school that accepts
children with special needs, one of them is a child
with autism, this school accepts all children with
various needs, but on condition that parents send
their children to school TK Negeri Pembina 1
Malang, they must provide their own Shadow
(shadow teacher), this is done on the grounds that
there are no experts in the field of handling the
children with special needs in the school (Nurhayati,
2018).
Shadow or teacher is a term used by someone
who acts as a companion for Children with Special
Needs shadow is also known as aid teacher, a
shadow task is to assist children with special needs
who attend inclusive schools so that children with
special needs able to participate in learning activities
and social interaction well (Murai, 2015).
We can know that children with autism have a
lot of special surprises that are not understood by
most people, this is evidenced by the "KITA =
SAMA" awareness program from Navaplus Group,
which was held at the end of February 2017, this
supports people with autism achieving, work, and
succeed. One of them is by holding a story and
photo drawing competition. Initially this activity was
held to provide children with autistic children with
the opportunity to channel their artistic potential,
skills and talents. Especially in the field of srta
drawing work in the form of photographs that tell
their daily lives, and their struggles, said Navaplus
Group Director David Wibowo (Noah, 2017). With
the holding of various competitions, it is expected to
provide space for developing and creative for people
with autism, besides that it can inspire the
surrounding community that people with autism can
also work.
Of the above achievements, it can open eyes and
inspire the community so that children with autism
are given space for development and creation, not
the other way around. As an interview conducted for
one of the therapy staff with special needs children
in Malang said that parents who have children with
autism are more closed if asked to be open about
their child's problems, besides that at this therapy
center institution they also close meetings about
identity family of the child treated (Ida, 2018).