Romania passes bill ensuring free counseling for parents of children with autism, Down syndrome

Liberal deputy Raluca Turcan stated on Wednesday, April 8, that the bill allowing parents and guardians of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders or Down syndrome to benefit from free psychological counseling has been adopted.

The bill received a favorable opinion from the Ministry of Health and was voted almost unanimously in the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body, and will go to the president for promulgation.

As the initiator of the legislative proposal, Turcan said that bill is the result of the debates and discussions held in Sibiu with “parents who fight a daily unseen battle and with specialists who know how much real support matters.”

“For the parents who, beyond the diagnosis, carry every day the worry, the fatigue, the fear, the loneliness. And a balanced parent means a better-supported child. I am glad that the voice of the people, of the people of Sibiu, reaches where it should, namely in public decision-making,” the deputy said.

Although there is no official number, estimates say that about 40,000 children with autism live in Romania, and thousands with Down syndrome.

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