Mothers of autistic children trained on best care methods

AMMAN — The Ministry of Social Development in collaboration with the Society for the Care of Gifted Autistic Children on Monday organised a training course titled “How can I be a specialist for my autistic child” at Hittin Centre for Early Detection of Disabilities and Community Rehabilitation affiliated with the ministry, a ministry statement said.

Minister of Social Development Hala Lattouf highlighted the ministry’s concern with training mothers of children with disabilities, in accordance with its plans to better include these children and their families in society.

She said that the ministry is continuously cooperating with civil society organisation and charities to raise mothers’ knowledge and ability to care for their special needs children.

During the course, in which dozens of mothers participated, the society’s technical director, Najah Fouad, delivered a presentation on methods to assess the behaviour of autistic children, and the appropriate scientific way to deal with these behaviours. She also covered assessing the strengths and weaknesses of children, and developing an appropriate treatment plan, in addition to presenting the latest methods to care and help children develop their skills.

Fouad defined autism as “a constant inability to communicate and interact socially with others, having repetitive and stereotypical behaviour and interests, in addition to difficulties in the appropriate adaptive behaviour towards the social context that affect daily life skills”, noting that these symptoms appear at an early stage, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition.

The mothers talked about the unwanted behaviours in their children and listened to the expert’s opinion on the best methods to handle these behaviours.

The parents praised the ministry’s role in educating parents, raising awareness and helping them deal with their autistic children, the statement read.

This course was the first of a series to be held by the autism society and the ministry to raise the awareness and educate mothers around the Kingdom.