Within the framework of activities to make the local community and parents aware of securing a better life for people suffering from autism, the «Al-Hadi Institution for Hearing and Visual Impairment and Language and Communication Disorders», in cooperation with Ghobeiry municipality, organized a seminar entitled: «Autism Between Diagnosis and Early Intervention».
The seminar was attended by parents, therapists, specialists, representatives of educational institutions, a delegation from the Ministry of Social Affairs, a delegation from the Model Centre for People with Disabilities, representatives of the union of Dahiyeh municipalities, the director of Al-Hadi Institution Professor Ismail Al-Zein and the president of Ghobeiry municipality Professor Mohammad Saeed Al-Khansa.
The seminar shed light on what autism is, its characteristics and its causes, through the presentation given by the head of the psychiatry section at Hôtel-Dieu hospital Dr Sami Richa, in addition to his offering a modern definition of autism as «a pervasive developmental disorder», pointing out «that rehabilitative treatment depends on each case individually, because its causes are individual and its symptoms are not generalized to all cases».
Richa noted that «there is no conclusive medical cause for autism, and that there are probabilities and non-decisive possibilities», hoping that those present and the parents would keep away from the fallacies in the definitions of autism: «it is not intellectual disability; rather the brain of an autistic person may be distinguished by individual stimuli and talents, and some autistic people may complete their university education and be creative in various matters».
He explained that «there are studies indicating that the sensation produced by the five senses in a child with autism differs from that of ordinary people, and this matter must be realized and understood», denying the illusion that dominates some people that a child with autism attacks others, and calling for «not measuring one autistic child against another, and that work with an autistic child may be confined to his self-reliance alone, taking into account the outcome of his capacities and his individuality».
This was followed by an intervention by the remedial educator at «Al-Hadi» Fatima Al-Zein on the factors of successful intervention with a child suffering from autism, the characteristics of team work and the individual plan for each case of autism separately.
In conclusion, the president of Ghobeiry municipality affirmed his readiness to cooperate with Al-Hadi Institution in drawing up a strategic plan to be adopted by the municipality to support the opening of a centre for diagnosis and early intervention in the southern suburb.
