Qatar Foundation (QF) will welcome families and children with autism, as well as members of the wider community, to its annual World Autism Awareness Day event in Al Shaqab, Education City, on April 21.
The event, marking the 10th anniversary of World Autism Awareness Day, is being hosted by Renad Academy, under the umbrella of QF’s Pre-University Education (PUE) and will include a range of fun family-orientated autism awareness, recreational, and sports activities.
Sherri Miller, director of Renad Academy, said: “Through our World Autism Awareness Day activities, we aim to promote and enhance awareness, acceptance, and understanding of autism among the wider community. We want to demonstrate, through this celebration, that while autism may be a permanent condition, treatment and therapy can lead to improvements. We believe that this awareness event showcases our commitment to serving the whole community.”
The event in the Indoor Arena at Al Shaqab from 10am to 3pm, will include activities such as horse-riding, storytelling sessions, an obstacle course, football games, and a ceramic painting workshop. The celebration will also feature information booths from a number of QF entities and relevant community centres, with on-site representatives to speak to visitors and answer questions.
Renad Academy will also display artwork from its first annual Autism Awareness Art Competition at the event at Al Shaqab, which will feature the work of QF school students, with a dedicated section displaying the work of Renad Academy students. Winners of the Autism Awareness Art Competition as well as the winner from the annual Autism Awareness Film Competition will be honoured.
PUE’s World Autism Awareness Day celebration forms part of a month-long calendar of events held throughout April. Other activities include Autism-friendly movie screenings at the Education City Student Centre tomorrow, as well as informative sessions and parents evenings at Renad Academy, QF HQ, the Education City Student Centre, Qatar National Library, and the Qatar Airways HQ.
World Autism Awareness Day was first proposed by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation, to the United Nations in 2007, and was adopted without a vote by the UN General Assembly. The first World Autism Awareness Day was celebrated on April 2, 2008.
