The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) has highlighted the various services offered for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as it marked the World Autism Awareness Day, observed annually on April 2.
Dr Sadriya al-Kohji, assistant medical director for Children and Adolescent Services at PHCC and national lead for Healthy Children and Adolescents Strategies, explained that PHCC offers EarlyBird Programme in Qatar for parents of pre-school aged children diagnosed with ASD.
EarlyBird supports parents in understanding their child’s autism; helps them facilitate communication with their child; and improves their child’s behaviour in their natural environment. So far, 438 parents are trained on EarlyBird in Qatar.
Dr al-Kohji added that screening for ASD is offered as part of the Well-Baby service package in PHCC. ASD screening is done at 18 months and 30 months in the child’s well-baby clinics visits. In 2022, a total of 23,473 screening tests were done for ASD.
Sensory-friendly rooms are now available at some PHCC health centres offered for children with disabilities with primary focus on ASD. The aim is to improve the health centre visit experience and to help children feel calm and to engage in an environment that is tailored to their sensory input.
Dr al-Kohji expressed her gratitude for the completion of the educational sector’s training in public schools in Qatar on awareness of ASD. The training focuses on spreading and enhancing awareness of ASD within the educational sector, to include teachers, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and everyone involved with students and their parents in schools. The training content aims to enhance awareness of ASD and its associated symptoms, and to understand the needs of autistic individuals at all levels in order to enable education employees to identify and understand ASD cases and to provide the necessary support within the scope of their role in education. PHCC also seeks, through this training, to adjust the educational environments in schools to fit the capabilities and needs of ASD children.
PHCC has also launched the Fast-Track service for ASD children in its health centres. Fast-Track is a service to facilitate and accelerate the process of receiving care at PHCC health centres.
Dr al-Kohji noted that PHCC celebrated the World Autism Awareness Day by organising a variety of activities and events at the corporation level. PHCC health centres also celebrated this occasion by organising a variety of awareness-raising activities as well as providing sensory play rooms available in some health centres for children. Various messages about ASD services were available at PHCC and ASD awareness messages were also posted on PHCC’s social media platforms.
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