A Qatar Foundation (QF) 2016-2024 progress report highlighted Sidra Medicine’s crucial role in advancing world-class autism care, especially in significantly reducing diagnosis times and streamlining treatment processes to alleviate stress for parents.

The report, titled ‘Building an Autism-Friendly Nation in Qatar’, details QF’s commitment to fostering an integrated, comprehensive, and family-centred model of care, recognising it as the only holistic solution to improving the quality of life for children with autism.

Sidra Medicine, with its highly specialised and internationally trained medical team, has emerged as a cornerstone of this vision, becoming the hospital of choice for many families across Qatar, the report noted.

Key to Sidra’s success, as highlighted by the QF report, is its dedication to upholding the highest standards of expertise. The hospital offers a rigourous three-year Developmental Pediatrics Fellowship programme, internationally recognised with ACGME-I accreditation by the Council for Graduate Medical Education. This commitment ensures a continually growing pool of highly qualified professionals capable of providing quality multidisciplinary assessments for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The report specifically stresses the transformation of the ‘Autism Pathway of Care’, which prioritises early diagnosis. Qatar has made substantial progress in establishing on-site diagnostic services, with Sidra Medicine now standing alongside Hamad Medical Corporation as one of the country’s two internationally accredited institutions diagnosing autism.

All developmental pediatric doctors at Sidra, including junior staff, are certified and trained in the use of ADOS, a gold-standard diagnostic tool, the report added. A core tenet of this pathway is its deeply family-centered approach, integrated right through to treatment decision-making.

Sidra’s Developmental Paediatrics team works closely with parents to build a detailed profile of each child’s unique strengths and challenges, considering individual medical and family history, cultural and religious beliefs, and socio-economic context.

According to the report, post-diagnosis, a personalised treatment plan is recommended, often incorporating internationally approved behavioural therapies such as DIRFloortime. Sidra Medicine, it said, is home to both of Qatar’s only Level 2 certified DIRFloortime clinicians, providing expertise in a therapy that prioritises emotional connection and relationships in a child’s development.

Sidra Medicine’s commitment extends beyond direct clinical care where families are encouraged to participate in significant research, such as the Baraka study, which holds potential for breakthroughs in autism treatment and precision health.

The report also highlighted QF’s Autism-Friendly Hospital Initiative at Sidra Medicine, which forms part of its mission to deliver an equitable and world-class model of care. It aims to support children with autism and their families before, during, and after hospital visits by connecting them with the wider multidisciplinary QF ecosystem, providing valuable information and support on critical issues.

The holistic approach also ensures referrals for adolescents with comorbid conditions like anxiety or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder to specialised mental health services and provides recommendations to community organisations and schools.

The report pointed out that these recommendations are vital in helping educational institutions, including those outside QF’s system, plan and provide appropriate educational support, such as speech or occupational therapy.