Shafallah, Best Buddies members visit MIA on World Autism Day

Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday held a row of activities for Shafallah Center for People with Disabilities and Best Buddies Qatar members to mark World Autism Awareness Day.As many as 60 autistic participants enjoyed the tour to the museum, learning the variety and the history of Islamic art and innovations. The visited the library and attended some art workshops. It was a joyful and exciting time which encouraged the members with autism to socialise and to improve their creativity and imagination through learning and art workshops experience. At the end of the activities, they received gifts.Amal bint Abdullatif al-Mannai, Acting Director of Shafallah Center for People with Disabilities, said, “Qatar marks World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 referring to the United Nations General Assembly resolution 62/139. Today we have an opportunity to highlight the true achievements of Qatar in the domain of care for autistic people and to define more goals to succeed in their integration.”“Shafallah Center and Best Buddies Qatar closely co-operate to provide suitable social environment or people with autism through educating, social interactions and empowerment. On World Autism Awareness Day, we intend to re-affirm our commitment to promote full participation of all people with autism and ensure them all the support to exercise their rights,” she said.‘Empowering Women and Girls with Autism’, the theme of the United Nations on World Autism Awareness Day in 2018, aims at ensuring them the descent life and fulfilment of their rights for education, work and freedoms.“In this regard, we affirm our support to women and girls with autism, as well as their families facing a scale of challenges.  Therefore, we have developed plans that enable families of persons with autism to participate in programmes, which facilitate their integration into community and provide them suitable opportunities to develop themselves. On this occasion, we call upon all governmental and private institutions and individuals to jointly support the autistic people and to provide them with opportunities for education, training, rehabilitation and social life in the community,” she added.Laalei Abu Alfain, Executive Director of Best Buddies Qatar, said, “This year World Autism Awareness Day holds more domestic and international campaigns than earlier due to rapid increase of the number of people with autism. Accordingly, to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [USA], the identification of newborns having Autism Spectrum Disorder is one in 88 children. Best Buddies Qatar in partnership with Shafallah Center for People with Disabilities aims to raise the matters of people with Autism to facilitate their social integration and help them to be efficient particles in Qatar community, equal to people without autism, with rights for work, education and social opportunities suitable to their abilities. We should spread awareness and support concerned autistic people and their families not only on 2nd of April but every day.” Salim Abdullah al-Marri, Deputy Director of Learning and Outreach at MIA, said, “We are proud to partner with and support Shafallah Center and Best Buddies Qatar on the day. We strongly believe that this world-leading museum and its collections deserve to be shared as widely as possible with people of all backgrounds and we continuously engage in activities designed to celebrate the accomplishments and influence of Islamic cultures and civilisations. We are pleased to host the people with autism to contribute to their social integration and education about Islamic art. We are looking forward to welcome people with different disabilities and hold mutual events with Shafallah Center and Best Buddies Qatar in line with the museums strategy and Qatar Vision 2030.”