Through a partnership between a Qatar Foundation (QF) school and a UK-based charity, the goal of creating an autism-friendly environment across Qatar is being advanced.
Experts from the National Autistic Society (NAS) came to Qatar this year for the second time to deliver training packages to staff at Renad Academy, a specialised school that is part of QF Pre-University Education and supporting children with autism.
The aim of the visit by the training consultants from the UK’s leading charity for those with autism – which followed an initial training exercise in 2016 – is to help enable Renad Academy’s team provide similar NAS-licensed training to stakeholders in Qatar, and help people across the country become more aware of autism.
Mandy Rutter, an autism training consultant at the NAS, said that Renad Academy staff are now licensed to deliver three training courses to business partners – Autism Champions, Essential Autism, and Autism and SPELL.
“This will enable Renad Academy’s team to target the length and level of delivery to their stakeholders’ needs, ranging from a short introduction session for those who are very new to autism, through to an in-depth two-day course for those needing more specific knowledge,” she said. “It means that children and adults with autism, wherever they go, will have people around them that understand autism, increasing accessibility and inclusivity.”
Renad Academy director Sherri Miller said: “When we talk to businesses in Qatar, they want to learn about autism, and they want to be accessible for people with autism – they just need more information about it.
“At Renad, we are now being licensed to provide the necessary training, using well-practised methods created by the NAS, with the aim of creating an autism-friendly community.
“As a school for children with autism, we want this community to be fully accessible to our students, and since organisations and businesses don’t necessarily have the information about how they can be autism-friendly, we can train them on certain strategies they can use to achieve this.”
Qatar is home to 5,000 children with autism, and Miller says the training will include supporting mall-based businesses to be autism-friendly “so parents can take their children there with confidence”, and collaborating with hospitals and children’s centres, with organisations across Qatar having shown their willingness to support the initiative.
“The more children with autism are active in the community, the more autism will be accepted,” she explained. “One of the keys to supporting people with autism is empathy – demonstrating that you understand why they behave as they do and providing an environment that doesn’t overload their senses.
“This training concept has been shown to have value in other countries, and we will be sharing it with the community in Qatar.
“For us, it will be a great support because it means that when we take children on a field trip to, for example, a farm, the staff there will know how to interact with our students and ensure the environment is right for them.”
Six members of Renad’s team have been trained by the NAS, including Rola Ayoub Satouf, a parent trainer at Renad, who said: “Our role is to help the community become familiar with, and accepting of, autism.
“We believe that collaboration with families and professionals will help in supporting these students to reach their fullest potential.
“We are taking a further step toward increasing autism awareness and creating a healthy society for children with autism.”
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