KARACHI: Sindh government on Monday announced to open a well-equipped “Resource cum Support Centre” for children suffering from autism which will be made functional in Karachi in May this year.
The statement came at the occasion of a seminar to commemorate World Autism Day 2018 organised by Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in coordination with Dow University of Health Sciences’ (DUHS) Psychiatry Department.
Special Education Secretary Ahsan Ali Mangi on the occasion said that a series of measures are being adopted for rehabilitation of the special children.
He said that the facility to be located in thickly populated Gulistan-e-Jauhar area will be second of its kind for the children inflicted with Autism in the metropolis, he said.
“It will be run by adequately trained professionals and cater to the medical as well as psychological and social needs of individuals aged up to 18,” said Mangi.
He appreciated that DUHS for being the major medical training university for taking the initiative by establishing first ever dedicated autism resource centre in the province, meeting educational cum vocational training needs of the affected children.
Responding to queries by concerned citizens as well as parents of the autistic children, Mangi said that the Sindh Assembly is also in a process of trying to provide legal cover to the rights of these kids, specially in the context of their heirship right. “The particular law will be adopted shortly,” he said.
The seminar was also addressed by DUHS Pro-Vice chancellor Dr Khawar Saeed Jamali, Professor Nabila Soomro, Dr Irum Rizwan, Dr Aisha Sitwat and many of the parents bringing up autistic children.
The parents of autistic children acknowledged that interventions offered to their kids at DUHS support centre had markedly improved their life quality in particular context of self esteem and confidence.
