Doha, April 01 (QNA) - Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities is set to observe the World Autism Awareness Day on Wednesday, which annually falls on April 2 under the theme of a spectrum: a journey of understanding and embrace.

Executive Director of Al Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities Maryam Saif Al Suwaidi said the celebration is an important opportunity to spotlight the milestones the State of Qatar has achieved in taking care of Individuals with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and achieving further successes in including them in the community.

She pointed out that this year's slogan came to underscore the enhanced support and empowerment for individuals with ASD to actively engage in the community and largely spread the awareness about them while promoting their greater inclusion in society, noting that this comes through conducting an array of awareness-raising and media activities.

The state of Qatar has given foremost priority to rehabilitate and include individuals with ASD in the community and has evidently set plans and initiatives that contribute to promoting awareness among parents and professionals, in addition to providing comprehensive and integrated services that generate positive results toward bolstering the developmental and cognitive abilities of individuals with ASD, facilitating their daily lives, and supporting the role of their families, Al Suwaidi underlined.

Al Suwaidi highlighted that Qatar's National Autism Plan is based on the Qatar National Vision 2030 in securing the continuation of decent living for the people of Qatar, stating that ministries and concerned entities have made tremendous efforts in preparing an overall national plan to figure out the essential needs, as well as trends and ambitions that would help achieve the intended goals and empower all community members, including individuals with ASD.

Shafallah Center's autism section receives individuals with ASD from both genders from birth to three years of age and offers inclusive rehabilitation programs starting at six years of age and continuing until the age of 16. Thereafter, individuals transition to the vocational training and rehabilitation department to receive professional rehabilitation services and preparation for employment, Al Suwaidi said.

Al Suwaidi added that the center provides a wide diversity of rehabilitation and therapeutic services provided by a multidisciplinary team, with the diverse array of interventions delivered within the framework of individual sessions, each lasting up to 40 minutes.

These sessions are meticulously designed to address the specific needs and challenges of every single person, with participants receiving primary therapeutic services, in terms of speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and nutritional services.

In addition, individuals benefit from ongoing medical follow-up and pharmacological supervision provided by the medical unit, alongside psychological and behavioral monitoring for center members with ASD, she noted.

Al Suwaidi stressed that persons with disabilities have equal rights like every single person in the community, including their right to work in an environment they freely choose, where they can easily engage, in addition to ensuring the protection of their rights in fair and suitable working conditions, on equal footing with others, such as equal opportunities and the receipt of equal compensation for work of comparable value. (QNA)