Rotary Club hosts workshop on autism
KUCHING: The Rotary Club of Kuching Central, District 3310 hosted a one-day practical workshop for 44 teachers and primary caregivers at Kuching Autistic Association (KAA) recently.
The topics covered included enhancing awareness, understanding and skills on autism, parent-teacher support collaboration, and Autism and The Brain.
Among those at the workshop were chairman of District Action Group on Autism (Daga) from District 3300 PP K Henry, president of Rotary Club of Kuching Central from District 3310 Jong Kiam Ngee and president of Kuching Autistic Association (KAA) Dato’ Dr Yao Sik Chi.
According to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention USA (CDC), as of 2014 an estimated 1 per cent of the world population had autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recent statistics show that there are approximately 300,000 people living with ASD in Malaysia. According to National Autism Society of Malaysia about 9,000 children are born with autism every year.
Autism is a developmental disability that require urgent support. The workshop was one of the many conducted by Daga since 2016 through a global grant of over RM120,000 from Rotary International.
Rotary Malaysia has successfully conducted two three-day residential workshops on early intervention training for 120 teachers and primary caregivers, as well as 30 committed teachers.
Since 2015, over 3,000 teachers, primary caregivers and parents have been engaged and trained in various programmes conducted by the Rotary District 3300 Action Group on Autism.
Rotary Clubs in Malaysia have been partnering with the National Autism Society of Malaysia (Nasom) and with the support of the ministries of Education, Health and Women, Family and Community Development.