“Autism in your class”

In the frame of the awareness activities on disability, on Friday, October 16, the Albanian Organization of the Order Mala, in cooperation with the Regional Education Directorate of Shkodra, the Regional Education Directorate of Lezha and the Regional Health Directorate of Shkodra, organized in the premises of the library “Marin Barleti” the roundtable: “Autism in your class”.

This activity was focused on the presentation of the brochure “Autism in your class”, the second edition of the Albanian Organization of the Order of Malta, following the publication of M-Chat in the field of autism.

During this roundtable a short presentation of the brochure was given and then a discussion was held on the issues pertaining to the identification and integration of the children of autism spectrum in educational institutions. Besides representatives of the Regional Education Directorate in Shkodra and Lezha, there were also teachers and psychologists from different schools of Shkodra, representatives of institutions and organizations that specifically work with children.

The participants had the opportunity to talk about their experiences, the difficulties they have in infrastructure, lack of a support teacher, lack of information on autism, difficulty in drafting plans, the lack in some cases of psychologists in schools, lack of different programs individualized for children of autism spectrum, etc. They also highlighted the achievements and difficulties that accompany the health and education system in our cities in this field. At the end of the roundtable it was suggested that such meetings be held again in order to discuss how to improve the problems arisen in this meeting. 

Participants were distributed publications of the center and were asked that they also give their contribution in the fields they think our organization can assist in the future.