Workshop supports educational needs of autistic children

Hanoi, September 18 (VNA) – The National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC) and the Hanoi National University of Education co-organised a workshop in Hanoi on September 18 in order to complete the outline for a programme to assist children with autism.

Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha acknowledged efforts made by teachers and experts to compile the outline over the past five months.

Ha stressed that Vietnam has yet to have standardised documents guiding the education of autistic children, leaving families to clutch at different educational methods.

The set will help ease anxiety in seeking autism-related educational methods, she added, noting that the issue of the set should be aided by a communications campaign to raise public awareness and responsibility towards children with autism.

The freshly compiled documents consist of two sets, one for personnel working with children with autism and the other for parents or carers of autistic kids.

Its contents include writings, images, videos, and reference documents that help readers understand the child’s possible needs and offer up some potential solutions.

Responding to the outline, participants suggested the necessity of a common name for the autism spectrum disorder in Vietnamese and other foreign languages. They said the guide book for parents should introduce criteria for the selection of caregivers and support centres.

The NFVC had previously raised the importance of the documents as part of its project to boost public awareness of autism at a conference last April.

The ongoing project, costing 10 billion VND (430,065 USD) and sponsored by the Phu Nhuan Jewellery company, will run for five years from 2018 to 2022. It is expected to issue a standardised set of documents assisting Vietnamese autistic kids, to train 100 autism support and communications personnel, and spread knowledge for 10,000 parents and caregivers. Around 4,000 autistic children are estimated to benefit from the project. –VNA