VI to get UK assistance for Autism programme
According to Dr. Smith, the National Democratic Party (NDP) had campaigned on an agenda to give greater attention to children with special needs and the delegation was therefore pleased to meet with Sue Osborne, Chief Executive of Kingwood Trust.
He said Mrs. Osborne had visited the Territory in 2009 and met with government officials here as well as with some children with autism and their parents.
“Ms. Osborne subsequently submitted a proposal for the establishment of a pilot programme to assist autistic children and adults for a period of 18 months to two years. The basis of the proposal is that Kingwood would provide initial support and train local staff to work with both children and adults with autism, and then hand over the management and delivery of the entire service for local management at the end of the second year,” said the Premier during a press briefing on Tuesday, November 29, 2011.
According to the Premier, a donor has now been found to pledge up to US$381,529 for the establishment of the autism programme. “We are anxious to take this programme forward and our further discussions at the OTCC meeting the next day gave us even more confidence that this programme will succeed.”
Meanwhile, in March 2011, officers from the Ministry of Health and Social Development had met with officials of the Maria Holder Memorial Trust, a potential funding source for the first phase of the Autism Programme.
Project Manager, Donna Clarke and one of the Trustees, Peter Symmons, QC had visited the Territory to visit the site proposed to house the programme and to meet with government stakeholders and the VI was required to submit a proposal which would have been presented to the Board of the Maria Holder Memorial Trust.
A few months earlier, the Maria Holder Memorial Trust in Barbados was identified as a potential partner for the Autism Programme and it was anticipated that the proposal would have received consideration so that the programme could begin later in the year.
According to research, autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication and by restricted and repetitive behaviours. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood.
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