Present Activities of AWF
AWF offers services to individuals with autism and their family and frequently arranges programs to create mass awareness regarding autism throughout out country.
Present Activities of AWF
- Creates mass awareness among parents, professionals, social worker, and general public for better understanding for autism
- Offers diagnosis and assessment of autistic children
- Runs education and training centre
- Runs Early Intervention Program for children below the age of 5
- Runs Adult Activity Program and Vocational Training Program for older children and adolescents with autism
- Arranges Teacher Training Program
- Arranges Parent Training Program
- Arranges Parent-Teacher Workshop
- Arranges seminars, workshop
- Offers package program for autistic children and adolescents from different areas of Bangladesh who are unable to attend the Training Centre of AWF
- Provide outing program for students of AWF for improving social behavior
- Publishes News Letter
- Integrates more able autistic children into normal school.
- Offer free services for poor autistic children
. At present, AWF runs many programs for children and adolescents with autism as stated below:
AWF runs an education and training centre named “KANAN”, where at present 148 students are enrolled. Classes are run in two shifts. Each shift has eleven classes, for age groups from 3 to 15 and above. Students are placed in different classes according to their chronological age, communication abilities and needs. Among eleven classes, two are pre-normal classes for able children with autism and from these classes; the child who improves significantly can easily go to mainstream schools. Among eleven sections, two classes are programmed for early intervention programs for children below 5 years of age. Remaining classes are for age group 6 to 15 and above.
The classrooms are highly structured and communication based where teacher-student ratio is 1:2. AWF follows multi-pronged approach for teaching methodology of students and offers a mix of behavior based methods and structured teaching. Elements of TEACCH, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and communication based programs such as “More than words” programs and Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) are a part of the method used. Classroom setting is highly structured, and follows TEACCH method and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is prepared for each student on the basis of functional assessment of each student.
Teaching program is highly intensive, following ABA method where teaching skills are highly concentrated. Targeted skills are broken into smaller parts, teaching each part at a time in 1:1 basis until mastery. Lots of visual cues and teaching materials are used during teaching session.
Social skill development:
The most important barrier the family comes across in every day situation is poor social skill of their autistic children. AWF arranges many social skills program besides classroom based social skill training. For example, students go for shopping, or eat in restaurants, visit parks, zoos etc twice a month. Students participate in different cultural programs. AWF arranges a handicrafts fair twice every year which enhances the social skill of each student in AWF.
Vocational training program:
AWF runs a vocational training program named “Krishnochura” where there are 20 students aged 15 years and above, whom are directly involved for making potteries, products adorning block prints and boutique, candles, bag-making, necklaces etc. for selling purposes. About 16 students are given hand on training to make them independently work for vocational products.
AWF also runs a cafeteria where students work for preparing different food items, serving them to customers, washing dishes, involve in exchanging and counting money. All 148 students of Kanan take snacks in cafeteria during snack time and eat in a group which increases their social skills.
Distant package program:
AWF offers distant package programs for autistic children, adolescents and their families from all over Bangladesh who cannot avail any teaching program or schooling for their children. Home based programs are given for autistic children in package program and guidelines are given regarding different techniques and strategies for enhancing communication and play skills for children who come from distant areas. Parents also come for regular follow-up. AWF extends services for package program for 4 children per day for 4 days a week.
Parents as co-therapists:
Specialty of AWF’s education training program is that we include parents of autistic children directly in our program by:
1. Extensive interview from parents while making IEP for each student
2. Regular counseling and interaction with parents when needed
3. Classroom visits are compulsory for parents every year
4. Home visits are done by teachers
5. Including parents in many programs of AWF
Training and workshop:
Throughout the year, AWF arranges training program for parents and teachers by extensively explaining them the strategies of teaching techniques of autistic children so that they can successfully apply it to their child/student.