Autism Day, April 2, 2020 |02 April 2020

 A message from Autism Seychelles Association

“World Autism Awareness Day has always been observed annually on April 2.

This special day aims to put a spotlight on the challenges that people with autism and others living with autism face on a daily basis. This year, celebrations of Autism Day is unfortunately marred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Around the world, activities planned by autism organisations/countries (such as the very popular ‘light it up blue’ campaign) have been cancelled.

Autism Seychelles, likewise, has had to do the same. This includes the official opening of the Autism Support Centre, based at North East Point and the annual Autism Fun Run, which was set for Saturday April 4, 2020. Other regional events have been cancelled, such as the conference of Pole Autisme Ocean Indien which was to be held in Madagascar in April and the Pan African Conference for Autism which was due to take place in Ghana in April.

“On the positive side, the year started off on a good note for Autism Seychelles. We have recruited a Head of Special Needs for the centre. In partnership with a South African autism institution STAR academy, we have put in place a training/implementation programme for the centre. We invited a case supervisor from the STAR academy for a familiarisation visit, during which time she had the opportunity to assess our training needs, hence be able to put an online training programme for our staff. She also met with parents and their children on the spectrum and will follow up with training programmes for each child.

“We are truly grateful to Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) for co-sponsoring this familiarisation visit and remaining on board to further assist with the STAR Academy’s ongoing training programme.

“Despite this very difficult time for all, we at Autism Seychelles remain positive and hopeful for a brighter future for our children on the autism spectrum. We will do all our planned activities as soon as the situation gets back to normal.

“We take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors who have supported and continue to support us throughout the year and beyond.

“Wishing all Autism families a Happy Autism Awareness Day.

“Stay strong, stay safe!”

Press communiqué from Autism Seychelles Association