Autism Care and Awareness Project Culminated

On the morning of May 24th, 2022, the Autism Care and Awareness Project supervisors and a group of faculty staff members and students gathered to organize and wrap the gifts prepared for the autistic children and staff of Hana Autism Centre Erbil.

Each child is different; each has their individual needs, desires, abilities, and interests. 

Autistic children require further specialized care and understanding to enhance their social, cognitive, physical, and motor skills, so they require different specialized types of toys and exercises, each aimed at improving their skills according to the level of their autism and cognitive impairment.

For that reason, the gifts included toys such as puzzles and lego that are calming and provide opportunities for sensory play and can help support the child’s individual therapy goals. These enable them to practice critical social skills with their peer group and potentially form friendships with other children who share similar interests. In contrast, some children need outlets for extra physical energy. These kids often enjoy exercise balls and slides, and providing them with such toys encourages them to be physically active and helps kids build strong and healthy bodies. It is also an excellent way to build essential motor skills, expel excess energy, and quell anxious behaviours.

Educational toys such as alphabet games are fun and engaging ways to practice early reading skills and aid in cognitive development.

The manager of the centre welcomed the students and thanked them for visiting. He praised their sense of humanity and talked about all the work updates conducted with the students’ collected funds. The manager explained the impact on the satisfaction of the autistic children and how this helps to motivate and appreciate students’ efforts.

During this project, our volunteers successfully opened new learning classes, painted and applied insulating wall foams to the old learning classes, and bought carpets, colourful chairs and tables for children and different sizes of whiteboards.

At the end of this event, students were divided into subgroups to visit the learning classes and distribute the gifts to the kids and their teachers. Our volunteers were also given the opportunity to spend time and perform several activities with the autistic children to understand and witness their daily life struggles. The students enjoyed the visit to the centre. The visit helped the students understand autism and how one can help make a difference in the children’s lives through love and special care.