Support for Children with Autism in Tajikistan

Last November, IRODA, with the support of the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Open Society Foundation, was able to train health professionals from around the country in diagnosis and intervention for children with autism.  Recently two IRODA staff travelled to five different regions in Tajikistan to provide mentoring and support to the professionals who had attended the training.  It was pleasing to find that all participants had started to use the new knowledge they gained through the training to identify children with autism.  

As the IRODA staff travelled to the regions they were able to answer questions and give feedback to the participants about the process of diagnosing autism and starting early intervention.  Since the training in November last year there have been 63 children in total diagnosed with autism in the five areas from which professionals were trained.  These children are now receiving support through a local government clinic or non-government organization. 

Since beginning its work in 2008 IRODA has been limited to predominately working with children and families in the capital city of Dushanbe.  It has been exciting that the training conducted last November led to children from around the country receiving an appropriate diagnosis and starting to access support for their learning and development.  IRODA is working towards seeing children with autism from right around the country identified at the earliest possible opportunity and receiving the support that will allow them to reach their full potential.  Your ongoing partnership with IRODA will enable us to continue further training and professional support that will extend the work even further around the nation of Tajikistan.