A special centre for autism will open in Lsngkawi next February to to help special needs children on the island to get the best care they need.
The chairperson of the Langkawi Autism Association, Mastura Abdul Mutalib said the centre will adopt the National Autism Society of Malaysia (Nasom) and the Ideas Autism Centre (IAC) module to provide quality and professional services to ssh children, the Malaysian news agency Betnama reports. The chairperson said the Langkawi Autism Centre will operate from two buildings in Jalan Batu Asah.
She also added that thirteen boys and girls with autism ad already signed up for the training centre which is expected to start operations in February of next year. Among the programmes to be taught at the centre are early childhood development, vocational training, religious and moral education, physical education and others.
“We expect the centre to accommodate 50 students and the process is open till the end of the year. The number of teachers and staff will be determined based on the number of students. Basically one teacher will handle three students”, Mastura said. The centre will operate Monday to Friday with additional therapy sessions on Saturday based on requests.
The centre will require estimated RM300 000 (nearly 100 000 USD) in funding. The chairperson said they were hopping for personal donations to the centre as well. The parents of autistic children are pleased with the decision because of the lack of autism-specific learning centres on the island.
