SOCIAL PROGRAMS

Social Program to Integrate Autistic Children into the Community

 The nature of the problem:

 There are a lot of children with disabilities in Armenia, who face daily obstacles and difficulties in society. Social stereotypes and parental disinformation and helplessness contribute to the autistic child’s isolation from the rest of the community. Autistic children’s verbal and non-verbal communication skills are primarily affected, and this causes an important barrier to integrating into society. Significant social and psychological work takes places within the social program in order to socialize and integrate autistic children into society.

The social program’s goals are as follows:

–          To integrate children into society, while taking their individual qualities and preferences into consideration

–          To help children create their social interaction system

–          To reveal each child’s own abilities, which will eventually help the child to form an identity

–          To integrate the children into different aspects of social life

–          To educate and inform parents about their children’s rights

–          To develop existing interests and perhaps introduce new abilities and skills among the children, in the context of mainstreaming (ex: educating students based on their skills)

–          To teach the children how possible it is to be independent and to eventually become a functional member of society, standing up for one’s right and making the most out of available opportunities

Program coordinator: Suzanna Petrosyan (email: suzannapetrosyan@gmail.com)