Society trains mothers of autistic children

AMMAN — After she attended a course called “My Story with Autism” organised on Wednesday by the Society for the Care of Gifted Autistic Children, Um Issa, a mother of a 10-year-old autistic child said “a mother has to be her own child’s school.”

“The course was entertaining and very helpful. Although I have taken several courses on the subject, I realised I didn’t know the difference between different disorders,” she said following the event. 

Um Issa said she found out that her son is autistic when he was two years old, after he stopped talking completely.

“He is now in fourth grade and I’m his ‘shadow teacher’. Other students love him because he is not violent or harmful, but I would like for him to make at least one friend. That would make me feel relieved,” she told The Jordan Times.

Um Issa highlighted the changes in her son’s behaviour after he enrolled in the Society for the Care of Gifted Autistic Children, changes that she said “anyone can notice”.

Nadine Chour, director of the society, said that since its establishment three years ago, the society has been training mothers of autistic children, helping them to become specialists in dealing with the developmental disorder. 

She stressed the importance of supporting and educating the mother, who has an active role in solving the problems of families who have children with autism, by helping them to support their children from an early age so as to help them develop into productive youth capable of reaching self-independency. 

“This course is one of dozens or courses that the society has organised for the mothers in order to raise awareness and education in this field,” Chour noted, voicing her hope to organise more courses with experts in the field in the next year.

Hanan Mohammad said that her son Amer, whom she enrolled in the society as soon as it was established, used to be “very quiet and secluded”.

“Amer has changed a lot since he started here. He improved a lot with the help of specialised trainers, who also help parents to be more cautious and educated when it comes to dealing with their children,” she noted.

Mohammad said she believes her son improved by more than 70 per cent, with only the issue of pronunciation remaining now.

“The problem we face as mothers of autistic children is that public schools don’t accept our children,” she noted.

Najah Fouad, technical director at the society, served as the moderator for Wednesday’s course, which aimed at raising awareness among mothers of the difference between autism and other disorders.

“What I wanted is for them to know which category each of their children belongs to, so we can work on curing them in specific ways,” Fouad stated.

The society’s eight employees support over 27 children, with a special focus on children whose families are from middle and lower income backgrounds.