QCDC organises webinar to raise awareness of autism

Sabika Shaban, Sara Coleman and Samantha Campion-Gibson

April is Autism Awareness Month, and the Qatar Career Development Centre (QCDC), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), has organised a webinar series to raise awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). QCDC will hold the next live webinar via Zoom in English, titled ‘Autism Awareness Month: Ordinary Heroes – Nurturing People with Autism’. Taking place at 8.30pm on Monday, it targets parents and young men and women with autism. Special guests Sara Coleman, special education teacher at Awsaj Academy; Samantha Campion-Gibson, autism specialist at the Learning Centre; and Sabika Shaban, a parent of two neurodiverse children, will speak at the webinar. They will tackle the blessings and challenges of raising and educating children diagnosed with ASD, speaking about experiences and lessons learned. The webinar will additionally include a Q&A session, followed by a dialogue. QCDC director Abdulla al-Mansoori said, “QCDC is committed to empowering all segments of the Qatari society, and actively contributes to the realisation of Qatar’s vision for economic, human and social development. We are working to implement this through many programmes targeting groups with special needs, groups facing learning challenges and others. These programmes aim at helping these groups join the labour market and integrate into Qatar’s social and economic fabric.