A meeting on World Autism Awareness Day was organized at the UN House on April 2, 2024.
The meeting was organized on the initiative of the parent group of children with autism of the Association of Parents of Children with Disabilities in Armenia.
UNICEF Armenia’s Education Programs Manager Alvard Poghosyan and public relations coordinator Melea Militosyan welcomed the discussion participants.
A telecast on “Service of people with autism in different fields: presentation of international experience” topic was organized during the meeting. Participants had the opportunity to communicate with parents and specialists of children with autism in the USA and European countries, to learn about the experience of assessing and serving the educational, social and health needs of those countries.
There were also panel discussions on service of persons with autism in the state system and health sector, the role of community services, the work of centers providing education and care services, the state-ordered services of medical centers etc.
Key-note speakers of the event were Maya Simonyan, UNICEF Early Childhood Programme Officer in Armenia, RPPC director Lilit Mnatsakanyan, head of Children’s and Social Defense Department of Yerevan Municipality Lusine Hovhannisyan, Vice-Rector of the Armenian State Pedagogical University Marianna Harutyunyan, representatives of various healthcare institutions, Ombudsman, RA MoESCS, Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs and Ministry of Health.
During the panel discussions, RPPC director L. Mnatsakanyan presented the works done and planned on organizing inclusive education and providing an accessible environment. She spoke about the new assessment toolkit, collaborative programs, about training courses conducted by RPPC and TPPSCs, and the provision of pedagogic-psychological support services in the RA.
Then the parents raised various problems in the services provided to people with autism in Armenia. Representatives and specialists from different fields answered the parents’ questions.
Also, an agreement was reached to make the meetings continuous.
03.04.2024
