Georgia:Â World Autism Awareness Day is held on April 2 every year. It is organized by the Adjara Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, representatives of rehabilitation centres, parents of children on the autism spectrum, and program implementation organizations.
The meeting was attended by Minister Nino Nizharadze, Deputy Mayor of Batumi Lela Surmanidze, Director of Adjara Public Health Center, Rusudan Shavishvili, Ministry and other representatives of Batumi City Hall.
“We hold systematic meetings with target groups further to refine the rehabilitation program of children with special needs.” Our meetings are interactive, and it is important to hear from professionals and parents alike to make existing services more flexible and efficient. The Ministry of Health of Adjara will allocate 5 million 615 thousand GEL this year in this direction, and more than a million and a half GEL in the direction of Autism,” noted Minister Nino Nizharadze.
Adjara’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has been implementing rehabilitation of children with autism spectrum disorders since 2018. The program will focus on identifying developmental disorders and assessing levels of adaptive functioning for ages 2 to 15 with autism spectrum disorders.Â
The multidisciplinary group—psychologist, psychiatrist, neurologist, speech therapist, special teacher, behaviour therapist and another specialist—promotes building a child’s social, motor, cognitive, communication, self-care and functioning skills.
And, within the framework of the Adjara Public Health Center program, to promote the perfection of children’s mental development and timely elimination of social weaknesses, children aged 2 to 7 registered in the municipalities of Khelvachauri, Kobuleti, Kedi, Shuakhevi and Khulo are provided with the following program services if necessary: consultation of a child’s psychiatrist Autism screening Conducting an ADOS test with the following assessment if required. Batumi Municipality City Hall also implements the program.
