Written by Maria Yammine



Translated and edited by Rabab Housseiny






NNA - On April 2 of every year, the world light up in blue—the color of hope—in a worldwide solidarity upon the international day of awareness on autism, as set by the United Nations General Assembly on March 26, 2008. This year, the Ministry of Foreign Affair will take the initiative and illuminate its building with blue lights.

The Ministry has actually decided, in collaboration with North Autism Center, to venture into a national campaign on the means to support the families of autistic children, building on workshops the Ministry had held with the World Lebanese Cultural Union in August 2013. This is when and how the campaign started to get crystallized nationwide, starting by the blue lights that will illumine the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in addition to holding five training workshops on building capacities on how to take care of autistic children, hosting a medical conference at UNESCO for better introduction, knowledge, and diagnosis of autism, and distributing booklets on autism.




Autism is a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts. People with this lifelong developmental disability were found to have variant symptoms that differ from one person to another. This is called the autism spectrum.


People with autism may often experience other disorders like mental retardation (MR), seizures, ADHD, and others. With one percent of the population having autism, males are four times more exposed than females.




North Autism Center: Respect of each case's particularity

The North Autism Center is located in Jdaideh, Zghorta. Founded by Mrs. Rima Franjieh in 2010, NAC is the first autism center in north Lebanon that takes care of educating autistic children, supporting their families so they adapt with their sons' special condition and needs, and raising awareness in the neighboring communities. The center collaborates with a multi-specialty team to educate children and ensure their integration in the society through programs that respect the individuality and particularity of each case.

At the center, each case is evaluated and each person is treated on an individual basis. Services and treatment are defined according to each child's needs. Programs are developed in a way that preserves personal independence and safety and builds skills.

The center has classes for children aged between three and thirteen in addition to rooms special for autistic teenagers.



"Many children in our region suffered from autism and their families have had enough after they couldn't find any nearby center or reference. The idea of founding a specialized center was that of Mrs. Franjieh," said Sabine Saad, Director of NAC told the National News Agency.

She went on to say that a specialized team was also chosen to meet with the parents and families once a month; during the meeting, a topic is picked for discussion, which helps overcome some obstacles and difficulties in dealing with an autistic child. "The center pays great attention to the parents' participation and the efforts we make out of our belief that children not only are they respected as individuals but also as an essential part of the unity of the family," she said.



The cost and the funding

On the possibility of receiving more children in case of an increased turnout, Mrs. Saad explained that there were 40 children in the center now, but that there were 75 dossiers for children with autism who were still on the waiting list. "The cost is really expensive. In order to fund the center, we organize activities and festivities whose proceedings go back to the center. There are some parents who do pay the tuition fees if they can afford it, in addition to a contribution by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and private funding," she added.



The integration program

She continued that the center launched a leading project on school integration for autistic children in normal schools, noting that there are two sorts of integration: partial and complete.

She also said that the center adopted Antonine Sisters School in Zghorta for the French educated children and North Lebanon College for the English educated ones.

"Each student is accompanied by an assistant preceptor at school," she explained, adding that each case is being followed up closely by a specialized team for a better social integration.




The house of autism

On future plans, Mrs. Saad confirmed that there was an idea of establishing a house of autism to host autistic when they grow old, since their parents would no longer be able to serve or help them or simply since they would not live forever.


In a nutshell, the North Autism Center is the answer to the key principle as per which children are fully entitled to fully enjoy human rights.