Participants at the ceremony included representatives from the Consular Club HCMC, Saigonchildren and Thang Long High School; as well as the children with autism who will take part in the class, and their parents.

The Consular Club, which includes representatives from consulates in HCM City, was founded in 1994 and is a non-profit organisation that aims to improve the quality of life of disadvantaged people in southern Vietnam.

The Consular Club focuses especially on aid for orphans, the disabled, the elderly and minority groups. All Consular Club members volunteer their time to work towards improving the quality of life of the disadvantaged people in Vietnam.

All proceeds from its annual International Charity Bazaar are distributed to help those less fortunate in the community.

Karen Gibbons, representative of the Consular Club of Ho Chi Minh City, shared a few thoughts on why this was an important project to support. “I have personal experience with special educational needs; my close friends have an autistic child and have seen the benefits of early intervention. It is very important to support those children in the first stages as this will help them integrate in a mainstream school. Autism experts believe that early intervention is a crucial step in helping and supporting children with special needs. This is why the Consular Club decided to sponsor this project as we know how important it is for children and parents to receive the right support.”

The ‘Early Intervention for Children with Autism’ course will run for 3 months, Monday to Friday. The course will benefit 30 children with autism and their parents, using a combination of intensive and comprehensive intervention techniques. As well as this, the course encourages parents’ involvement, providing them with methods to communicate and teach their children at home. The mission is to provide appropriate intervention for children with autism, allowing parents to support their children in the best way they can.

This is Saigonchildren’s newest program, started in 2009. Saigonchildren has been working with specialists across Vietnam and international experts in autism, in order to develop and improve the standard of early intervention for children with autism in Vietnam. Without this program families would have to pay for a program at a hospital or special school, which is very expensive. The result is that children with autism grow up without the intervention that would allow them to lead full and productive lives. Helping these children benefits not only them, but also their families, and the society. All the families who are joining this project are in extremely difficult circumstances and will greatly benefit from the guidance, support and expertise provided by the project.

During the ceremony, a parent expressed her gratitude for the project, “I am so thankful for the opportunity to take part in this project, even the smallest improvement in my child makes me extremely happy. I am grateful for the effort being made by everyone to help my son and children with the same condition. The project will not only help my son, but it will help me understand his condition better and gain skills that I can use myself to teach and communicate with him.”