Centre focuses on a training initiative called the Family Take the Lead Programme
Alia El Naggar, Founder and Clinical Director, Swedish Specialised Centre for Special Needs
Image Credit: Supplied
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In conversation with Alia El Naggar, Founder and Clinical Director, Swedish Specialised Centre for Special Needs
How important is early diagnosis? What are the special therapies or programmes that the centre offers for autistic children?
Early diagnosis is key to successful intervention. It can lessen the severity of the symptoms as the younger the child is, the better he/she will learn. If we diagnose early, we start intervention early and then we have better progress. It’s also easier for parents and caregivers to manage the challenging behaviours of kids when they are younger. We offer Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, speech and language therapy, and occupational therapy (OT) on one-to-one basis. We also offer continuous awareness workshops and specialised training sessions for specialists. However, we now focus more on a training initiative called the Family Take the Lead Programme, where we work with the child and the family at the same time so that they can implement it throughout the child’s life. We have seen so many great success stories using this approach.