SCERT Nagaland, along with Künrin and Jo Foundation Inclusive School, conducts a workshop on understanding autism to mark Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month.
Share
DIMAPUR — The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) conducted a workshop in collaboration with Künrin, an ABA centre for autism in Dimapur, and Jo Foundation Inclusive School (JFIS) Kohima at the SCERT office in Kohima on April 18.
The workshop, organised to mark Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, was held on the theme “Understanding behaviour from a compassionate lens: Applied behaviour analysis (ABA) & autism”.
According to an update, approximately 50 participants from various backgrounds attended the workshop. They comprised therapists, special educators, parents, teachers, and researchers from different schools and NGOs.
A keynote address was delivered by Vice Principal and Head ICT and IE of SCERT, Daniel Thong Seb. He stated that it is the pleasure of the department to collaborate with NGOs to bring about a proper understanding of the behavioural problems of special children faced at home and in schools.
Also read: Common Service Centers face branding deadline after key resolution
He noted that parents and teachers struggle a lot, and if not equipped properly, they grope in the dark without any valid solution.
He further stated that a workshop like this is the need of the hour, as people on the autism spectrum deserve to be respected and not mistreated.
The resource person, Beni Seb Chishi, a Qualified Behaviour Analyst who runs Künrin in Dimapur, which serves as an ABA centre for autism and other developmental delays, stated in her presentation that autism it covers a wide range and is hence called a spectrum. She stated that most of the time these individuals are misunderstood, as they have issues with communication.
However, by looking at them from a different lens when they throw a tantrum or create any behaviour problem, the gap becomes smaller, and they also open up for communication.
This was followed by a question-and-answer session during which questions were put to the resource persons by parents, teachers, and other professional practitioners.