Current & Future Projects 2011
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OMPACO’s Current Projects 2011
Autism Awareness Workshops
July-August 2011In July and August 2011, Martha Collins, MD, Amanda Martinage, Occupational Therapist and Nilofer Naqvi, School Psychologist will travel to Tanzania to conduct a series of information sessions at the Msimbazi Mseto Autism Unit in Dar es Salaam. Amanda is a school based Occupational Therapist who has experience working in a variety of settings including school based, residential, inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient and early intervention. She worked as both a staff therapist as well as a supervisor for a busy outpatient occupational therapy department. She is particularly interested in the areas of sensory processing and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Nilofer Naqvi is a New York State Certified Bilingual School Psychologist who has more than 10 years experience working with children with developmental disabilities. She has five years experience conducting in depth, specialist assessments of children with ASD and developmental delays in the U.S. and in several other countries including Tanzania.
Autism as a developmental disorder remains largely unidentified within the community in Tanzania, nor is it addressed directly within the mainstream educational system in Tanzania. The vast majority of children with an ASD in Tanzania are unable to receive vital intervention services. Currently there are very few speech therapists in Tanzania and services such as physical and occupational therapy tend to be provided to children with physical impairments or those with severe motor difficulties. As is the case in many countries, the service provision that exists is concentrated in large cities.
The focus of the visit this summer will be to provide a series of seminars and information sessions aimed at raising awareness on the basics issues around ASD including accurate identification, how to assess functioning levels in children and how to plan appropriate interventions depending on children’s functional skill levels. In addition to the training at the Autism Unit, Martha, Amanda and Nilofer will travel to Dareda Hospital in Arusha and will visit a special needs classroom at Patrick Winter Primary School.
More in depth trainings are planned for later in the year. These will be based on the outcome of this visit with a long term goal of developing an exemplary assessment and intervention site for ASD and developmental disorders at Msimbazi Mseto along with satellite facilities in other parts of the country.
Links:
ASD Fact sheet to be distributed at the trainings
The need for more services with children with ASD all over the world is a growing movement
For more information about ASD in the global community:
http://www.autismspeaks.org/science/research/initiatives/gaph.php
http://www.globalautismproject.org
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OMPACO is presently partnering with a variety of institutions overseas to advance the medical and psychological health of children. One important initiative involves a rural hospital in Tanzania. The Dareda Hospital is the designated district hospital for the District of Babati in the Manyara Region of the country. Founded in 1948, the hospital complex has grown considerably over the years and presently offers an array of inpatient and outpatient services in the areas of pediatrics, obstetrics, internal medicine, dental, HIV, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, maternal and child health, and mental health disorders. The hospital is currently engaged in a set of capital projects designed to renovate the pre-natal and post-partum wards, to construct a school for medical assistants at the hospital and to establish an endowment that will be dedicated to advancing the mission of the institution over the long term. OMPACO is pleased to be among a series of partners that Dareda has worked with to advance these goals. To read more about our involvement in this project and to see pictures of the hospital, click here.
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