The Ministry of Health (MOH), represented by the Mental Health Section in the Department of Non-communicable Diseases organized yesterday Sunday a workshop on the Strategies to Deal with Autistic Children for Parents at Majan Intercontinental Hotel, Muscat under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Ali bin Taleb Al-Hinai, MOH Undersecretary for Planning Affairs.

The two-day workshop targeted the parents of the autism children, as well as the psychologists working in the health institutions in order to raise the awareness of the context and strategies used in education and rehabilitation for autism spectrum disorder category. It also aims to appropriately serve and support individuals with autism and their families. 

The workshop including lectures on autism, the way of improving prosocial behavior and decreasing challenging behavior, as well as the alternative & augmentative communication.

Director of Primary Healthcare, Dr. Said Al-Lamki, pointed out that the global statistics indicated that the autism rate in the Sultanate is estimated around 1 among 68 children and the number of diagnosed cases reached 600 cases in Al-Massarah Hospital and 800 – 1000 in the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital.

He also added that within the ninth five-year plan, the Ministry has developed an integrated program to deal with detected cases and the health workers have been trained on several programs assisting them in diagnosis.

Number of experts and specialists from the May Institute in Boston, USA were gave lectures.

Autism is neurodevelopmental disorder and leads to problems with the child in how to contact with the others, as well as disorders in acquiring behavior and social skills. The autism appears during the first three-year of the child and lasts throughout the life.