As many of you may already know, I am very passionate about supporting families of young children with Autism in the UK: Autism is a neurodevelopmental lifelong condition that affects 1 in every 100 children. Autism affects the way in which children communicate and interact with their environment, the way they play and in which they perceive the world around them. Although autism is a lifelong condition, early diagnosis and intervention can significantly help young children to develop their abilities and improve quality of their lives and lives of their families. Now I want to pass some of this knowledge and information to parents and professionals in my native Serbia.
Serbia is still in transition and struggling with its economy, overall development and quality of basic services. This affects all families of children with disabilities, including those with children with autism, causing delayed diagnosis, the lack of early intervention, minimal support provided by the state and minimal opportunities for inclusion for children with autism. Both parents and professionals have limited access to relevant information that could improve diagnosing, treatment and everyday life of these children.
I have started a small project - translation of the book on autism authored by Bill Nason. The book offers a huge variety of practical strategies for supporting the young children with autism in home, play and educational settings that can be easily implemented by both parents and professionals. In addition to my own personal contribution to this project so far (publishing rights, advertising, translation, tax), my aim is to raise the additional funds towards printing costs. With this project, I want to help parents and professionals and also to raise the awareness (otherwise very poor in Serbia) about the rights and needs of children with special educational needs. I hope I will be able to do it with a little help from my friends.