2022
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AlexaAC
Autism Awareness and Inclusion project 2018
The conference was a wonderful sequel following the Autism Awareness walk on the 1st of December 2018 at the Oworonshoki community Lagos State Nigeria. This convergence took many colors of support from practitioners, caregivers, assessment analysts, mainstream educationists, parents, children and community leaders in Gbagada, Lagos. It was also a time to share stories, proffer solutions in the Autism spectrum space and change narratives.
The Autism Awareness & Inclusion Conference 2018 took place at La Roche Leadership Foundation Gbagada Hospital Road, Lagos State on the 8th, of December and the theme of the conference was "Inclusion Is the New Therapy".
In as much as Autism is a very broad spectrum disorder, it is a neurological disorder that can be properly managed by early intervention and inclusion of this children.
The conference was moderated by Amanda Obidike from the Initiative for National Growth as she briefly welcomed everyone and additionally gave a recap of the Autism awareness walk which took place in Olopomeji, Oworonshoki. We had Omotoke Olowo from the Autism Awareness Place and Racheal Inegbedion from the Initiative for National Growth give us opening remarks as the program was kickstarted.
The Autism conference was the first of its kind and had amazing speakers grace the event such as Madam Rose Mordi, who is the President of the Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria. She shared her story as a parent who had a child with Down Syndrome, how her child became an inspiration towards this foundation and most importantly, she gave remedy practices that stakeholders can imbibe to children with such challenges. Early intervention and inclusion is key. With proper management of this privileged children, there potentials are unleashed.
Tobiloba Ajayi, the founder of the “Let cerebral palsy kids learn” project and a Mandela Washington fellow gave an inspiring speech and how Inclusion is indeed a REALITY and has given her the passion to help children from stigmatization. She explained how her parents didn’t separate her from siblings, but rather have her equal opportunities in life. The audience really understood this practicality and how best to achieve inclusion. We also had Damilola Oyalaja - an occupational therapist, who shared visual slides on Inculcating special therapies in the classrooms of mainstream schools. She said we have different types of therapy given to children with Autism. Here she explained that the level of disorder depends on the type of therapy given to the child to stimulate learning, communication and understanding process. We have the Aqua, Occupational, Speech, therapeutic horseback riding, picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)and applied behavior analysis therapy.
Adelola Edema, who is the founder of Autism Gist did so well to share her wonderful experiences of children with Autism. She talked about managing proper communication with Autistic children and best practices in improving their learnings.
Nicholas Obot - the principal of the Federal Nigerian Society for the Blind, talked about mobility skills, how to also enhance learnings of children with special needs and how social skills improve a child’s ability to interact and forms bonds with others. We also had Doctor Sule Omolola from the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency who is the Head of Advocacy unit in LASACA share on vulnerability of children with Autism and HIV/AIDS. It was indeed a power-packed event that covered every area of public health and children with these challenges. Ms. Nnaemeka Mokwe was represented by her Personal Assistant as she was temporarily unavailable. Here, she talked about using entrepreneurship to steer and create ventures. This was targeted to parents and caregivers. She further shared entrepreneurial opportunities stakeholders can take to improve standard of living in the lives of the children. There was HIV/AIDS counsellor testers to conduct HIV/ AIDS screening, Malaria testings and aids, Free consultations from Occupational therapists and Neuro-psychologists. It was more like a one-on-one break out session as stakeholders asked questions and received proper counseling from specialists in different spectrums.
The conference further took us to the second phase were we had a panelist session of eight young men and women who are leaders in their fields. We had Amdi Salam, an Emotional Intelligence expert, Tosin Oyebolu, a Music director and Aqua therapist, Ibrahim Oseni, a public health specialist, Ayomide Ogunkeye, a neuro-psychologist, Okoro Jubilee, an occupational therapist and Assessor, Modinat Adigun, an occupational therapist, Ms. Judith, an educationist in mainstream schools and Sanni Hassan. The panelist session was a most interactive moment as it was engaging from different perspectives. Audience asked questions and was most targeted to the panelists. The guest speakers also aired their views alongside the panelists.
The conference was organized by the Initiative for National Growth Africa in joint partnership with The Autism Awareness Place.
Executives and volunteers of both organizations who were part of this project was Racheal Inegbedion - team lead and Founder of the Initiative for National Growth Africa, Omotoke Olowo - team lead of the Autism Awareness Place, Amdi Salam - Emotional intelligence panelist and Creative Director for Initiative for National Growth, Wonu Akintunde - financial director for Initiative for National Growth, Amanda Obidike - Administrative manager for Initiative for National Growth, Prisca Onuegbu, Kemi Amusat, Nelson Izah, Bami Femi, Funsho Olowo, Tosin Oyebolu, Ibrahim Oseni, Abraham Ogundeyi, Jubilee Okoro, Ayomide Oluwatoke Ogunkeye, counsellor testers of the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency , representatives of the Anthos house and representative of the Sifax group Corporate Affairs Manager in person of Muyiwa Akande.
The conference was proudly supported by the Sifax Group and other partners like the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, Codix, La Roche Leadership Foundation, Shakbite Foods, Calal Global, Anthos House and ARPG Tech.
The Autism Inclusion Conference was a major success with parents, caregivers, teachers and guardians going home with life skills and knowledge relevant to maximize the early medical, social and educational intervention of children living with autism spectrum disorders in Lagos state Nigeria.
It also gives the Initiative for National Growth so much joy to say that the public and its partners look forward to another program like this. We had stakeholders submit their bio-data and assured to keep in touch. We know best to be good intermediaries to connecting this children and parents to the necessary and professional bodies involved to ensure proper care and intervention.
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Check out some pictures of the event
