Led by World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, the WHO is releasing an online version of its training program to care for children with developmental delays or disabilities, including autism. The program, which has already been conducted face-to-face in more than 30 countries such as Brazil, India, Italy and Kenya, teaches parents and other carers daily skills that help promote well-being and develop children with autism and other developmental disabilities.
“In many parts of the world, especially – but not only – in low-income settings, people caring for autistic children often lack access to the information and services they need,” said Dr. Chiara Cerville, a mental health expert at the World Health Organization’s Brain for Children and Adolescents. Health. “In the pilot phase, the Caregiver Skill Training Program equips families with knowledge and skills in a wide range of community settings to better understand and engage with those whose children have developmental delays or disabilities. The launch of the e-version means that thousands more families will now benefit from it. ”
Online training includes pre-recorded information sessions on topics such as using daily routines as a learning opportunity for children, engaging children through sports and problem solving. Sessions are another important feature of the course to help supervisors improve their own well-being. Quick tip videos, quizzes and reminders are included to support sustainable learning. The training is set so that caregivers can learn at their own pace, fitting the course into their schedule in a way that works for them.
The program, developed in collaboration with a non-governmental organization called Autism Speaks, is specifically designed to be implemented by non-specialist providers, especially for the low-income community.
The digital program will be launched, later in April, with the launch of a manual that supports individual sessions of the training program. Guidelines for training facilitators will be used to include learning from pilot training conducted over the past five years, and to provide training through exhibitions, coaching and group discussions. The format will enable program participants to gain direct insights from trained community members and other families to further strengthen their local support network.
To register for the online training:
Create an OpenWHO account: Click here
For additional instructions on how to create an account
To start the course: Open the training platform then click on the button: Enroll me for this course
