The Social Assistance Department of UVT and the Casa Faenza Association from Timișoara marked today, April 2, 2021, "International Autism Awareness Day" through an online event, which aimed to increase understanding of multidisciplinary intervention for children with autism and to encourage students to contribute to the promotion of the social inclusion of people with autism in society.
The action was aimed especially at first-year students, both in full-time and distance education, and was organized online for the first time. In the first part of the event, the students learned, from Oana Hațegan (psychologist) and Ciprian Olteanu (social worker), what autism is and what are the characteristics of children with autism, and in the second part, the discussions focused on explaining the intervention in within the multidisciplinary team for children with autism.
Even though it was an online action, the students colored both the screens and the atmosphere in blue, the internationally representative color for autism.
Loredana Trancă, the coordinator of this event, stated that "it is an excellent opportunity for first-year students, future social workers, to learn more about autism, learning directly from specialists with extensive experience in this field. It is important for them to know the services that are offered to these children at the community level and how the intervention process takes place within a multidisciplinary team. Having a 20-year collaboration experience with the Casa Faenza Association, i.e. since its foundation, we managed to contribute to the professional training of our students together".
The Casa Faenza association, within which the first day care center for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Romania was developed, was established in Timișoara in 2001, within the first public private partnership in this city, unique in the country. The purpose of the association is to improve the living conditions and social adaptability of children with autism spectrum disorder in Timișoara, aged between 3-18 years, through empowerment and social integration, emphasizing the importance of early intervention.
You can learn more about the Casa Faenza Association and autism by accessing the links:
https://www.facebook.com/AutismTimisoara/videos/531090097072593
