50 November 2015 www.bahrainthismonth.com interview Allistair Anthonio Alvares is a severely autistic 19-year-old. For such children, the end of regular schooling can mean the end of their place in society — they mostly cannot work and are too old for the classroom so what are they and their parents to do? Christine Gordon MBE, founder of the RIA Institute for those with learning difficulties, wants to see such young adults better integrated into society with more vocational training available. As such, she was delighted to host the launch of Allistair’s book, Learn to Draw With Numbers, in which the teen sets out how to draw items such as flowers, balloons and hearts using numbers to form the shapes. The launch was also attended by educational specialist Rima Al Salah and many parents and children. Allistair’s mother, Sapiencia Alvares, who compiled his drawings into easy-to-follow steps, says: “Allistair has always loved to draw and one day when we were outside he started drawing in the sand with a stick and said ‘look, I’ve made a flower from the number three’, I HIGHLIGHTING HIDDEN TALENT said ‘what about the other numbers?’ and he used those to draw other things. I suggested we make a book to help other children and he was very excited. Allistair was not a functioning autistic child, he was profoundly autistic, so for him to be able to do something like this and for us to produce something from it that can be helpful to other children is great.” Christine adds: “It’s a little, teeny, tiny book but it represents what people with learning difficulties can do, it really highlights their potential. “We wanted to turn the launch into a discussion forum on what happens to special needs children when they are too old for school. Some are still at RIA because we work on mental age, but this is not the norm. “Society accepts that you go to school for a certain number of years and then you go to university or get a job, or possibly to a community centre for those with learning difficulties if there is something available. “For most, they are back home with nothing to do. Let’s be honest, how many of us would want even our nearest and dearest at home all day? “There need to be some serious questions asked about how young adults with learning difficulties can be better integrated into society. For example, there are some supermarkets here who employ them and it would be good to see other industries taking this on board.” There are some facilities already available and Christine has been in discussions with the Kingdom’s authorities with a view to establishing vocational programmes but, she says: “There are also other areas in which changes are needed, such as heredity. Shaikha Jameela Al Qasimi in Sharjah is really pushing for the rights of those with learning difficulties and this is something I would like to see mirrored here in Bahrain. We also have Inclusion MENA which is an advocacy group. “However, I believe we need a whole re-evaluation of this issue in Bahrain and we used the book launch as a forum to explore how we can put this on the agenda as well as being an occasion to celebrate and highlight the achievements of this young boy.” LIZ O’REILLY What happens when children with learning difficulties get too old for school? One young autistic lad has produced a simple book to help others facing challenges. Allistair signs copies of the book with his parents Christine Gordon
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