Anadolu Agency spends day with children with autism

By Sefa Sahin

ANKARA (AA) – Anadolu Agency staff spent a day with students with autism who resumed face-to-face classes.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on World Autism Awareness Day marked on April 2, Tamer Sarikaya, the principal of a private special education school in the capital Ankara, said that material to support face-to-face lessons should be provided to students with autism.

“We have students who refuse to wear masks and do not want to follow the social distancing rule. This is the place where they will be taught these guidelines," he said.

“We, as families and teachers, make great efforts to provide our children with self-care skills and take measures to protect themselves against the pandemic,” he added.

Pinar Aslan, an assistant teacher at the school, said that children with autism have certain routines and if these are disrupted, they react adversely to it.

The Education Ministry developed content for these students to assist them in distance learning when schools were closed last year due to the pandemic.

- Turkey resumes face-to-face education on March 2

Turkey’s National Education Ministry resumed face-to-face training as of March 2.

At special education schools, classes are held five days a week with four students. Each class lasts for 30 minutes.

In Turkey, nearly 11,000 autistic students take lessons which are skill- and activity-based.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin