Abu Dhabi: Two students at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have launched a community programme to provide a supportive environment for families who have children with autism.

The sessions are being held at New York University Abu Dhabi campus every week.

“After two years of being involved with the Autism Support Network – Abu Dhabi, and thinking of new ways to serve the community, we put together a team to form an intimate support group where families can simply be together [with their children] and learn strategies to better their daily lives,” said Hannah Taylor, one of the founders of the Family Friends community support group.

“The first session involved a series of mindfulness workshops that also incorporated a lot of open sharing, play, and collaboration.”

Sally Oh, the group’s other founder, said the sessions are a good opportunity for parents to interact with families who were in the same situation as them, and learn from one another.

“The sessions want to create a way for parents to come together and share their thoughts and experiences from their daily lives with their children. During these discussions, they will be able to foster relationships and learn something. For children, there was poetry, music, arts and crafts, and our student volunteers also participated,” she added.

Taylor said that community groups like Family Friends were important to have as it provided the necessary support for families who have children with autism, and to show that they are not alone.

“Families touched by autism spectrum disorder [ASD] face a special set of circumstances, and can gain a lot from supporting and learning from one another and from the community. Beyond their own learning, those touched by ASD are motivated to break social barriers by spreading awareness,” she said.

The feedback from the parents and their children has also been positive according to Oh.

“The response from the families and their children was very nice, they were really happy with the programme and felt like they had received a lot of support, and not just from the students at NYUAD, but from other parents who were in the same position as them.

“The children were also very happy at the events, forming a connection with our student volunteers,” she added.