ABU DHABI Eight children with autism and intellectual disabilities will take part in an aquathlon at St Regis, Saadiyat Island Beach Resort this weekend.
“This is a huge achievement for us. It’s unbelievable to see how far they have come,” said American expat Khawla Barley of Goals UAE -- a nonprofit organisation where the kids have been undergoing rigorous training for the past few months. “April is World Autism Day and there couldn’t have been a better time to demonstrate how these children have progressed,” said Khawla who has an 11-year-old child with autism.
The participants are Jonah, Joel, Issac, Micah, Owen, Patrick, Kyle and Coner. They will take part in the sport of aquathlon which consists of a continuous, two-stage race involving swimming followed by running.
Goals UAE co-founder Michele Ziolkowski from Australia who also has an 11-year-old autistic child, said they have tied up with various sports and activity providers to come up with autism-friendly programme for kids.
Currently, Goals UAE offers classes in tennis, golf, basketball and football. Some activity providers train children for free, others offer classes at discounted rates.
A ‘buddy’ is assigned to each child. The buddies or friends lend support to the children voluntarily.
“One in 68 individuals is autistic. This is a staggering number and a reminder for us to do something for the autistic community,” said Khawla. “Our job does not end by just raising awareness and providing therapy sessions for people with intellectual disabilities. More needs to be done to integrate them into the mainstream and one of the ways of doing it is by giving them opportunities to mix with the rest of the community.”
Recalling how Goals UAE was conceptualised, Michele said: “Khawla and I first met four years ago at the New England Centre where our sons attended school. We were at a parents meet when we got talking about the need for more extra-curricular activities to keep our sons busy. She cited examples of initiatives in the USA which provide a buddy or a friend to support children of determination. We strongly felt the need for a similar programme here in the UAE and Goals UAE was born.”
“Providing extracurricular activities to children helps integrate. They learn to socialise and interact with people. Some children need more help than others and having a buddy or a friend to help these children learn new skills is one of the best things to do,” she added.
