Dubai
Autism Rocks, the UK-based charity has announced the opening of its Autism Rocks support centre, located in Dubai Healthcare City. The charity is known for its exclusive collaborations with stars to raise awareness of autism through music.
The new facility offers a space where a selected team of world-class therapists can support children on the autism spectrum and their families. They will work with them to improve their quality of life, enhance their long-term outcomes and reduce the fear and uncertainty common with the diagnosis.
The centre will provide gold standard, multidisciplinary therapy services to children on the autism spectrum and their families. This includes; Applied Behavioural Analysis (teaching children the skills they need to interact with their environment), speech therapy (teaching children how to speak), occupation therapy (helping children develop the skills they need to be successful at school, home and play) and psychology.
Along with one-to-one direct support, the centre will also offer training to teachers and parents to help them learn evidence based methods that address challenging situations as they arise in real life.
According to the Dubai Autism Centre, the prevalence of autism has increased in the UAE over the years, a trend that has also been witnessed in other countries.
Claudia Sidoli, Director of Autism Rocks Support Centre pointed out that while most people are aware of the charity’s music events, the new project aims to raise significant awareness and offer gold standard therapy.
“As we celebrate the Year of Giving, we are fortunate to open in the UAE, a country that has been passionate about supporting individuals with disabilities over the past few years. We have a strong culture of giving back instilled in the community, a legacy that has been inspired by the UAE’s Founding Father Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. This commitment has been translated with recent initiatives such as the Autism Awareness month last April,” said Sidoli.
Autism Rocks was established in 2014 by Sanjay Shah. Since its inception, it has hosted a series of successful events featuring some of the biggest stars from the music industry in various cities around the world. The Autism Rocks Arena opened its doors in Dubai in 2016, giving a home to the initiative in the UAE. It has played host to some of the biggest musical stars in the world, with Ed Sheeran confirmed as the next concert in September.
