The fruitful season of partnerships and effort
The Training for practitioners on Early Intervention for Children with Autism has marked the end of the three-year project that took place from 2017-2019. The project was organized by Saigon Children’s Charity in cooperation with OWL Center and The Department of Special Education of Ho Chi Minh City National College of Education, and was funded by J and R Bleach Trust and the Lufthansa Help Alliance.

During this third year, trainees have systematized the theoretical knowledge learned in the first two years. The key point of this training course was to divide the participants into specialized groups, including special educational needs teachers, speech therapists, and occupational therapists.

In these groups, teachers received further training and support in areas that were necessary for their work. After specialised sessions, trainees were grouped into multidisciplinary teams of practitioners of different fields to analyse and plan interventions for children and jointly organise a training topic for different audiences, including parents and teachers of mainstream schools. Trainees also had many opportunities to practice individual interventions and work with a group of children and parents.
At the end of the third-year summer training, experts from the UK were extremely proud of the visible progress of all trainees. The dedicated trainers have been working on the project for three years, including planning, gathering valuable learning materials, and directly teaching and personally instructing each trainee. Today, trainees in the first year have become more confident and proactive in their work. They are ready to share their own knowledge and enthusiasm with their colleagues, parents, and teachers, so that children with autism can be loved and supported appropriately. This will in turn help equip the children with life skills, assist their integration into the community and maximize their potential.

This project has equipped 19 practitioners with valuable professional knowledge, advanced intervention techniques and strategies, and essential skills and expertise on how to work with parents, organize training, and share the information with the community. The project owes a big part of its success to the continuous support from the OWL center in coordinating and assisting experts, and the Department of Special Education of HCMC Central College of Education in organizing and arranging the practical aspects of the project. In addition, interpreters and volunteers also contributed significantly to the success of the project. It is these collaborations and the constant efforts of everyone involved that contributed to the successful outcome of this significant project
