Stepping Stone celebrates World Autism Awareness month this

April

Every April, Stepping Stone School Swakopmund, the only school for autistic childreninNamibiacelebratesWorldAutismAwarenessMonthwhichtheUnited Nations General Assembly declared to highlight the need to help improve the qualityoflifeofthosewithautism.

The United Nations General Assembly unanimouslydeclared2AprilasWorldAutism AwarenessDaytohighlighttheneedtohelp improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful livesasanintegralpartofsociety

Autism is a lifelong neurological condition that manifests during early childhood, irrespective of gender, race, or socio-economic status. The term Autism Spectrum referstoarangeofcharacteristics.

Appropriate support, accommodation, and acceptance of this neurological variation allow those on the Spectrum to enjoy equal opportunity, and full and effective participationinsociety

Autismismainlycharacterisedbyitsunique social interactions, non-standard ways of learning, keen interests in specific subjects, inclination to routines, challenges in typical communicationsandparticularwaysofprocessing sensory information. The rate of autisminallregionsoftheworldishighand the lack of understanding has a tremendous impact on individuals, their families, and communities.

The stigmatisation and discrimination associated with neurological differences remain substantial obstacles to diagnosis and therapies,anissuethatmustbeaddressedbyboth public policymakers in developing nations, aswellasdonorcountries.

Stepping Stone School Swakopmund consists ofapre-schoolandprimaryschoolandhas34 special needs learners, and many of them depend on sponsorship. The school has seven fullyqualifiedteachersforautisticscholarsand four assistant teachers who are trained at the school. Co-founder of Stepping Stone School, Gaby Tirronen said autistic children in most cases need one-on-one attention. The reason whytheyneedsomanyteachersattheschool. Theschoolisopentoautisticandotherspecial needschildren.Commendingonsponsorships, Tirronen said, “many children are sponsored, however, we need twenty four more sponsors, these twenty four are on a waiting list. Due to Corona and Ukraine war, we lost a lot of formerly generous sponsors.”The school is dividedintotwostreams,TheComplexNeedsand theLearningSupport.

Stepping Stone School has lots of events plannedfrom3-7AprilinSwakopmund.

According to Tirronen, Autism is not wellknown in Namibia. Tirronen said, “we do intense awareness campaigns during April, whichisaninternationalevent. Many parents might discover that they got a naughty child, screaming, and does not like to betouched.”Theschoolisalsoindireneedof financialassistanceoranyformofsponsorship. Tirronenfurthersaid,“itisnotonlytheschool thatneedsfinancialhelp,butalsoaboutpublic awarenessandthefutureplansofbuildingour