By Daoud Kuttab

The building of the Higher Council for the Disabled in Amman was lit up in blue Friday night in celebration of the Day of Autism and the launch of an awareness-raising campaign.

Director-General of the Council Dr. Muhanad Al Azzeh along with families, dignitaries, and religious leaders attended the celebration which coincides with the second of April annually.

Family members had given personal testimonies of the challenges that they face with schools in particular and society, in general, accepting their boys. It is known that the vast majority of people with Autism are boys with a 44-1 male-female ratio according to international studies.

Al Azzeh gave special credit to families of children with autism for their perseverance in forcing society to change its attitudes toward their offsprings. Al Azzeh also thanked the German Development Agency GIZ for its support calling them a “perfect partner” and praising their “patience and their flexibility”

The director of the higher council also called on Muslim and Christian leaders to use their pulpits to preach respect for children with disability. “This should be done as a constitutional right to these children and not a charity towards them.”

Father Ibrahim Dabour the director-general of the Council of Church leaders in Jordan called on the council to give priority to awareness-raising among schoolteachers, especially in the early grades. He said that in many cases teachers refuse to accept children with disabilities

Reverend David Rihani president of the Jordanian Evangelical Council called for inclusive education to be a priority for schools and he gave as an example the successful efforts of the Alliance School in Yadouda.

The story of a mother and her autistic child was represented in a short video which was screened and followed by discussions of parents and experts. The visitors then went outside to observe the lighting of the building in Amman’s Shmisani neighborhood signaling the beginning of the awareness campaign.