Workbook final

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293 - Community support for inclusive education of Autistic children,
Association Al-Amal pour l'autisme de Médenine, Tunisia
CONTACT
Association Al-Amal pour l'autisme de Médenine
Ms. Giulia DAVID (UNICEF)
Tunisia
+216 23233180
OVERALL GOAL /MISSION
The goal of the association is to ensure social inclusion and education of autistic children, through: a) the mobilization of
families; b) accompanying children to schools and kindergartens where they are enrolled.
Both practices are particularly innovative in a context like that of Tunisia, where there are very few bridges between
specialized/regular services and where families do not often take an active role in the work of associations to promote
rights of disabled children.
The association is at the service of the ordinary educational services for the implementation of inclusive education in
Medenine. This is done through: (a) weekly visits of association professionals to schools and kindergarten where autistic
children are supported by the association, including sitting in on classes during part of the course; and (b) regular
exchanges with teachers/educators.
In Medenine, the work of the Al-Amal Association leads and its impact on the academic success of children are inspiring
other local associations working to support disabled children that do not usually adopt this approach.
THE SOLUTION THAT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED
Al-Amal is the only associations among those in Medenine that supports children with disabilities beginning at age
three. This early inclusion has a major impact on the success of the educational and social inclusion of children. To
address the lack of collaboration between specialized and mainstream services, the association sends its professionals
(speech therapists, special educators, etc.) to kindergartens and primary schools where there are autistic children. Each
week, these professionals spend a few hours in class with the teacher/educator. They support children with autism
while they participate in school/pre-school activities, but their input is also useful for other children in the class.
Teachers express their needs and concerns to our professionals, and the professionals then focus their interventions
based on those needs. In the Tunisian context, unaccustomed to such collaboration between specialized centres and
mainstream services, this practice is particularly innovative. Its larger adoption could help specialized centres to find a
place in the implementation of inclusive education.