A municipal worker disinfects the streets of Palm Island in Dubai as a preventive measure against the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Emirate city on March 28. Agence France-Presse

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

As part of the national disinfection programme to combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), Dubai Autism Centre (DAC) carries out its campaign to sterilise all the educational and therapeutic facilities apart from administrative offices at the Centre.

Mohammed Al Emadi, Director General of Dubai Autism Centre, said: “A comprehensive sterilisation programme is being implemented to ensure the health and safety for around 90 students and all staff, as sterilisation operations are to be completed before school resumes.

“Specialised companies are conducting the sterilisation with products that ensure effective disinfection without causing any harm to people’s health, in compliance with the standards of the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention,” Al Emadi added.

Al-Emadi explained that the procedures included suspending all awareness activities including the Centre’s annual awareness campaign, which was supposed to be launched on April 2 – the World Autism Awareness Day.

In addition, the Dubai Autism Centre implemented an early spring break for students, extending by two weeks, and arranged to apply the distance-learning programme of people of determination.

He stressed that maintaining the health of students and workers is a top priority for the centre, pointing out that the centre’s commitment to the highest health safety standards derives from the light of Dubai’s strategy to empower people of determination. Dubai Autism Centre was established by a decree of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in 2001 as a non-profit organisation that aims to provide specialised services to take care of children with autism and provide support for their families and their careers. The financial resources of the centre consist of subsidies, donations and any charitable endowments for the welfare of the centre.

In 2017, the Dubai Autism Centre moved to its new headquarters located on an area of 90,000 square feet, covering a total built-up area of 166,000 square feet in Al Garhoud, thereby increasing its capacity from 54 children to 180 children who are received in facilities that have been fully equipped to suit their needs. It contains 34 Chapter Classrooms, 22 motor therapy clinics, 18 speech and speech therapy clinics, 3 rooms specialising in sensory therapy, and a number of laboratories, facilities and medical clinics, all designed according to the latest specialised international standards, providing the appropriate educational environment for children with autism.