Autism charity raises funds for special learning centre |04 May 2016

A charity ball on Saturday evening closed the autism month of April and was part of activities to continue raising funds for a special learning centre for people diagnosed with the condition of neurodevelopmental disorder.

The event which took place at Eden Bleu Hotel was made possible thanks to the contributions of numerous sponsors.

World Autism Day was celebrated worldwide on April 2 under the theme ‘Light Up Blue’ which saw heritage sites around the world light up in blue from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the pyramids in Egypt. Here in Seychelles the clock tower in the centre of Victoria  was also lit up in blue for the first time and this  had been made possible thanks to the collaboration and support of the  Ministry of Tourism and Culture. As a partner of Pearl Seychelles autism association, Cable & Wireless also lit up its customer service centre on Francis Rachel Street in blue.

During the event on Saturday evening guests viewed a short video put together by the Blue Sky Foundation of Brisbane Australia, an autism support group which Pearl Seychelles is building a partnership with.

The video gave the audience a better insight into the world of autism and the relationship between parents and autistic children.

Even though the autism month has ended, fundraising activities for the project will continue. And a number of such activities were held on Saturday during the evening leading up to the ball itself and these included an auction sale of six items donated by various sponsors – a hamper of vintage from East Indies, a colour painting of Frégate island by Allisa Adams, a pearl and diamond pendant on a gold chain from Jouel and three black and white paintings from Michael Adams.

East Indies donated a cheque of R10,000 while others  pledged other donations. A raffle was also organised during the evening.

Addressing guests at the event, the chairperson of Pearl Seychelles Lyn Lavigne said as parents with autistic children they face challenges on a daily basis, either relating to their children or to people who do not understand the condition the children are suffering from.

“Often comments are passed such as ‘your child speaks differently’ or ‘why is your child misbehaving’ and even ‘your child doesn’t look autistic’,” Mrs Lavigne explained.

She stressed that one cannot differentiate autism as it does not have a particular look.

“Each of our children is special in his/her own way because autistic children look at the world from a different perspective,” she added

Mrs Lavigne went on to highlight the fact that many autistic individuals in their own special way have changed the world namely Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Mozart, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Michael Angelo to name but some.

“It is those individuals who can sit for hours and focus on certain particular tasks or interests which we as normal beings find impossible or tiresome to do,” Mrs Lavigne noted.

She added that this is why children with autism who cannot attend mainstream schools need specific classes.

“To cater for such services, we need professionals such as teachers, special needs educators, psychologists and occupational therapists who are trained in this specific field,” Mrs Lavigne pointed out.

She said the learning centre Pearl Seychelles wants to set up will serve both children and adults with specialised services.

“To realise this project we need support and commitment not only from government but from the business community and organisations,” she pointed out.

She availed of the opportunity to express heartfelt gratitude to all loyal and committed sponsors and called on society and each one of us to reflect on what we can do to make people with autism shine.