On October 14 2020, Deputy Director Dr. Lynn Rose and Ms. Tara Burhan, the MENA Coordinator for our EU project, visited Ms. Ashna Saeed, founder and director of Autism Blue. Mr. Lawen Sirwan accompanied as our translator. Autism Blue was registered as an NGO in 2014 to serve the needs of children with autism and their families, and provides training and education services. Ms. Ashna, who holds many training certificates, talked about the successes and challenges of her organization. We toured the facility’s several brightly-colored, neatly-organized classrooms and activity rooms, and observed about a dozen children engaged in activities with the staff. The staff, which works with the children one-on-one or more, according to the children’s needs, includes social workers, psychologists, and special education teachers. CGDS hopes to work with Autism Blue as part of our intersectional approach to gender equity, which can only be attained fully when all minorities, including people with disabilities, gain Integration into all aspects of society.
Photo description: There are three photos. One shows a large outdoor white sign with blue writing with two lines in Kurdish and one in English, all-caps, spelling AUTISM BLUE ORGANIZATION. On the left of the script is the organization’s logo, a white upper-case letter A formed of blue and white puzzle pieces, and a blue lower case letter b with a blue dot in its center. The sign is on top of a white stone wall, and in the immediate background we see the large windows of a house with some greenery.
Another photo shows a woman with brown hair and glasses, a black scarf draped over her head and around her neck. Sitting behind a desk, she faces the camera, smiling slightly. She wears a black shirt with a grey jacket. Her arms are crossed on the desk in front of her. She wears latex gloves and holds a pen in her right hand. She wears a round analog watch on her left hand. Behind her are fifteen neatly arranged certificates on a bulletin board. A briefcase overflowing with papers is on the left side of the desk, and several office items are on the right.
We see a child’s work/play space in another photo. A large kidney-shaped, child-size red plastic desk dominates the right range of the photo. On the desk is a brightly colored puzzle and a small book. A bright blue child’s plastic chair is in front of the desk. Along the wall behind the desk, we see red and light purple wooden cubbies, all full of brightly colored toys. Above the cubbies is a partial view of a shaded window, and to the right of that is a child’s drawing of a smiling blue face.