Autism center in Oman set to open

Muscat: An autism center that will operate under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Development will open today in the Sultanate.

The opening ceremony will be under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Saeed Al Kalbani, Minister of Social Development.
A statement by Mohsin Al Farsi, General Director of Sohar Social Development Directorate, said: “It is the first center under the supervision of the government at the level of the Sultanate and will be opened today at 10 am at Al Noor Hall next to the Autism Center in Al Multaqa, Sohar in North Al Batinah.”
“The center has 41 staff including one administrative supervisor, a rehabilitation supervisor, one coordinator, eleven employees as special education specialists, five employees as functional therapists, five speech therapists, four psychotherapists, twelve special education assistants and a modified-sports coach," Mohsin Al Farsi said.
He also confirmed that: “Sohar Autism Center has a capacity to deal with 140 cases of autistic patients in the morning and evening periods and the number of enrolled patients currently are 69 cases in the morning and 37 cases in the evening.”
The Autism Center in Sohar is the first of its kind in the Sultanate that will play an active role in the rehabilitation, training and treatment of autistic patients aged between 4 and 18.