A non-profit initiative by Early Autism Project Malaysia. In partnership with Yayasan Kajian dan Pembangunan Masyarakat (Foundation for Community Studies and Development).
GOALS
1
Increased awareness about accurate diagnosis and treatment of autism.
2
The implementation of policies for national standards in the field of autism.
3
All children with autism will have access to research-proven therapy.
CAMPAIGNS
World Autism Awareness Day falls on the 2nd of April every year. EAP makes it a point to celebrate this day as well as the whole of April as World Autism Awareness Month. The objective of this is to raise awareness on autism, specifically on early diagnosis and early treatment as well as acceptance amongst our community.
EAP has conducted a Walk for Autism in 2012 with over 300 participants, supported other non-profit awareness campaigns and conducted an Annual Paint for Autism in 2016 and 2017.
Throughout the year, EAP is frequently invited to speak on autism at academic institutions such as private universities, international schools, and more recently in corporate organisations as well. We have also set up booths at Urban Mom 2014 in One Utama Shopping Mall as well as in private hospitals such as Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur in 2016 and Riuh in 2018.
As part of this initiative, EAP also started running autism awareness and acceptance campaigns amongst students in schools. We started this in 2016 in HELP International School with an assembly of 900 children, Kingdomcity Kids as well as Fairfields Kindergarten. In 2018, our team spoke at 19 different schools and universities to over 6,000 students about autism!
SERVICES
Presently, EAP provides three areas of services on a non-profit basis: scholarships for children with autism to access ABA therapy with us, complimentary screenings for low-income families and training workshops.
It is our long-term goal to increase in each area of service – to provide more scholarships for children, more complimentary screenings to help parents through an accurate diagnosis and more training workshops to equip teachers with practical skills and knowledge to help children with autism.
Our new initiative with The Hope Project is to partner with non-profit centres to help strengthen the quality of services they provide. In 2017, we partnered with the IDEAS Autism Centre (IAC) and we hope this will be a successful pilot model that will be able to be replicated in other non-profit centres but most of all, in the special education classes of Malaysian public schools.
In April 2018, we launched The Hope Project Scholarship for a boy name Ashton, to receive 1 year of fully-funded ABA therapy programme with us.
We look forward to partnering with the Ministry of Education as well as Jabatan untuk Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) from 2019 onwards to provide teacher training support and the development of teacher training resources.
RESOURCES
It is our goal to consistently produce clinically accurate, informative and practical resources which includes printed materials, blog posts and videos, that can equip parents and caregivers with the necessary tools to help their child with autism.
One way we are able to reach families with autism nationwide and globally is through the use of online media. We have produced over 60 videos over the years and have recently added Malay subtitles as well to make these videos multilingual and more accessible. Among the videos we have produced include What is Autism, the Myths about Autism, the School Support Series, What is ABA and the Speech and Language series. Our videos have garnered almost 200,000 views on YouTube and almost 500,000 views on Facebook.
We have also produced a number of multilingual printed resources that address the Myths of Autism, What Autism Is and What is ABA.
In 2020, we launched the Autism at Home website, an online resource platform aimed at providing simplified tips and strategies to help families of children with autism teach and support their children at home.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
YAYASAN KAJIAN DAN PEMBANGUNAN MASYARAKAT (YKPM)
YKPM, or the Foundation for Community Studies and Development, was incorporated on Sept 22, 1993 and attained the foundation status in 1978. Its main objectives and programs since it was founded centres around empowering and working alongside poor communities both rural and urban in a wide range of socio-economic development programs, public policy advocacy and capacity building.
Currently YKPM’s major project is working alongside the Jakun- Orang Asli communities in Pahang to undertake solidarity economy projects such as an organic farm and eco-tourism at Ulu Gumum, Pekan, Pahang. YKPM is also working with partners in developing a “Diploma in Social Work” course at Methodist College. YKPM is partnering with the Hope Project in working alongside low income families and their members with autism.
IDEAS
AUTISM CENTRE (IAC)
[2017]
The IDEAS Autism Centre (IAC) is an early intervention service provider which provides holistic early intervention, care, therapy and education to 31 children with autism aged 3 to 9 from low-income households, whose parents have almost no access to specialised care and therapy sessions due to high costs.
Since its inception in December 2012, the IAC has helped 17 children gain entry into mainstream government schools and continues to support children with autism from the bottom 40 percent through its services, which has in turn helped their families get back on their feet.
The Hope Project will be working with IAC as a pilot initiative to equip the IAC educators in Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA), which is the evidence-based treatment for autism, and to strengthen the quality of services provided.
LATEST VIDEOS
World Autism Awareness Month 2019 Highlights 3:45
April is always a big month for us here at EAP, because it is World Autism Awareness Month! It was such an eventful month and our greatest efforts thus far in raising awareness and promoting acceptance for autism in our city!
Here is a highlight video of what our team here at Early Autism Project have been up to in the month of April 2019 in efforts of raising autism awareness and acceptance!
The Hope Project Scholarship 2018 7:09
Earlier this year, we awarded The Hope Project Scholarship to a little boy named Ashton, to receive one year of fully-funded ABA therapy for 15 hours a week. Ashton started therapy on the 2nd of April 2018 in conjunction with World Autism Awareness Day!
It has been almost 6 months since Ashton has been on the programme, and he has made so much progress! Check out the video to find out more about Ashton’s story!
The Hope Project – IDEAS Autism Centre 2018 4:21
We partnered with IDEAS Autism Centre under our non-profit initiative, The Hope Project. In December 2016, the EAP Team went into IDEAS Autism Centre to conduct screenings for their students. SInce January 2017, one of our EAP Supervisors has been going in weekly to provide ongoing training for the teachers, to ensure a positive and successful learning environment for the students there.
One year on, this is what the teachers and parents at IDEAS Autism Centre have to share about the progress they have witnessed with their children with autism.