The Orange Ribbon Initiative – by Tracey Wasai
A Guaranty Trust Bank Program
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a lifelong developmental disability that affects the way a person communicates, relates with people around them and manages everyday social interaction. Statistics suggest that approximately 67 million people worldwide are affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Of that 67 million, more than 1.2 million Nigerian children are thought to be living with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), a staunch supporter for autism awareness, sponsored a two day seminar on ASD, under the auspices of the Orange Ribbon initiative for children with special needs. GTB Executive Director, Titi Osuntoki, says the program is the culmination of years of working tirelessly towards promoting the cause of relatively neglected children, living with developmental disabilities.
The prevailing lack of societal awareness about these disorders in Nigeria and non-existence of training facilities for affected children influenced GTB to become an advocate for children living with developmental disabilities in 2006. Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, commended the GTB initiative and reiterated the Lagos State government’s support and collaborative initiative for the affected children.
Blazing Trails International Center worked with GTB to develop the seminar and participated as the facilitator at the two-day program.
Click here for the seminar agenda.
Hi, I am an elementary spiecal education teacher in Georgia. I teach north of Atlanta. I would recommend calling the school districts in which you are interested in moving. Ask them what services they offer. I noticed that you mentioned a spiecal education school . Do you mean a spiecal school for children with autism? I am not familiar with any of those. I teach several high-functioning students with autism in the public school setting. We have some classes in the regular education setting (called inclusion or co-teaching when sped. teacher goes with sped. students to reg. ed classroom) and spend the rest of the day in the spiecal ed. classroom. These are questions you can ask when you call the school districts. You can also ask about specific vocational and technical diplomas. Just call the central office at any of the counties you are considering and ask to speak to someone in the spiecal education department. They should be able to answer any questions you may have.A word of caution about Clayton county schools: You may want to google info. on that county because they are having some major problems right now and have been in the news a lot lately due to corruption at the board of education. Because of this, it is not certain whether they will continue to be accredited. I believe SACS is investigating. Please check into this because if their accreditation is taken away, this will be an issue if your son tries to get into a technical school or college after high school.Personally, I know Forsyth, Gwinnett, Barrow, and Hall counties all have good school systems and spiecal education programs. Good luck to you and your son!!!