The Pegasus forum was initiated by the students of the MSW (Shift II). The forum was named so, to deliver strong will and enthusiasm of the members to excel in the field of Integrated Social Work and Human Resource Management. The forum organised a workshop on Social Work to Mankind — Understanding Autism which was held on July 27 at the Madras School of Social Work.
Autism is a mental and a spectrum disorder that affects the brain’s normal development of social and communication skills which appear during the first three years of a child’s life.
The event was presided over by Dr Fatima Vasanth and the Head of the Department, Mary Angeline. The chief guest at the workshop, LV Jayashree, Director of the Spastic Society of Tamil Nadu spoke on psycho-social issues and advised and suggested various means in developing an autistic child.
She spoke on the micro and macro levels of autism and was concerned about improving career and employment opportunities for them as in the past there has been attrition once these autistic people are recruited.
Usha Ramakrishnan, Chairperson of Vidyasagar (NGO) spoke on multiple intelligence to help autistic children. She shared her knowledge about the right kind of intervention that is needed to deal with the autistic people. People with autism are special and the way they process information is different when compared to a normal person. Sadhiya Saleh, special educator, after school training for autism spoke about interpersonal relationships that an autistic child does not possess and the responsibility as a social worker to encounter their positives and strengths. Sumithra Prasad, general secretary, Dorai Foundation, also a parent of an autistic child, spoke on family-based rehabilitation, and how parents can raise an autistic child.
In addition to this, MSW SHIFT II and Pegasus organised finger painting and mime competitions on the theme, autism. Students from various colleges in the city and colleges in Coimbatore and Trichy participated and won prizes.
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