Lighting up special hearts

Manama : A group of Bahraini students are all set to launch an autism awareness campaign about the disorder in the Kingdom.

Students of the Department of Mass Communication, Tourism-PR Track and Fine Arts of the University of Bahrain have organised ‘You Lighting Up My Heart’, a social marketing campaign on autism. 

The campaign mainly aims to help people understand an autistic child’s life by increasing social awareness among the youth in dealing with autistic children and by helping the specially-abled children mingle with the society more comfortably.

“People in the Kingdom and across the globe often view autism as a disease. They exclude autistic children and adults from their social groups. But it is simply a disorder; a condition that we need to create more awareness and acceptance for,” said Mariam Fuad, team member.

“You Lighting Up My Heart’ was chosen as the name in line with the thought that an autistic child’s heart lights up when his family and friends stay close and genuinely understand him or her. Being quite unique, they struggle to fit in because of the stereotype concepts about them,” she added.

In an attempt to bust stereotypes about the disorder, Mariam along with seven other team members: Amina Mahmood Abdulla, Nada Adel, Hessa Isa Almoosa, Sara Al Tooq, Duaa Ahmed Almulla, Zahra Radhi Ahmed, Eman Abdul Hadi came up with ‘Lighting Up My Heart’, under the mentorship of Dr. Layla Alsaqer, social-marketing module tutor and PR-track coordinator and in association with Dr. Sama AlHashimi.

Since their formation, the team has been working with specific care centres and specialty clinics to truly understand the difficulties of the condition and devise solutions for it.

“The aim of this campaign is not only to create awareness but to create a supportive environment for autistic children and their families in our society through solutions derived by the youth. It is also a brilliant platform for PR students to understand the technicalities of their professional field,” said Dr. Layla Alsaqer. 

While conducting research, the team found that parents of autistic children struggle to find recreational spots and pay fees for special care centres.  

“These children find it difficult to adjust in crowded places and need a certain degree of attention and care. It is important that Bahrain creates special playgrounds, parks and more affordable institutions where the social needs of such children are met,” said Mariam.

 The three-day campaign is scheduled in different stages between 8th and 10th of May, 2017 at the UoB College of Arts.