Permata Kurnia looking at best teaching techniques for autisic children - Rosmah

'Permata Negara' is looking for the best teaching techniques for autistic children for its new programme, the 'Permata Kurnia', a comprehensive early intervention programme for autistic children and their families. Its patron, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor said Permata Negara was looking for the best approach in handling the autistic children, and the working committee set up for the purpose were looking at the early intervention programme that had been implemented abroad, such as in the United Kingdom and United States, that would be suitable for implementation in Malaysia. The government had allocated RM28 million for the setting up of Permata Kurnia or 'Permata Autisme' centre in KuaLa Lumpur on a 1.04 hectares (2.6 acres) site in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur which was expected to take shape in 2015, she told Malaysian reporters here Tuesday. Rosmah was visiting the TreeHouse School at Woodside Avenue in north London, a special school for children with autism run by a non-profit organisation, set up by a group of parents in 1997. The school provides the special children with qualified teachers, Applied Behaviour Analysis professionals, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists. Rosmah said the working committee of Permata Kurnia, who comprises representatives from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, would decide the best and latest techniques to be implemented at the centre. However for the initial stage, about 100 mild cases of children with autistm would be taken in, she said. Rosmah was earlier briefed by Jolanta Lesota, the Chief Executive Officer of Ambitious About Autism, the national charity for children and young people with autism, which developed the services such as the TreeHouse School and Ambitious Support. Autism is a type of mental disorder which causes problems with social interaction, communication and using the imagination, whereby patients are usually unable to be independent and need to rely on their family. A study by the health ministry in 2004, found the autism prevalence rate was one case in every 600 births for children aged 15 and below, which meant that about 13,333 children experienced autism at the time. The current rate is estimated to be higher.