KARACHI: The Sindh government on Tuesday opened the country’s first autism centre and Braille printing press at its special education complex.

Special Assistant to Sindh Chief Minister on Human Rights and Special Education Rehana Leghari inaugurated the twin establishments. She termed the autism centre as the country’s first such state-of-the-art government facility.

The two institutions were inaugurated at a formal event organised by the provincial special education department during which the officials spoke about the milestone Sindh has achieved.

Ms Leghari distributed hearing aids donated by the human rights department among hearing-impaired children and awarded certificates to the employees who received training regarding operating the Braille printing press.

She said by establishing the autism centre and installing the Braille printing press, the government made Sindh the first province which would provide education and training to children suffering from autism through modern means.

“It is heartening to see we have achieved something that no other province in the country had [done] so far. Now, we are able to offer modern means to our children who required them for long,” she said.

She added that books for special children would be affordable.

She referred to increasing noise pollution, which was amongst the major health and environmental issues in society.

She added that the menace was one of the chief causes behind loss of hearing ability.

She told the gathering that civilised societies provided and took better care of special people by imparting them good education and training for skill development to help them earn livelihoods.

“One such example showing good intent has been set today. Rest assured [it] is the priority of the Sindh government to make our society healthier.”

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2017