November 27, 2015 Georgia

Support for early diagnosis and alternative forms of communication

Two training courses designed for Georgian specialists and staff of the Institute of Child Development were organized by Caritas Czech Republic in Tbilisi in the first half of November. The training courses focused on alternative forms of communication and the early diagnosis of children and young people suffering from autism spectrum disorders. Both courses took place at Ilia State University under the guidance of experienced Czech specialists from the APLA Association of Czech Republic.

The first training session was led by Kateřina Thorová, a psychologist and director of the APLA Association’s methodological centre. Dr. Thorová spent the majority of her time talking about early detection of autism spectrum disorders, their scope and the diversity of their symptoms. She also focused on the development of diagnostic methods from the disorder’s inception to the present day and unveiled the latest update of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in 2013. Following this, she shared with the listeners her own experiences and problems she is currently facing in diagnostic work in the Czech Republic. In the practical part of the session, the participants watched videos providing a closer look at diagnostic work with children of up to three years of age.

The second training course on communication with children with autism was attended by over 40 experts from Tbilisi and the surrounding regions. The session was organized by Jan Kouřil, a special pedagogue and head of the APLA Association’s centre for early treatment care. He explained to the listeners the common issues of communication facing people with autism spectrum disorder and focused more closely on the selection of appropriate alternative methods of communication. In the second part of the training session, he gave a detailed presentation on the method of PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) which is mainly used for children with autism to help them to better express their emotions and to answer questions with the help of pictures. Following this, Jan Kouřil called on three children with communication difficulties and, based on collective observation, developed a proposal for improving their therapies using the PECS method.   

Both training courses were met with huge interest. The Ilia State University welcomes further activities in the field of communication as the university is planning to focus more closely on communication in its own centre.