Namaste, I am Shekhar Prasad Dhakal, the Founder of Nepal Autism School. I am an autism father myself. I have eleven year old daughter with autism. I was clueless to deal with my daughter’s condition at the time when she was diagnosed. I visited almost all therapy centers in Kathmandu and enrolled my daughter in different Montessori schools. I did not find suitable program for her. Then, I realized my special need daughter needs a sustainable Special School. I searched for special schools in Kathmandu. Some of them were not affordable and some of them would mix up all kind of neuro-diverse children. I did not find government based specific Autism School. Therefore, I realized the need of government authorized specific Autism School. Moreover, while dealing with my autistic daughter I discovered that Children with Autism can prosper in academic aspect so, I realized that children with Autism need academic school. This is how the concept of Nepal Autism School was born. Nepal Autism School is the first government registered Autism School in Nepal. Nepal Autism School is a primary school approved by Kathmandu Metropolitan Education Department. We are the government authorized special education providers aiming to address the needs and issues of special children with autism. I am grateful to Kathmandu Metropolitan 16 ward’s Chairperson Mr. Mukunda Aryal for the continuous support he provides to Nepal Autism School. I am also thankful to Kathmandu Metropolitan Education Department and the Team of Special Need Education Unit. I am still in continuous dialogue with them for uplifting the right to education of Children with Autism. We have experienced that most of the parents who visit our school think that if the child with autism is verbally able or has speech is fine; he\she does not have any other issues. But it is not so in reality. Speech is not only single issue in Autism. Autism comes up with many other sensory and behavior issues.
First of all, it is necessary to address sensory issues of the children. We strongly believe that once their sensory issues are addressed on a long run they will automatically be able to achieve all other milestones. We have experienced that Parents of autistic children have misconception that autistic children can learn as neurotypical kids if they are sent to mainstream Montessori based school. It is a wrong concept because the children with autism need special care and attention at the structured classroom with special educators and autism trained human resources who can understand and accept autism with full heart. The classroom setting must be structured in such a way that the environment of the classroom must address the need based learning necessity of the children. Therefore, special school environment is mandatory need of children with autism.
We enroll both mother and children at the fundamental stage. Mothers stay with children until the children need 1:1 care. During that period of time mothers get regular counseling from the school. They get opportunity to learn therapy techniques and the ideas of various activities to be done with their children on a regular basis. Therefore, mothers are able to understand their children’s necessities very well. The level of autism acceptance has also increased. Since parents have been getting proper regular guidance from the school, they have developed positive vibes and openly express their gratitude towards the school. Realizing the fact that each child with autism is different than others we provide inclusive mass education among autistic children according to their individual needs and ability. Nepal Autism School focuses on sustainable education with 15 years long term goals. We have vividly visualized that our children with autism can prosper in academic area as well as vocational area. Only thing we need to do is we must work hard for their progress with patience and determination. We have proper roadmap for our children. Our curriculum is designed in such a way that we build up strong
foundation to achieve our sustainable goals.
Since Nepal Autism School is the first school on special Autism education framework we want to support maximum number of children with autism all over Nepal. Feel free to contact us. We provide free counseling and support to the parents.