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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Due to the lack of an autism center in the district, a family with an autistic child was left with no choice but to move from Halabja’s Khurmal towards Sulaimani, in hopes of providing professional care for their son.
Dindar’s parents, who are both teachers, made the difficult decision to move to Sulaimani in July 2022, despite the financial challenges urban life might present to the low-income family.
Dindar’s parents, who are both teachers, made the difficult decision to move to Sulaimani in July 2022, despite the financial challenges urban life might present to the low-income family.
"My priority now is that child and I have put my whole life on the sidelines just for him, which has been really challenging for our family," Salar Hamakhan, Dindar's father, told Rudaw's Horvan Rafaat on Tuesday.
The father said that he spends around 670,000 Iraqi dinars each month on Dindar's center, transportation, and rent.
There is one governmental autism center in Sulaimani, where about 55 children are registered, but Dindar has been taken to a private center where 65 children receive treatment and therapy daily.
"I tried to receive [annual] leave to take care of my child and dedicate my whole life for him. I started paperworks and finished almost everything. But I was told at the [Sulaimani] education department that if I take [long-term annual] leave, they will only give me my basic salary amounting to 200-300,000 dinars which cannot cover my child's expenses at all," said Chya Farih, Dindar’s mother.
Not only do the governmental autism centers in the Kurdistan Region struggle, but autistic people and their families also feel the repercussions of limited support from the government, with many families struggling to afford treatment provided by private centers.
"There used to be only three autism centers in the Kurdistan Region. Fortunately, we have now opened such centers in Halabja, Koya, and Bazian as well," said Sulaimani Director General of Social Welfare and Development Bestun Jabbar.
More than 3,000 people with autism in the Kurdistan Region have little assistance besides the 150,000 Iraqi dinars a few of them receive every month.
Some families have risked their lives by illegally migrating to Europe with the hope of obtaining better care for their autistic children there.
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