Dubai Autism Center adopts Dubai eGovernment's AskDubai channel to spread awareness on autism

Through the AskDubai call centre, parents and caregivers of autistic children in Dubai can get details of a host of services offered by Dubai Autism Center, while the channel also serves as a platform through which the Center can spread awareness about autism and the ways to deal with it.

DAC provides a range of specialised services such as education, therapies, home based programs, pre-vocational training, assessment and diagnoses, information and resources, training, and awareness programs, to many people, including children with autism, parents and caregivers of such children, and the sections of the society involved in autism.

Salem Al Shair, eServices Director, Dubai eGovernment, said: 'We are glad that DAC has adopted the AskDubai service, as it could significantly benefit autistic children and their parents. The AskDubai contact centre has a team of highly experienced and well-trained professionals who will be able to efficiently inform parents about the services offered by Dubai Autism Center, so that they could provide the best care for their child. We are also confident that the AskDubai channel could play a crucial role in maximising awareness about autism among the public, which is vital in dealing with autistic children with the care and attention they require.'

Mohammed Al Imadi, General Manager and member of the Board of Directors, Dubai Autism Center, said: 'Adopting Dubai eGovernment's AskDubai service will certainly elevate the quality of services provided by the Center, while also helping us achieve our goal of reaching out to the maximum number of people in the society and spreading awareness about various aspects of autism and the services offered by DAC. The AskDubai channel will prove extremely helpful when parents of autistic children are looking for reliable guidance and consultancy to ensure that their children receive the best care.'

Autism is a lifelong disorder which can affect a person's communication and social interaction skills. The disorder manifests itself in the first two and half years of a child's life; symptoms include delayed verbal communication, no social skills, resorting more to isolation away from other children and odd behaviour. Autism is the most common of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders, affecting an estimated 1 in 146 births.

AskDubai is a unified, bilingual contact centre connecting to government departments in Dubai through multi channels including a call centre, internet chat, e-mail and fax. It integrates key features of Customer Relationship Management, which has become a crucial component in many IT-enabled customer care services. AskDubai utilizes industry-leading technologies that ensure each call gets immediate attention from an agent or an automated voice response system.

Customers may use different communication channels that AskDubai offers. They can call AskDubai on 7000 40000 or use the fax number 043303399 or interact with dedicated call centre agents through the portal askdubai.dubai.ae. More than 525,000 phone calls were answered, and more than 13,000 emails were received by AskDubai until August 2007.