Dubai World 'Leaders' join Dubai Autism Center children to celebrate National Day

The initiative saw a group of participants from the Dubai Leaders Program (DLP) working with the employees of the Autism Centre to assist the children in designing and painting flags, learning the traditional customs of the UAE and enjoying an outdoor event with their families.

Bedoor Khouri, Manager of Dubai World Leadership Centre, said the initiative reflected the spirit of the National Day in showing care and expressing support to the needy people in the society.

"The Rad-Al-Jameel Corporate Social Responsibility Program was launched as a well-balanced and customised leadership development exercise. Marking the National Day by encouraging the children at the Autism Centre in their creative activities provided the DLP participants with an ideal opportunity to enhance their leadership skills and sharpen their response to social responsibility needs,"

Ms. Khouri noted.

The programme aimed at increasing awareness about autism, the most common developmental disorder in the world, as well as building channels of communication between parents of children with autism and other members of the society.

The participants from the Dubai Leaders Program included Henadi Abedin, Ayesha Sultan, Fareeda Fadhil, Sarah Al Marzooqi and Aida Hamza.

The Rad-Al-Jameel programme is an initiative by the Dubai World Leadership Center, responsible for instigating the ambitious Dubai Leaders Program (DLP), which is designed as a leadership exercise with a communal and humanitarian premise. It is exclusively shaped to be performed by the graduates of the Dubai Leaders Program, the development initiative that aims to create and nurture a cadre of highly qualified management personnel to take up senior leadership positions at Dubai World.

Autism is the most common condition in a group of developmental disorders known as the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). One in 150 children is affected with autism. It is characterised by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests.