Permata plans to build more Permata Kurnia Centre for autistic children

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Rosmah showing her support in helping children with autism at Pusat Permata Kurnia in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama photo

Rosmah showing her support in helping children with autism at Pusat Permata Kurnia in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama photo

KUALA LUMPUR: Patron of the Permata Negara programme Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor yesterday said that they were planning to build more Permata Kurnia centre in the country to provide pre-school education for children with autism.

The Prime Minister’s wife said the first Permata Kurnia centre in Sentul here had begun operations on Nov 3 last year as a pilot project offering pre-school education programme for autistic children aged between four to seven years.

“Permata really wants to have more Permata Kurnia centre to help children with autism, but it’s still in the planning stage,” she told reporters after visiting the Permata Kurnia centre in Sentul here yesterday.

During the two-hour visit, Rosmah was also briefed on the daily activities lined up for the 241 autistic children at the centre and listened to the experiences shared by their parents.

“This Permata Kurnia centre here is a pilot project implemented to identify problems and improvements needed for the programme,” Rosmah said.

Meanwhile, bank officer Rushidan Mansor, 46, whose four-year-old daughter is attending the pre-school programme at the centre, said he was grateful for the programme because, in a matter of a few weeks, his daughter had begun showing positive development.

“During the first week, my daughter gave a very positive response, made eye contact and even played with her sibling, and I could even walk her to take her own food like a normal kid,” he said.

Mother of two autistic children, Hazawani Halin, 30, was also grateful as her children showed positive development after attending the programme at the centre.— Bernama