Our Mission
Our mission is three-fold:
1. To promote awareness of autism and developmental disorders in Africa.
2. To support under-served communities in the identification and diagnosis of children with such disorders in Africa.
3. To provide sustainable training on autism and developmental disorders to professionals and caregivers in Africa.
To fulfill this mission, Child Health Improvement Program (CHIP) International holds autism spectrum disorder (ASD) awareness events and organizes and participates in seminars in communities in Senegal and Ghana with attendees from all over Africa. Furthermore, we conduct workshops to train health-workers, teachers, parents and volunteers in the identification and management of the effects of developmental or intellectual disabilities. We employ a pyramid training model; training professionals and parents in learning disabilities, speech and communication therapy, applied behavior analysis, and other management methods for developmental/intellectual disorders in children. These key trainers can then in turn educate others who would also be able to pass the training on.
CHIP-I partners with both US-based and local (where available) neurologists, speech-language pathologists, behavioral and other therapists in the field for our autism and developmental disabilities workshops in Africa, depending on the needs of the particular community. By so doing, we offer comprehensive and applicable training sessions to African populations.
The CHIP International method employs the domino theory and creates a ripple effect - train the best and build from there, and have them in turn train others.
Africa has an unimaginable need for developmental disability services. CHIP-I aims to assist this under-served region with ever-increasing numbers of ASD and developmental disabilities but with minimum awareness, expertise or recourse available for diagnosis and management. We are currently working with centers in Senegal and Ghana, and our long-term goal is to expand training throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. We will establish autism and developmental disability training centers of excellence in Africa primarily by partnering with already existing institutions and providing them with global best practices methods and resources where possible, customized to their specific communities and circumstances. We will soon be extending our current training by supplementing in-house training with the use of the pervasive mobile technology throughout the continent. Webinars, WhatsApp and Facebook chats will be used with select groups to enhance the training provided.
CHIP International offers practical hope to children in Africa by increasing the awareness, number, and effectiveness of those trained to manage developmental disorders in Africa.
Children with autism and developmental disabilities in Africa, like everywhere else, deserve the opportunity to live up to their God-given potential.
YOU! can help us in this mission!