New, free treatment program for autism sufferers launches in Georgia

Georgia is making moves to offer greater support to people living with autism.

This week the Prime Minister’s Office and Tbilisi City Hall launched an internationally recognised program that offers free treatment to people in Georgia who suffer from autism.

The Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) program is a widely recognized treatment method for autism that has been considered safe and effective since the 1960s.

The program was initiated by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. It launched on July 1 and will be free of charge to the Tbilisi population.

The new initiative was met with enthusiasm by the local population and several parents of children with autism wrote thank-you letters to the PM voicing their support for the initiative.

"We want to tell you how important and vital the funding of this treatment is for our children. In instances of early intervention, 50 percent of children almost completely overcome the condition,” read one letter.

It continued: "If [children with autism don’t get necessary treatment and support] they won’t pass the rehabilitation course and they just won’t be able to develop and go to school, receive an education, find a job, integrate into society and live independently. All these factors take away their prospects of a happy future.”

"For people in this situation, your initiative is a salvation and a huge help for each family with autistic children. The most important thing is that parents take part in the development of the program. We are very grateful for this. After the terrible flood that stuck Tbilisi, the majority of parents thought that the program would stop, but despite this, it started in the summer as promised,” said the letter.