Doing things with everybody and like everybody else when you’re autistic? It is possible! While autism implies certain difficulties that must be taken into account, its particular features are also an asset for certain activities. We favor the integration of people with autism into society, work, creation, sport… because it benefits us all. The following are the professional integration possibilities in Tunisia.
1. Children with full or partial school integration
A child with full or partial school integration after the age of 16 chooses the appropriate professional path based on his condition:
Vocational training
Dedicated to children who have attained the basic level of sixth grade.
With the help of the guardian and based on his manual skill and his choices, the child chooses the manual or applied profession or the craft that he wants to practice in the future with the help of vocational training centers in his area. The center appoints a coach for him to spend the required training period, after which he obtains a vocational training certificate in the specialty he has chosen.
Examples: sewing, embroidery, cooking, pastry making, decoration, carpentry, blacksmithing, welding…
Professional training
Dedicated to children who have obtained a basic level of ninth grade.
The child who is able to complete ninth grade of basic education chooses the professional specialization he wants to be trained for and to practice. With the help of the guardian and based on his cognitive and social abilities and skills the child can find a suitable profession for him through the help of professional and vocational training centers in his area.
The training lasts between one and two years, depending on the specialty, and it takes place in the same center with continuous evaluation of the practical skills, after which he obtains a certificate of professional training in the specialty he chooses
Examples: barbering and beauty, sewing and design, cooking and sweets, carpentry, blacksmithing…
Professional technical training certificates
Dedicated to children who have obtained the fourth year of secondary school
This certificate is considered equivalent to the baccalaureate degree for children with autism spectrum disorder who do not suffer from retardation in their intellectual development. These children have a normal level of intelligence that enables them to continue studying in a normal way. On the other hand, the big places and the new and stressful conditions hinder their ability to integrate into university life and present an obstacle to passing the baccalaureate exam. Therefore, this certificate serves as a compromise solution that enables them to learn within small, private, or public vocational training centers.
2. Children without school integration
As for children who do not enjoy school integration, their vocational training takes place in registered associations and centers until the age of 16, in order to obtain certificates in those centers in the various pieces of training obtained during the period they spent in those centers.
After obtaining any type of certificate, professional or vocational training, the ministry of social affairs enables young people with an autism spectrum disorder to obtain grants, loans, and care to start their work life by launching small projects and then supporting them in marketing their products by establishing small and large exhibitions and points of sale from product to consumer.
