WILLEMSTAD - A group of forty autistic children in Curaçao, who have never attended school before, will begin the 2024-2025 school year for the first time. They will start at Skol Myrna Dovale.
Skol Myrna Dovale is an educational institution that provides instruction to children with hearing impairments, language disorders, autism, or specific language impairment (TOS). Over the years, the school has evolved, but it continues to educate students with hearing impairments and language development disorders. Recently, the school has increasingly attracted students with autism.
The school has even added a new department specifically for forty autistic children who, until now, have only received therapy but no formal education. Arginia Lucio, the head of the school, explains that sending children to a special school is also related to the psychological practice of accurately determining whether a child needs special education. "We wait for a while to see how the child functions in regular education and then begin testing."
The forty children are primarily those with autism spectrum disorder type 2, who require more assistance in education. Children with this type of autism often need more consistent support. These are children with an IQ ranging from 55 to 69, who require additional support from a young age and for life. Lucio explains that regular ZMLK (special needs) schools are often not sufficient for this group.