From can assist their children. They also
From the first years of my educationin the field of clinical psychology, I had opportunities to work with differentpeople with mental disorders.Those brought me good qualities, including leadership and influence skills.
My leadership skills appeared when Ihad an opportunity to work with autistic people and their families in myhometown, Mashhad. At that time I interviewed with families to investigatetheir needs and worries. I noticed most families refused to accept their kids’condition and lacked accurate knowledge about ASD and their childsituation. They had few opportunities toobtain advice and support for themselves as parents, either informally or fromprofessional services. Thus, there was a need for parents of children with ASDto be better informed about this condition and to be supported to cope with thestresses that most experience in bringing up these children. I held the psychoeducational group for a parent of children with autism in my hometown. By taking part in these sessions, parentsgained a fuller understanding of autism and the approaches that can assisttheir children.
They also had the chance of building social networks and torealize that they are not alone.In addition, as a leader, I workedwith autistic students who have anxiety and mood disorders. In my country witha lack of professional expertise in the field of autism, smaller focus place onemotional problems of autistic adolescents and adults. Thus, I decided to getinvolve inreduction of their emotional problems. I established a research group that focuses on factors thatcontribute to anxiety in ASD. Thisresearch will help to identify underlying mechanism of emotional problems and morespecific and effective interventions for reducing these problems in ASD.
As a young leader with goodaccomplishments, Chevening scholarship will move me forward and will provide anopportunity to upgrade my qualifications and knowledge which I bring back to mycountry to improve the healthcare services for autistic people.
