“Fathers Are Talking About  Autism” panel was held on 8 May with the cooperation of Marmara University Disabled Students Unit  and Family Labor and Social Policies Provincial Directorate. The panel, which is also a stakeholder of the Marmara University Club and Special Education Community Student Club, was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Aydan Aydın.

Tolga Gökçe, Vice President of the Federation of Autism Associations, Mustafa Öztürk, Deputy Chairman of the Istanbul Autism Volunteers Association, and Beşnik Türkeşi, Secretary General of the Federation of Autism and Disabled Associations talked in the panel.

Tolga Gökçe, the Vice President of the Federation of Autism Associations, stated that they had made 51 interviews in one and a half years. Underlining that autism is a life-long process, Gökçe said that awareness is important in this process. He  drew attention to the behavior of children with autism, saying “imagine a child living in a glass canopy, you can't reach him”. He said that children with autism usually do not make eye contact, they are obsessed with certain objects and sounds.  “I was a good businessman, I chose my daughter by the decision I took”, Gökçe added in his words that the process in which he was interested in her daughter by leaving her business life behind required great sacrifice and devotion. He mentioned that our teachers need to be aware of autism, by saying “We noticed superior abilities in our child like   speaking 8 foreign languages, but she is not allowed to attend the school because she is not like the others”.

Saying he took his children after seeing a teacher who said “this is my autistic” to his children, Mustafa Öztürk, the Vice President of the Istanbul Autism Volunteers, underlined that individuals with autism should not be separated from other individuals. He pointed out that education should be different for each individual with autism. He argued that students should not focus on the special education area with material anxiety. He emphasized that the individuals who want to work in this field should have taken this education and developed themselves. Emphasizing that the education process should be a process that those not only having the chance but also having the right can benefit from, he talked about the importance of education for individuals with autism and that this process should be supported by the state.

After the closing speech of the Provincial Deputy Director of Family and Social Services Halis Kuralay, the panelists took their plaques from Halis Kuralay.