Financed by the European Union Donation program, the Tohum Autism Foundation has assumed a leadership role in ensuring children who have “Autism Spectrum Disorder” or ASD in our country are diagnosed as early as possible and have access to specialist education which will allow them to take their place in the community as well as to disseminate this work nationally.
The project was completed in the five pilot cities of Bursa, Adana, Gaziantep, Kocaeli and İzmir. The goal was to train specialist teachers and Guidance and Research Center staff about autism in order to ensure children with ASD are able to participate in the community. Other partners in the project are the Bursa Autism Children’s Education Association and the Adana Autism Association as well as the Tohum Autism Foundation.
The Foundation was able to sign Autism Screening Project in January 2006 which was a first for Turkey and was a pilot project in five different cities with the financial support of the European Union. After the success of the Autism Screening Project, the Tohum Autism Foundation present the “Developing Autistic Children’s Physical Independence and Activities through Education to promote their Full Participation in the Community” which was accepted, launched and completed in 2008. As part of this project, and in order to ensure that children with ASD depending on their ages and development, and maximising their opportunities for education/training at the earliest possible stage in their life;

• Training was given to Guidance and Research Center workers entitled “Family Training: Supporting the Development of Autistic Children in early childhood (0-3 years) and giving their families training to aid in their efforts to support the development of their child’s skills;
• A certificate program was prepared to give to 60 teachers chosen by the Ministry of Education for a 160 hour “Gaining Specialist Skills in Autism”.