Autism MENA (AMENA) is a not-for-profit foundation that aims to advocate the Autism cause throughout the Middle East and North Africa by developing infrastructures to provide support to children with autism and their families.

We are the first organization of its kind in the whole region as we are not focusing only on one country but on the whole region that speaks one language.

AMENA’s vision is to improve the quality of life of children with Autism and their families in the Middle East and North Africa.

AMENA’s mission is to advocate for children with Autism in the region by:

• raising awareness


• facilitating a stakeholder dialogue


• establishing a world-class infrastructure for training local professionals


• developing effective educational and treatment programs


• building a local knowledge base.

We intend to help children with autism and their families through our key focus areas:

• Awareness: raise awareness in the community about autism locally via campaigns, clips, workshops, conferences, community outreach programs, and using social media/internet; remove cultural stigma and ignorance.


• Education: AMENA Institute will provide training and certification for local professionals in collaboration with world-class educational centers. AMENA will provide the training facilities and administrative oversight to conduct training and certification. We will develop a web-based portal with free autism resources in both Arabic and English.


• Training: establish a pilot state-of-the-art early intervention school with inclusive academic and remediation programs. The school will serve a twofold purpose: a) local professionals will get practical training; and b) the school will serve as a model that can be easily replicated throughout the region.


• Dialogue: make an impact on government policy via a constant dialogue with various governmental institutions and other stakeholders.


• Knowledge/Research: become a central repository for knowledge in the MENA region. We plan to undertake regular surveys and maintain a database that can be used for a research.

AMENA was inspired by Jemman Ammary, a Jordanian mother, who struggled to get her 18-month-old son diagnosed by Jordanian doctors when he couldn’t speak. After seeking help in Jordan and Dubai, she was forced to leave her family.

in Jordan and travel to the US where she received a proper diagnosis and care plan for her son. They remained in the US for 3 years so that her son could have a bright future, but the emotional and financial costs were staggering. At the age of 6 her son is now enrolled in a regular first grade class with his twin brother in Jordan.

AMENA will train professionals and caregivers in the MENA region to care for children with Autism and their families. We will train individuals that understand Arab culture and language and live locally so families don’t have to travel thousands of miles to get help. AMENA wants to give a voice and power to all children with Autism to help them find their strengths. AMENA strives to unlock the unique treasures within the child so their gifts are visible for all to see. Parents will be able to hug their child, brag about his or her strengths and connect. The child will thrive, the parents will be empowered and we will help to build strong, healthy loving connections with family and community.

Assisting children with Autism and their families is:

• Complex: requiring special training for medical professionals as well as Applied Behavioral Analysis therapists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, teachers, and the list goes on.


• Labor-intensive: individual child care plans written and constantly updated after monitoring the child directly; teachers and nonprofessional caregivers to work with the child daily; parent training; special food diets.


• Extremely personal: professionals are intervening in the heart of the family – teaching parents how to see their child, talk to their child, engage with their child; help parents deals with the shame of having a special-needs child; and helping parents handle societal pressures.