A family in Sulaimani has fenced the rooftop of their house to prevent their child, who has autism, from leaving the house and wandering around the neighbourhood. 

Their child has no alternative but to stay at home most of the day because he is above the age of 12 and no longer eligible for enrollment in government autism training centers.

The family, like many others, calls on the government to open a vocational center for children with autism who are above the age limit since most of them cannot afford to send them to private vocational institutions.

"Currently, we have our child enrolled in a private center. However, we wish there was a government facility for training, as the costs of private centers are beyond our means due to the high monthly fees," Nahrin Tahir, whose child has autism, told Gav's Nzar Jaza on Monday. 

She suggests that "a governmental vocational center would be too necessary for those who become 13 and beyond, like my son."

Aras Osman, the president of the Kurdistan Autism Association's branch in Sulaimani, who has a 27-year-old son with autism, has appealed for the government to establish vocational training centers for children aged 12 and above. This would provide them with opportunities to learn skills and uncover their talents and address this pressing need.

"We have called on all the government cabinets with official requests. We have evidence that we really need a vocational center for autistic individuals whose ages reach 12," Aras Osman said. "At such vocational centers, their talents could be discovered and trained to develop them."

Osman deemed the vocational center as being of high importance because in the future "they [autistic people] will not need us to look after them."

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs advocates for sending these children to private schools instead of the centers.

Naji Ali, who heads the Autism High Committee in the labor ministry proposes that children spend time in a center until the age of six and then transition to school. He suggests that schools exclusively catering to autistic children should be built.

"Autistic children should be at the center until they reach the age of six. Unfortunately, until now, we do not have a special governmental school designed for taking in autistic children," Ali said, adding there is only one kind of school which is in Erbil.

The official added that the Ministry of Education should step in, and build a school in each province of the Kurdistan Region for autistic children.

According to the most recent information from labor and social affairs, roughly 40 private centers exist in the Kurdistan Region, assisting approximately 2,000 individuals with autism.

More than 3,000 people with autism in the Kurdistan Region have little assistance besides the 150,000 Iraqi dinars a few of them receive every month. No facilities or laws have been implemented either.

Autistic people and their families in the Kurdistan Region suffer from limited support from the government, and many families struggle to afford treatment provided by private centers.

Some families have risked their lives by illegally migrating to Europe with the hope of obtaining better care for their autistic children there.