By, Nur Amirah Maisarah Mohd Nazmi and Izzah Rahmat
Gombak, December 21, 2023: The Exhibition of Empowering Persons with Disabilities through Entrepreneurship was held in HS Square of the HS Building at IIUM Gombak. The main organisers comprising COMM3560: Integrated Marketing Communication students, Communication Students’ Association (COSA) and Support Association for Parents of Special Needs Children (SUPPORT) had invited Akademi Remaja Islam Autisma (ARISMA) and seven other disability organisations to collaborate with them and enlighten IIUM students and staff on how persons with disabilities live their life as entrepreneurs or become part of entrepreneurship, in the exhibition.
ARISMA was founded by Siti Khadijah Md Zamin ten years ago and is focused on helping young men aged 15 to 20 with autism through its workshops, living skills lessons, and vocational skills training with the hope of reducing the dependence of the youths with autism on their parents and other family members and by providing them with job opportunities that are in line with their capabilities. Other activities offered by ARISMA are: handicraft classes, Ibadah training, natural therapy, cooking classes, and academic classes.
ARISMA also offers scholarships to support financially disadvantaged families that have members with autism. The main idea behind the establishment of ARISMA was due to the lack of a vocational centre close to Siti Khadijah’s home that could train her 20-year-old son with autism, she mentioned.
In the exhibition, homemade products such as banana chips, crispy peanut crackers, and their best-selling product, pineapple, were sold. The booth also won an award for being the best looking out of the eight booths on the day.***
(This article was written as part of an assignment for COMM3502: Corporate Writing class.) ***
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