Met Pride Academy receives furniture courtesy of Kosmos Grill & Lounge

Kosmos Grill and Longue on Thursday handed over a set of furniture to the MET Pride Academy located at East La Penitence, Georgetown. The school caters for children diagnosed with autism and other challenges.
At the presentation, Abi DeRamos, owner of Kosmos, explained that the donation was done in remembrance of her late husband Dillon Ramos, who was killed in a vehicular accident.

“My husband and I always talked about helping the autism community in Guyana, and we never got around to it. After his sudden passing, I felt a strong sense of urgency to do the things we had planned, as time really is never a guarantee; and so, today (Thursday), we are honoured to be involved in helping the autism community,” she remarked.
The couple’s son has also been diagnosed with autism.
Director of the learning facility, Elizabeth Alert, thanked De Ramos for the timely donation.

Alert says the school particularly focuses on children with autism, and the syllabus is in keeping with the Education Ministry’s guidelines to ensure that the school produces well-grounded students.
“What we do is use the ABE, which is the Applied Behaviour Analysis, which is (scientifically) proven. Along with that, we combine it with the Ministry’s curriculum. So, we combine the two where we set programmes for each child; so, everything that goes on in the regular system we teach it here. We tailor that information for that specific child,” the director added.
She further stated that it is sad that Guyana is not equipped to diagnose someone with autism.
“We do not have that in Guyana. You look for certain things as teachers. Even as doctors, they look for certain things in a child that has a disability. For instance, autism, they look for communication, they look for social interaction, and so forth. Now, when it comes to diagnosis being done here, we do not have that in Guyana,” she explained.
The school caters to children with disabilities which include, but are not limited to, children with autism, communication disorders, attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder; specific learning disabilities such as dysgraphia, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and typically growing children.