On May 31, 2019, Melek Karimova, Coordinator of the Department of Psychology of Khazar University, attended the I Autism Culture Festival of Children with autism spectrum disorder in Azerbaijan. The event was co-organized by “Happy future of children”, “Together and Healthy” Public Unions and “Umid var” Charity volunteers with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva attended the event.

At the festival, children with autism demonstrated their talent in various fields of art, and by singing piano and chorus songs, they tried to convey the “We are an integral part of society” message.

At the Festival, children with autism syndrome even demonstrated their skills performing as models on the podium. They presented a collection from textiles with transposed works by Leyla Aliyeva, the Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The fashion designer Zemfira Musayeva's collection were demonstrated by 10 children from the Rehabilitation Center of “Together and Healthy” Public Union. From the point of view of integration and socialization of children who are in anticipation of understanding, love, care and mercy, fashion demonstrations were of great importance.

Talented autistic children from Turkey also attended the festival. Izmir Autism Orchestra - IZOT choral group performed an interesting program at the event.

The event also featured a flash mob on the subject “Autism is different and one of us” with the participation of actors from the State Pantomime Theater and a number of community professionals.

In terms of socialization and integration with autism, the festival, which is of great importance, had also an enlightenment character. During the event, aiming at finding answer to the question “What is autism?” the guests were shown short films, social media clips and booklets.