World Autism Day 2017 was this year marked with an important partnership between the CareMalta Group and Hand in Hand Malta through which Hand in Hand ltd, a company specializing in services for persons with developmental disorders was set up.

This partnership brings together two entities who have established themselves in their respective fields. CareMalta has been the leading private operator in elderly services for the past twenty-five years and has also ventured in the area of disability through its latest company, HILA - home to independence and limitless abilities.  The aim of HILA is to offer a range of services to persons with disability including housing, learning and development and leisure with a person-centered approach.  HILA operates two homes for persons with disability - Casa Apap Bologna in Mosta and Santa Monica in Qormi.

Hand in Hand Malta was set up in 2008 by Jacqueline Abela DeGiovanni following 16 years of experience in the field of clinical interventions especially related to disability services. She has worked in different organisations in Malta before relocating to Holland where she worked at the Amsterdam International Community School as a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). Relocating to Ireland, Jacqueline first worked in a Child Development Centre and then in a Rehabilitation Centre for people with acquired brain injury. She is also an Accredited Play Therapist and obtained her MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis from Queen's University in Belfast. Applied Behaviour Analysis is the process of systematically applying interventions based upon the principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviours to a meaningful degree, and to demonstrate that the interventions employed are responsible for the improvement in behaviour.

Through the recently-formed partnership Hand in Hand Ltd will be expanding its services that had been previously offered by Hand in Hand Malta enabling It to provide a wide range of services according to the needs of the child, ranging from psychological assessments, evidence based intervention (ABA), Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy services. HILA operates Casa Apap Bologna in Mosta, now also home of Hand in Hand Ltd and will soon be inaugurating its second home in the community, Casa Santa Monica in Qormi.

Present for the launch were Nazzareno Vassallo, Chairman of Vassallo Group, Natalie Briffa Farrugia, CEO of CareMalta Group, Janet Silvio, Executive Director of HILA and Jacqueline Abela DeGiovanni, who has now been appointed CEO of Hand in Hand Ltd. A number of parents and children currently benefitting from the services offered by Hand in Hand were also present for this occasion.