Call to turn autism into strength

The 2nd World Autism Awareness Day was observed in the country yesterday with a call for raising awareness about autism to turn this special ability into strength.
Experts also called for treating autism as special ability, not weakness and its early diagnosis and intervention since it enhances the chance of people with autism achieve their full potential.
Study says that autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the world and it affects as many as 1 in every 150 children.
Boys are four times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism, it added.
Different organisations chalked out elaborate programmes to mark the day.
United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) and Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation (BPF) jointly organised a discussion and art exhibition on the BPF premises at Mirpur in the city.
Speakers at the discussion said mothers have a more important role to play in early detection of autism among children.
Prof Dr Sultana S Zaman, president and founder of BPF, said mothers spend more time with the children. So, it is possible for them to identify autism at an early stage and now mothers are more aware, too.
Mothers and the teachers of schools for the autistic children should have more interaction to develop strategies to involve autistic children in general social activities, she added.
Kazi Ali Reza, officer-in-charge of UNIC Dhaka centre, said autistic children are unique in many ways and they should not be discriminated for their exceptional feature.
“Autism is not a problem of just one class, a country or a region. It can be faced by anyone. The objective of the international autism day is to create awareness among the masses and to mainstream the autistic children,” he added.
Dr Naila Zaman Khan, professor of Shishu Hospital and president of Shishu Bikash, Dr Shamim Ferdous, executive director of BPF, Anuza Begum, principal of BPF, were present.
The discussion was followed by an art exhibition on Independence Day. A total of 42 artworks were selected for the exhibition where 220 autistic children from 7 centres of BPF across the country took part.
Meanwhile, Autism Welfare Foundation organised a discussion and cultural programme at the Public Library auditorium.
Autistic children of the foundation's school and their teachers performed at the programme.
Social Welfare Minister Enamul Haq Mustafa Shaheed was present on the occasion as the chief guest.
Society for the Welfare of Autistic Children (SWAC) also held a discussion at Social Service Department auditorium in the city.
Speakers at the discussion stressed the need for conducting a census immediately to find out the exact figure of autistic children in order to take an integrated action plan for their welfare.
With a call for observing the day at state level, the speakers also urged the government to establish a training centre of international standard for the autistic children and their guardians.
Mansur Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of Jatiya Protibandhi Unnayan Foundation, Engineer Anwar Hossain, chairman of SWAC, Khandaker Jahurul Alam, president of Jatiya Protibandhi Forum, and Sabina Hossain, president of SWAC, also spoke.