As declared by the United Nations in its Third Committee Resolution approved by the General Assembly on 18th December 2007, TODAY the 2nd of April has been designated as World Autism Awareness Day and is to be observed every year beginning this year. On this momentous day (or in some countries, starting from today and continuing throughout the whole month), member countries, including Brunei Darussalam, are urged to raise public awareness of autism and also to take measures to raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, regarding children with autism.
Be sure to look out for special programmes on CNN, get inspired by reading news articles on what other countries are doing in carrying out their obligations under the resolution and more importantly, spread whatever knowledge you have about autism (including the mention of visiting Raiyan's blog ;) maybe? .. heehee).
Remember the key points to inform others of are:
- There is HOPE!
- Early diagnosis and intervention is very important to kickstart the child's journey towards improvement and even recovery;
- Intervention or therapy should be a programme based on what works for the individual autistic child;
- Autistic children are not in any way worse than or not good enough as typical children! Even though autistic children may lack some qualities typical children have, they also have their own unique and special qualities that society really need to start focusing on.
We would really appreciate any support that we can get! But in the meantime I would be grateful if my beautiful readers can use the power of word of mouth and spread ALL the knowledge that you have on autism to anyone you know! Everybody else in the world is doing just that!!
8 comments:
I certainly will do! Good luck on organising the event, and please do update us once you've set the awareness campaign in motion.. I'm sure it'll be a huge success! :-D
Hi R, it was nice catching up with you yesterday in spite of the fact that I inadvertently became the carrier of bad news re that morning's event :( I look forward to LL's awareness event and do keep me updated on developments on that end.
Truly hoping for an amicable solution to the current tensions... like I sed before, its hard enough dealing with the daily realities of bringing up an autistic child without having to contend with organizational politics...
I was really excited to watch a short program on autism on CNN monday night. Heard they will be having programs on autism all week. Will certainly leave the tv on CNN after kids go to bed.
Hai... nice to get your blog...
I am happy with Ryan progress.
I pray for him and you, as a dedicated ryan's mom, for your goodness and healthy...I belive... the both of you can passed all of this..soon
Hi Nisa,
I LOVED what you wrote in your blog about WAAD.. you really really know your autism stuff and you have summarised them much better than I ever could have done! hehee
Good Job Nisa!! (this is a sample of the ABA reinforcement/reward we always say to Raiyan if he does a good thing btw..hehe)
Keep up the excellent work sweetie!
Hi R, yeah it was lovely to have a chat with you yesterday.. and you were so reassuring in so many ways, thank you so much! It's comforting to know that we have your support :D (and mediating skills if and when needed ;))
I will most definitely update you on any development with LL's awareness campaign. It's not going to be big but we'll still try our very best to get the message across hopefully!
Oh and thank you SO much for the community announcement on the top of your blog. May Allah bless you and your family always.
Hi Adeline, yeah the programmes that I've caught on CNN has been very enlightening and actually I'm quite pleased that they've shown a balanced view of it as opposed to just showing the stereotype impression that autism is tragic, bleak and depressing etc.. It's great that they show the positive sides of accepting the child to have autism as opposed to being so persistent in seeking a "cure" only.. As you can see from my case, Raiyan is truly a gift!! And he's special BECAUSE of the autism NOT IN SPITE of it..
Assalamualaikum Maaini,
Thank you so much for visiting and for your kind words. And thank you for mentioning Raiyan in your blog! Please keep spreading the message!
May Allah bless you always,
Warm Regards, Riana
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