World Autism Awareness Day
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder. It affects the functioning of the brain making difficulties in social interaction & communication/language. These individuals might have unique and limited interests with repetitive behaviour. The learning and thinking abilities can also vary greatly among the spectrum. Some individual needs very less help while others might require extensive help for their daily activities. This is because of the fact that the spectrum is quite wide.
Purpose Of The “World Autism Awareness Day”:
United Nations is the prime organization to promote and protect the rights of all the persons with disabilities including the Persons with Autism. The UN (United Nations) declared April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day via resolution A/RES/62/139. It was passed on November 1st 2007 and adopted on December 18th 2007.
The basic purpose is to recognize and improve the life quality of Persons with Autism. The focus is to provide equal opportunity and effective participation in our society through acceptance and support. The UN encourages for taking such measures which can increase the awareness regarding Autism and Asperger syndrome. Persons with autism are usually subject to stigma and discrimination as well as human rights violations, which needs to be stopped by proper policy and planning.
The population of individuals with Autism is increasing with pace. According to one of the reports by WHO it is estimated that 1 in 160 children is affected with Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD. You can follow the link for detail https://bit.ly/3kLCt3U
Autism is a lifelong condition which starts during the early days of childhood and tends to continue into the person’s adulthood.
Themes Of The Previous “World Autism Awareness Day”:
Following are the past themes focused by the UN on World Autism Awareness Day.
- “Launch of Official UN “Awareness Raising” Stamp” (WAAD Theme 2012)
- “Celebrating the ability within the disability of autism” (WAAD Theme 2013)
- “Opening Doors to Inclusive Education” (WAAD Theme 2014)
- “Employment: The Autism Advantage” (WAAD Theme 2015)
- “Autism and the 2030 Agenda: Inclusion and Neurodiversity” (WAAD Theme 2016)
- “Toward Autonomy and Self-Determination” (WAAD Theme 2017)
- “Empowering Women and Girls with Autism” (WAAD Theme 2018)
- “Assistive Technologies, Active Participation” (WAAD Theme 2019)
- “The Transition to Adulthood” (WAAD Theme 2020)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Autism_Awareness_Day
Activities On The “World Autism Awareness Day”:
Many activities are organized by government & different NGOs like:
- Conferences
- Workshops
- Educational events for parents and caregivers
- Panel discussions
- Television and FM shows
- Newspaper articles
- Exhibitions by autism artists
Because of the current pandemic, persons with autism are suffering severely. We collectively have the responsibility to include People with Autism in our response to such pandemic so that they do not feel as left alone and do not face discrimination. We should work to devise such a system for work, education and other areas so that to minimize the impact on such persons. Let’s work together for the betterment of Persons with Autism.
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