Awareness raised on autism: Saima Wazed

Awareness has been raised regarding autism by involving the highest policymaking level of the state, said Saima Wazed Hossain, a member of the World Health Organization’s 25-member Expert Advisory Panel on mental health.

She made the observation during a 90-minute online discussion event, titled ‘Pracheer Periye: Saima Wazed’s Conversation with Stephen Shore on his Autobiography and Autism’. Shuchona Foundation organized the event in collaboration with the Centre for Research and Information (CRI), said a press release here on Sunday.

During the virtual meeting, acclaimed autism writer and US professor Dr Stephan Mark Shore reflected on his experiences with autism.

He had authored ‘Beyond the Wall’, whose Bengali edition ‘Pracheer Periye’ was unveiled at the event.

The book was translated under the initiative of the Suchona Foundation.

Saima Wazed, also the daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, remarked that the biggest achievement Bangladesh had made in handling the autism issue is that the country’s highest policymaking level, especially the prime minister and other ministers, had got involved in raising awareness about autism.

There is also much progress in transitioning out of the stigma that people, in general, had about autism in the past, she remarked.

“We have many limitations and those limitations have emerged as a kind of strength, which is also a big achievement in the autism awareness movement,” she observed.

Expressing her optimism about the change in people’s attitude towards autism, she said, “In Bangladesh, one of the core things we have achieved is national awareness and awakening to the fact that those on the autism spectrum are supposed to be part and parcel of society. There is the belief system that there should be more acceptance, there should be more assistance and there should be more opportunities.”