A seminar on Autism Awareness was organized in Lahore by the ASDRC on 29th August at a local hotel. It was attended by more than one hundred parents and professionals including teachers, doctors, and therapists.
Rukhsana Shah, CEO of Autism Spectrum Disorders Resource Centre (ASDRC), in her welcome address, expressed her gratitude to the MJS Foundation for its financial and moral support, which enabled the Centre to offer the finest trainings to teachers and parents free of cost. She stated that it was the Mission of ASDRC to create a critical mass of trained teachers and care-givers and to create maximum awareness in the country about autism and learning disabilities.
In her inaugural address, Mrs. Mahvash Jahangir Siddiqui, Chairperson of MJS Foundation, stated the Foundation was striving to improve health, education and social outcomes in Pakistan through the establishment of additional facilities in existing public and private hospitals, introducing educational and vocational colleges for persons with disabilities, empowering youth through leadership and enterprise support programmes, improving the quality of education and providing relief and rehabilitation services during natural disasters. The recently established Autism Resource Centre in Lahore set up by the Foundation is designed to create greater awareness about autism and learning disabilities in the country, and to train parents and teachers of special and mainstream schools in the relevant fields.
Dr. Shazia Maqbool, Head of Developmental Paediatrics at Children’s Hospital, Lahore, was the key note speaker. She gave a detailed presentation on the Autism Spectrum Disorders. She stated that her Autism Unit was designed to cater for 3000 children in a year, but now the Unit is catering for 30,000 children annually. There was a dire need to expand the facilities of the Developmental Paeds section on an urgent basis.
Dr. Fauzia Saleem, speech pathologist at the CMH Lahore, gave a detailed presentation on language, speech and communication disorders, especially among children with ASD. Ms. Maliha Latif of M/s Impact Psyche Consultants, gave a presentation on ADHD, while Ms. Asma Ahmed, Clinical Psychologist at ASDRC discussed treatment and management techniques for children with ASD.
