Lives Changed and Lessons Learned in South Asia

Excerpt from: Autism Speaks (click for full article)

 

Five years ago, I was a relative newbie at Autism Speaks. We had just celebrated the first official World Autism Awareness Day that April. A few months later, we introduced our Global Autism Public Health (GAPH) initiative, and I made my first international trip for Autism Speaks – to India. This past week, as I returned home from my fifth and most emotional trip to the region, I have been reflecting on how the world of autism has changed in the five short years since the United Nations passed the World Autism Awareness Day resolution. In particular, my thoughts center on how South Asia may be leading the way.

With global prevalence exceeding 1 percent and rivaling that of HIV infection, autism is no longer the concern of a few. It affects whole communities and demands an appropriate public health response. The challenges around autism – its identification, treatment and even advocacy – speak to the complexity of the disorder.