A Seminar was organized at the IBA Auditorium, City Campus, Karachi, on 19th October to mark the opening of Autism Spectrum Welfare Trust Office at Karachi and to launch Autism Awareness Campaign in Sindh. The Seminar was opened by a welcome address by Ms. Rukhsana Shah, Chairperson of the Trust, who spoke about the lack of awareness about autism and learning disabilities among doctors, teachers and parents all over Pakistan, and lauded the efforts of the government of Sindh in this field. She appreciated the role of the Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation who sponsored the setting up of the Autism Trust in Lahore in 2015, as well as funded the Karachi Office which opened on the 1st of October this year.
In her inaugural speech, Mrs. Mahvash Jahangir Siddiqui gave a brief background of the work done by the MJS Foundation all over Pakistan. This was followed by an address by the Chief Guest, Dr. Zulfiqar Shallwani, secretary to the government of Sindh for Special Education.
Dr. Shallwani enumerated the efforts of the government of Sindh in the field not only of autism, but all disabilities in general. He said that in April, the first Autism Centre was set up in Karachi at the existing Special Education Centre in Gulistan-e-Johar, while a separate state of the art building was being constructed on the site. A school for ADHD and Learning Difficulties is being set up at the Korangi Centre of Special Education, while a similar facility is under consideration at Thatta. He added tha in Nawabshah, the government is setting up a Centre for Down’s syndrome and Neuro Developmental Disorders in which medical colleges and DHQ hospitals would be involved to ensure sustainability and growth of the Centre.
The key-note address on Autism was delivered by Dr. Irum Rizwan, a pioneer in the field of Autism in Karachi, who also runs the Autism Unit at Dow University of Health Sciences. This was followed by a presentation on ADHD by Dr. Salma Khalil, a discussion on Learning Disabilities by Ms. SanamHafeez, and Overview of Trainings for ASD management by Ms. Asma Ahmad, followed by a detailed discussion.
The seminar was attended by about 200 teachers of special and mainstream schools, doctors, parents, professionals and prominent members of the civil society.