Assalam and hi again :)
April is officially the Autism Awareness month. A host of activities had been lined up by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM), Makmal Autisme UKM and also the PERMATA program. I believe, the main aim was to create and enhance the awareness on this neuro-developmental disease which has recorded an average prevalence of about 1% in Asia, Europe, and North America (refer here). I have lined up all the activities in this previous post.
The most anticipated event was of course the International Seminar on Autism 2014 which was held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC), Malaysia, from 22 to 23 April 2014.
I am uploading the pictures first and hopefully I will be able to elaborate on the full 2-day event soon. FYI, all the notes from plenary and workshop speakers during ISAM2014 can be downloaded at this link.
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| The main roads leading to PICC Putrajaya was literally full with ISAM2014 buntings |
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| The Putra Hall in PICC was full and overflowing with participants and media crew. |
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| Arrival of The Honorary Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia |
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| The VVIPS: First Ladies of Republic of Sudan, Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Sri Lanka and Morocco |
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| Opening speech by Dato' Sri Mohd Najib |
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| Welcoming Remarks by Her Excellency Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, Patron of the Seminar |
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| Special performance by Umar Hasfizal. He sang 'I Give the Best of Me', composed and produced by the founder of Malaysia s first autistic children's choir, Brian John Yim. |
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| Clarence Kang, 16, blew the audience away with his rendition of a self-composed song entitled, 'Concert Fantasie'. He was only 13 when he composed that song. |
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| Plenary 1: Epidemiology of Autism by Associate Prof. Dr. Young Shin Kim |
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Plenary 2: State of Autism - Update on the latest in Autism Science & Early Detection
(Dr. Andy Shih - Vice President of Scientific Affairs, Autism Speaks) |
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| Concurrent Session I Workshop A: ServicesTopic 2:- Interventions for inclusion of school aged children with ASD (Prof. Dr. Connie Kasari - University California Los Angeles) |
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| Prof Connie: I totally admire your work and passion. You're my favourite speaker at ISAM2014 :) |
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| Q&A session with Prof. Dr. Connie Kasari (UCLA) |
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| Managed to catch her for a photo at the end of the first day of ISAM2014 |
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| With Dr Hasnah Toran and other delegates |
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| Meet my two new friends from Monash Universiti Malaysia: Veronica and Kartini. Thank you for the lovely company and information shared |
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Day #2: Plenary 4
State of the Art - Early Intervention Strategies in Autism
(Prof. Dr. Connie Kasari - University California Los Angeles) |
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| The importance of early intervention for autism.. |
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| How parents can improve child engagement at home (please download Prof Connie's full presentation here) |
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| Listening intently to a question from the audience |
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| Conclusion of Prof Connie's awesome presentation |
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Panel Discussion: Different Approaches to Schooling Practice for Children with ASD
by Dr Sharifah Mariam Aljunied (Ministry of Education Singapore) |
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Different Approaches to Schooling Practice for Children with ASD
by Dr Samart Ratanasakorn (Ministry of Education Thailand) |
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Panels: Ministry of Education Officials from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand,
Brunei and Japan |
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Concurrent Session II, Topic 4
Training Parents in Delivering Evidence-Based Support
(Dr. Cheryl Dissanayake - Director of Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre) |
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| Dr Cheryl suggested that all parents should own this book |
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| That's me asking a question to Dr Cheryl :) |
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| Me and Kartini |
Time for random photos!
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| I was so jealous because Kartini got to appear on TV3 :) |
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| What a huge crowd in PICC waiting for DS Najib to arrive! |
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| With delegates from Brunei Darussalam |
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| Of course I didn't go to ISAM2014 all by myself :) |
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| At ISAM2014 hall of fame |
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| With my beloved supervisor, Dr Fazah Akhtar Hanapiah from the Faculty of Medicine, UiTM |
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| Final picture on day #2: (from left) Ms Hanizah, Dr Fazah, myself and Ms Farah Farhana from the Faculty of Medicine, UiTM |
All in all, I would like to say BRAVO and congratulations to PERMATA, in collaboration with "Autism Speaks of New York" and the University Kebangsaan Malaysia for successfully organizing this Seminar.
"Autism is acknowledged as a global health crisis that transcends boundaries. It does not discriminate based on nationality, ethnicity nor social status. It is significant to recognise the scope of the problem and work to improve the lives of the growing number of individuals and families affected by this disorder. For educators and medical practitioners, it is critical for them to learn, understand, practice and share interventions approaches that will enable individuals with autism to best cope, thrive and excel in their lives. More importantly, parents must also be empowered to encourage their autistic children to achieve their fullest potentials. As Hans Asperger himself said, "Exceptional human beings must be given exceptional educational treatment, treatment which takes into account their special difficulties. Further, we can show that despite abnormality, human beings can still fulfill their social role within the community, especially if they find understanding, love and guidance."- Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, Patron of ISAM2014
Till the next post, take care.
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