Autism self-advocate Stephen Shore to speak at Shuchona Foundation in Bangladesh

Stephen Shore, who is well-known for relating his life to the many challenges facing people on the autism spectrum, will speak in Dhaka at a Shuchona Foundation event.

Saima Wazed Hossain, US-licensed school psychologist and daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who spearheads the autism campaign in Bangladesh as Chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on Autism and Neurodevelopment Disorders, leads the not-for-profit Foundation.
 
The foundation said Shore, who holds a PhD from Boston University and is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Adelphi University, would speak on Friday at an event programmed as ‘preparing for a successful life with autism’.
 
A select group of persons with autism spectrum disorder, ASD, experts and government representatives have been invited to the talk.
 
The event has been organised to provide a perspective from someone who has overcome the challenges of neuro-development disorder and has been able to fulfil his potential and make a successful life for himself, the foundation said.
 
Shore was nonverbal until four years of age and was viewed as “too sick” to be treated on an outpatient basis and recommended for institutionalisation.
 

He credits the support of family members, friends and teachers for his success in completing his doctoral dissertation at Boston University.

He is also a prolific writer and has written a number of books on autism, including ‘Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism & Asperger’s Syndrome’, ‘Understanding Autism for Dummies’ and ‘Ask and Tell’.

Saima has set up the Shuchona Foundation to coordinate and mainstream policies and programmes for mental health, autism and other neuro-developmental disorders.

She brought the neglected issue to the fore through organising a regional conference in 2011.

As a result of her efforts, the Neurodevelopmental Disability Protection Trust Act 2013 has been passed. The United Nations adopted several resolutions based on her proposals.

The UN health agency also awarded her, noting that she had put autism on WHO’s map. She is also a member of the WHO expert panel on mental health.

Shuchona’s primary goal is work to provide a new beginning for persons with mental health and neuro-developmental disorders so that they no longer feel excluded from society.

It also aims at developing “innovative, high-impact and low-cost sustainable programmes which can be implemented within the existing national infrastructure through effective public and private partnerships”.