| Autism Sunday | |
|---|---|
 The International Day of Prayer for autism spectrum disorders | |
| Date | Second Sunday in February |
| 2023 date | 12 February |
| 2024 date | 11 February |
| 2025 date | 9 February |
| 2026 date | 8 February |
| Frequency | annual |
Autism Sunday, also known as the International Day of Prayer for autism spectrum disorders , is an event observed annually on the second Sunday of February.
Autism Sunday was first held in 2002 during Autism Awareness Year in the United Kingdom. It was initiated by parents and carers Ivan Corea and Charika Corea, founders of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK. Parents of Charin, a teenager with autism spectrum disorder and a communication disorder, they urged leaders of religious organisations, churches, community groups and world leaders around the globe to speak up for people with autism spectrum disorders. [1]
The first service for autism was held in February 2002 at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Former Education Ministers, peers from the House of Lords, celebrities, writers, broadcasters, and the media joined children and people at St Paul's Cathedral to pray for children and adults with autism spectrum disorders, as well as their parents and caregivers.
In 2008, the first Early Day Motion on Autism Sunday was tabled in the House of Commons, in the Palace of Westminster. The motion, EDM 874, was sponsored by David Drew MP and signed by 71 members of Parliament. It calls on the Government to work with all faith communities in order to reach out to parents, caregivers and people with autism spectrum disorders in local communities, and urges church leaders and community groups of all denominations to engage with people with autism spectrum disorders. [2] The British Prime Minister, David Cameron extended his personal support for Autism Sunday. [3]
Autism Sunday was mentioned in a debate in the House of Commons in the British Parliament. David Taylor MP mentioned the day and called for action stating that the "Churches and other religious organisations will be supporting an international day of prayer for those with autism and Asperger's syndrome. Will the Leader of the House take this as a bid as a topical debate on the issue, which affects hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country? The conditions are under-recognised and under-resourced and they badly need a national strategy, a national task force and a well resourced plan for the future." [4]
In reply, the Leader of the Commons, Harriet Harman MP said: "For many years, families have struggled to support and care for children with autism, often to a great extent on their own and without the proper back-up of integrated services. There is now a great deal more awareness of the difficulties of autism and Asperger's syndrome, and a recognition of the importance of early diagnosis and integrated services. I congratulate the Churches on picking this for an international day of prayer, and we would like to work with the Churches, local government and the voluntary sector to ensure that families with a family member who develops autism or Asperger's have the backing that they need in future." [5]
Churches of all denominations around the world now honor the millions of people with autism on Autism Sunday, the International Day of Prayer for autism spectrum disorders. [6] Organisers estimate there are 60 million people with autism around the world. [6] Campaigners have said that many suffer without proper public services in education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care in several parts of the world, particularly in Africa and Asia. The credit crunch and the global recession which hit many countries in 2008-2009 also affected the Autism Community. In the UK, people were concerned about the cuts to disability benefits and cuts to public services. Homes were re-possessed during the economic downturn and some families below the poverty line had to choose between heating and eating. [7]
World church leaders have been supporting Autism Sunday. Pope Benedict XVI told the organisers that he would be praying for the autism community on Autism Sunday. [8] Some of the largest churches in the United States, including Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, have pledged to pray for over 60 million people with autism spectrum disorders on Autism Sunday. Support came from the Bishop of London in the United Kingdom, Rt.Rev.Richard Chartres. [9]
The organizers have urged parents, carers and the worldwide Autism Community to use Autism Sunday as a platform to lobby and campaign on the serious issues. [10] Support for Autism Sunday 2011 came from the Chilean Miner, Jose Henriquez, the 24th miner to be rescued from the San Jose mine. Henriquez was invited by US President Barack Obama to address the Presidential Prayer Breakfast in February 2011. He met Ivan Corea and Charika Corea, the Founders of Autism Sunday in the UK, prior to his departure to Washington, D.C. [11] They presented him with his first-ever autism awareness ribbon. The news of the presentation was relayed by the media in Chile. [12] Jose Henriquez released a special message in support of Autism Sunday 2011. [13]
Campaigners around the world organized an Autism Sunday Twitter Storm to mark Autism Sunday 2011 - to celebrate the lives of all people with autism. [14] In 2022, a commemorative event has been planned in India. [15]
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome, formerly described a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. The syndrome has been merged with other disorders into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is no longer considered a stand-alone diagnosis. It was considered milder than other diagnoses that were merged into ASD by relatively unimpaired spoken language and intelligence.
Lorna Gladys Wing was an English psychiatrist. She was a pioneer in the field of childhood developmental disorders, who advanced understanding of autism worldwide, introduced the term Asperger syndrome in 1976 and was involved in founding the National Autistic Society (NAS) in the UK.
Vernon Corea was a pioneer radio broadcaster with 45 years of public service broadcasting both in Sri Lanka and the UK. He joined Radio Ceylon, South Asia's oldest radio station, in 1956 and later the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. During his time he presented some of the most popular radio shows in South Asia, including The Maliban Show, Dial-a-Disc, Holiday Choice, Two For the Money, Take It Or Leave It, Saturday Stars, To Each His Own, Kiddies Corner, and Old Folks at Home. He was well known not only in Sri Lanka, but right across the Indian Sub-Continent from the late 1950s to the 1970s – this was in the heyday of Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia.
The autism rights movement, also known as the autistic acceptance movement, is a social movement allied with disability rights that emphasizes a neurodiversity paradigm, viewing autism as a disability with variations in the human brain rather than as a disease to be cured. The movement advocates for several goals, including greater acceptance of autistic traits and behaviors; reforms of services - i.e. services that focus on improving quality of life and well-being instead of suppression and masking of autistic traits that are adaptive or not harmful or imitations of social behaviors of neurotypical (non-autistic) peers ; the creation of social networks and events that allow autistic people to socialize on their own terms; and the recognition of the autistic community as a minority group.
The Autism Awareness Campaign – United Kingdom was launched in 2000 by British parents and carers Ivan Corea and his wife Charika Corea in response to the autism diagnosis of their son, Charin.
High-functioning autism (HFA) was historically an autism classification where a person exhibits no intellectual disability, but may experience difficulty in communication, emotion recognition, expression, and social interaction.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to autism:
The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) is a questionnaire published in 2001 by Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, UK. Consisting of fifty questions, it aims to investigate whether adults of average intelligence have symptoms of autism spectrum conditions. More recently, versions of the AQ for children and adolescents have also been published.
Societal and cultural aspects of autism or sociology of autism come into play with recognition of autism, approaches to its support services and therapies, and how autism affects the definition of personhood. The autistic community is divided primarily into two camps; the autism rights movement and the Pathology paradigm. The pathology paradigm advocates for supporting research into therapies, treatments, and/or a cure to help minimize or remove autistic traits, seeing treatment as vital to help individuals with autism, while the neurodiversity movement believes autism should be seen as a different way of being and advocates against a cure and interventions that focus on normalization, seeing it as trying to exterminate autistic people and their individuality. Both are controversial in autism communities and advocacy which has led to significant infighting between these two camps. While the dominant paradigm is the pathology paradigm and is followed largely by autism research and scientific communities, the neurodiversity movement is highly popular among most autistic people, within autism advocacy, autism rights organizations, and related neurodiversity approaches have been rapidly growing and applied in the autism research field in the last few years.
Classic autism, also known as childhood autism, autistic disorder, (early) infantile autism, infantile psychosis, Kanner's autism,Kanner's syndrome, or (formerly) just autism, is a neurodevelopmental condition first described by Leo Kanner in 1943. It is characterized by atypical and impaired development in social interaction and communication as well as restricted, repetitive behaviors, activities, and interests. These symptoms first appear in early childhood and persist throughout life.
Autism, formally called autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by impaired social communication and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. Other common signs include difficulty with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, along with perseverative interests, stereotypic body movements, rigid routines, and hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input. Autism is clinically regarded as a spectrum disorder, meaning that it can manifest very differently in each person. For example, some are nonspeaking, while others have proficient spoken language. Because of this, there is wide variation in the support needs of people across the autism spectrum.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) describe a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders in the DSM-5, used by the American Psychiatric Association. As with many neurodivergent people and conditions, the popular image of autistic people and autism itself is often based on inaccurate media representations. Additionally, media about autism may promote pseudoscience such as vaccine denial or facilitated communication.
Autism-friendly means being aware of social engagement and environmental factors affecting people on the autism spectrum, with modifications to communication methods and physical space to better suit individual's unique and special needs.
Autism Cymru was Wales' national charity for autism with offices in Cardiff, Wrexham, and Aberystwyth. The charity was established in May 2001 through an initial 3-year grant provided by The Shirley Foundation. The founder chair of the Trustees was Dame Stephanie Shirley of the Shirley Foundation.
Ambitious about Autism is a UK national charity which aims to improve opportunities for young people on the autism spectrum. Originally established in 1997 as the TreeHouse Trust, the charity was founded by a group of parents – including author Nick Hornby – whose first child had been diagnosed with autism.
Mamath Eka Malak is a Sinhala autism song composed by the Sri Lankan musician, Rukshan Karunanayake. The song was released on Sunday 9 February 2014 to mark Autism Sunday 2014 in Sri Lanka. 'Mamath Eka Malak' is the first Sinhala autism song from the Commonwealth of Nations in 2014. It is a tribute in song to children and adults who are on the autism spectrum. The song is all about the beauty and brokenness of autism. Like a flower, people with autism need to be loved, appreciated and accepted.
Diagnosis, treatment, and experiences of autism varies globally. Although the diagnosis of autism is rising in post-industrial nations, diagnosis rates are much lower in developing nations.
Ivan Corea established autism-related charities, service organisations such as the Autism Awareness Campaign UK and Autism Sunday. He took a lead role in raising awareness about autism.
The history of autism spans over a century; autism has been subject to varying treatments, being pathologized or being viewed as a beneficial part of human neurodiversity. The understanding of autism has been shaped by cultural, scientific, and societal factors, and its perception and treatment change over time as scientific understanding of autism develops.
Brenda Smith Myles is an American author and researcher on the topic of the autism spectrum. As of 2021, she has written more than 300 articles and books on autism spectrum disorder. She was once found to be the world's second most productive applied researcher in ASD, by the University of Texas.