Autism awareness activities to be held next month

THE Macau Autism Association (MAA) will host a “World Autism Awareness Day 2018” program next month, with a series of family-friendly activities intended to increase awareness, acceptance and support for people with autism in Macau.

One of the highlights for the month of April will be the annual “Light It Up Blue” campaign, which will be observed by 142 countries on April 2.

On that day, landmarks around the world will be illuminated in blue to symbolize support for those with autism, the association announced at a press conference this week.

This year, MAA teamed up with the Macau Science Center and the Macau Tower to light its buildings up in blue.

The association has invited international designers for an exhibition titled “Endless Life and Unlimited Artistic Power”. The designers will develop new artworks based on the original paintings of children with autism, which will then be transformed into product packaging.

Companies can then buy these items, with MAA taking a percentage of the proceeds.

Family-friendly activities include talks with parents of autistic children and entry to the Skywalk circling the Macau Tower.

Nicole Chan, general director of MAA, said the association had conducted a series of activities last year targeting children with autism, with a total of 5,000 participants.

According to her, some 300 to 400 children have benefited from the activities.

“Based on all the activities that [have] been done by the association [in] creating awareness, I believe that at least 30-40 percent of the population is aware of […] autism,” said Chan.

However, she admitted that funding is still hard to come by. The association only has one full-time staff member and some part-timers, as its monthly subsidy from the government amounts to just MOP40,000.

“We are applying for a center from the government and are still waiting for their reply. Whether we have the center or not, we still look for venues that will support the therapy or workshop,” Chan told the press.

It has been a year since the association has applied for a center.

2018 marks the third year that MAA is hosting World Autism Awareness Day, and the second time it is receiving government subsidies to run the event. 

The association will also host music classes for up to 20 children with autism.

Of those, ten musically inclined children will be selected for further subsidized classes to determine their eligibility for the Macau Young Orchestra.

“[We] plan to consolidate a group of autistic [children] with musical talent and when ready, they can perform around Macau,” said Chan.

There are still no concrete statistics to indicate how many children in the city suffer from autism. Chan said the Health Bureau had evaluated at least 1,000 children since June 2017, of whom 800 required different therapies. Seventy percent of these children suffer from autism.

“Those are the new ones. For the older ones, we do not know. Nobody […] really wants to accept that their children are autistic. Basically, there are a lot of hidden cases that we’re not able to find out,” she said.

MAA has started visiting nurseries to conduct sharing sessions with teachers and parents on how to identify symptoms of autism.

“So far the response has been good. We hope that from there, they [will] get earlier therapy,” said Chan, adding that autism starts to become apparent in the first three years of life.

The World Autism Awareness Day 2018 will host its opening ceremony at the Macau Science Center on April 2, followed by choir and drama performances.