Role Of Family And Community In Raising A Child With Autism

All is now set for the 8th Edition of the GTBank Annual Autism Conference, a special programme used to rally for the support of people living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

This year’s edition was kicked started with a press conference at the Head Office of the Guaranty Trust Bank, located at Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island. Present at the event were officials of the bank, invited facilitators, caregivers, healthcare professionals, representatives of the government, press and members of the public.

Mrs. Dotun Akande, Advance Certified Autism Specialist; Mrs Joyce Onafowokan, Early Intervention Professional and Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Social Devt; Mrs Oyinade Adegite, Head of Comm & Ext Affairs, GTBank; Camille Proctor, Exec. Director, The Colour of Autism Foundation, USA; and Dr. Anna Lamikanra, Exec. Director, Blazing Trails International Center

In her welcome address, Mrs Oyinade Adegite, Head of Communication and External Affairs, who represented the MD/CEO, Segun Agbaje, disclosed that the 8th edition of the Conference is focused on “Support for the Children living autism” as it is themed Raising a Child with Autism, the role of Family and the Community.

She noted that the GTBank Orange Ribbon Initiative was birthed by the bank for community healthcare to the benefit of the general public. She said the platform have been helpful in all what members of the public need to know about Autism Spectrum Disorder. She added that the key objectives of the Initiative include; create better awareness, advocacy, education/training, care/management and research funding so that societal discrimination of autism can be reduced to barest minimum as the Bank believes that “everyone makes up the Community, excluding some people makes the community incomplete”

Oyinade Adegite, Head of Communication & External Affairs, GTBank speaking at the Press conference

BlackBox Nigeria gathered that so far, about 5,574 conference attendees have been recorded since it started in 2009 as 762 children have been assessed with about 233 consultation follow-up after the conferences. Over the years, the conferences have also gained robust online audience as it has build up to 10.5m followers.

Billed to facilitate at this year’s edition are; Mrs Joyce Onofowokan, Mrs Adedotun Akande, Dr Paul Agboola, Dr Anna Lamikanra, Dr Yewande Oshodi, Mrs Denise Hetherington, Dr Maymunah Yusuf, Mr Adegboyega Otubanjo among other seasoned professionals.

Camille Proctor, Exec. Director, The Colour of Autism Foundation, USA; Dr. Anna Lamikanra, Exec. Director, Blazing Trails International Center; Oyinade Adegite, Head of Comm & Ext Affairs, GTBank; Mrs Joyce Onafowokan, Early Intervention Professional and Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Social Devt; and Mrs. Dotun Akande, Advance Certified Autism Specialist

The 8th edition of the Annual Conference have been scheduled to hold on Tuesday and Wednesday, 17th and 18th of July at the Shell Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. The two-day conference will feature healthcare professionals, experts in autism and parents discuss extensively about the the disorder. While participation is totally free, as it has been fully sponsored by Guaranty Trust Bank, intending participants are expected to register at www.gtbank.com/autism

Members of the general public can also join the conversation online using the #BeAVoice to contribute to this year’s campaign.

Role Of Family And Community In Raising A Child With Autism