Healthcare | Saturday 28 February, 2015 1:54 pm |

‘The Emirates Walk For Autism’, supported by Al Sharq Hospital for the Fujairah, announced their first of many Autism Awareness initiatives with renewed commitment to better understand autism and improve the lives of individuals living with it.
While the scheduled walk on Friday was cancelled due to bad weather, a press briefing on autism awareness initiatives across the seven Emirates was highlighted to the media.
Autism Awareness campaigns are held globally during the month of April and the initiatives in the UAE are supported by Emirates Red Crescent to help fund research and more importantly to educate the public about Autism. The autism walks have started earlier this year to start the awareness of the initiatives scheduled for the month of April.
Dr. Nahida Abdulla Abdulkadir Nasseri, founder of the Emirates Walk for Autism said, “Children with autism and their families face unique and daunting challenges that many of us can never fully appreciate. We hope to have more events nationwide to raise awareness for the disorder and ultimately help find the missing pieces of the autism puzzle.”
Al Sharq Hospital has stepped forward to include Autism awareness into their CSR programme and being part of the walk is a strategy to motivate more parents to come forward if they notice anything different in children as early intervention is key for an affected child’s progress.

Mr. Ahmed Al Alhafeiti, Deputy CEO, Al Sharq Healthcare added, “We hope to assist Dr. Nahida in raising awareness about autism throughout our society, to promote early diagnosis and early behavioral intervention, as we realise that education, training and intervention programmes can help both families and children.”

Dr. Nahida started this initiative to be supportive of the challenges parents of autistic children face as the care, support and education options faced by families are often complex and lifelong, creating significant financial and emotional hardships.
The activities at the event was supported by Art Noor, an inspiring artist based in U.A.E, whose work ranges from lyrical to abstract, figurative to impressionistic. Noor is a pioneering artist for the 99 names of Allah paintings and he recently unveiled his exhibition ‘Ruminiscence’ which is a series of paintings inspired by the poems of Rumi. The artist’s books on the 99 names of Allah will be used to raise funds for Autism awareness in the UAE.
The drinks for the event was provided by the Tennis and Country Club Fujairah, a venue with diverse dining options as well as a choice of top-quality interactive leisure and sports facilities.
The Emirates Walk for Autism in Dubai will be held on April 18th at Zabeel Park at 5pm.