DHAKA: The 7th World Autism Awareness Day is being observed across the country as elsewhere of the world with a pledge to bring autistic people into the mainstream of development.

Bangladesh is observing the Day with the slogan: `Autism shachetonota bridhdhite amra sobai (We all for increasing awareness about autism) while theme of the Day is: “Understanding and Embracing People with Autism”.

Ministry of Social Welfare, Social Welfare Department, National Disability Development Foundation, National Disability Forum, different socio-cultural bodies and non-government organizations have chalked out elaborate programmes to mark the Day.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was scheduled to join a discussion on the day at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in city in the morning.

President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have issued separate messages on the eve of the day urging all to step forward for the welfare of the challenged persons.

In his message, the President underlined the need for making concerted efforts to uphold the right of the autistic children along with ensuring their health and education as they can contribute a lot to bringing change to the society.

The premier, in her message, said present government is promised to include the challenged people including the autistic into the mainstream of development.

The United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared April 2 as the World Autism Awareness Day with a view to helping improve the lives of children and adults who suffer from Autism.

Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first three years of life, and affects the brain`s normal development of social and communication skills.

These mainly occur during the school-age while boys are more affected with it than girls.

For the welfare of the autistic people, the government adopted Neuro Developmental Disabilities Act 2013, Disabled People`s Rights and Protection Act, 2013 to ensure the rights of the autistic persons.

BDST: 1115 HRS APR 2, 2014