Brunei pioneering member of Asian autism federation

BRUNEI has become one of the five members of the newly established Autism Federation of Asian Region (Afar), formed during the Asia-Pacific Centre for Disability (APCD) conference and workshops held in Bangkok recently.

The federation was established to engage and empower all self-help organisations (SHOs) working to develop an autism-friendly Asian region, said Malai Hj Abdullah Hj Othman, president of Brunei's Society for the Management of Autism Related Issues in Training, Education and Resources (Smarter).

Malai Hj Abdullah, who represented Brunei during the APCD meetings from January 26 to 29, shared his enthusiasm with Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand in establishing the federation, which aims to cooperate and coordinate in assisting and advocating for rights of all SHOs on autism.

"We are also going to develop an Asean resource centre where we can share expertise and do research regarding autism. We are also going to have our very first meeting soon, and all five member countries have agreed that at the moment, the resource centre where the meeting will be held will be in Bangkok," he said.

Malai Hj Abdullah added that during the first meeting, the other six Asian countries who are members of APCD will be invited to the meeting.

"What I am hoping for is to also organise back-to-back Afar meetings in Brunei, during (occasions) such as the Asean Senior Ministers Meetings held in Brunei from time to time," he said.

During the APCD meetings in Bangkok, only nine Asean member countries attended as Singapore and Cambodia could not make it, said Malai Hj Abdullah. Delegates discussed issues faced by every country, such as obtaining support from the government in advocating for SHOs. "It was a lesson learnt for them (government agencies) to try and emulate us. The only way for SHOs is for government agencies to include us by opening doors in areas of accessibility and affordability."

Malai Hj Abdullah explained that SHOs should not be fighting for things like accessibility (such as infrastructure) from government agencies, and that they should be provided to them.

Also, he encouraged government agencies involved to support SHOs and not to "make policies without involving SHOs".

"There have been (instances) where people who cater to SHOs had no say in policy making. There should be more dialogue sessions including SHOs in them, held to discuss implementation of policies as SHOs are not just service providers," he said.

The APCD also agreed that communities should meet SHOs "halfway" in advocating for disabilities and autism.

"We (member countries) talked about inclusive development and we made a 12-point declaration that the community must get involved and meet us halfway," he said, adding that the APCD agreed that that was what communities should do.

The meeting also suggested Brunei to look into and see what SHOs should "modify and implement" in advocating for their causes.

"Our government has already signed the Charter for Rights of People with Disability (CRPD) in December 2008. Now we need to rectify the agreement by seeing what we can do to modify and implement it," he said.

Speaking about his overall experience during the APCD meetings, Malai Hj Abdullah said: "As a representative of Smarter, I am pleased to start a new era of organisations such as (Afar) between Asian nations, by helping each other in intervention for autism. Hopefully, we will be a force to be reckoned with in the world."

He added that he was also pleased to note that Smarter has been recognised by APCD as one of the "leading organisations" in advocating and being a service provider for autism.

Among Brunei's delegation were Smarter Vice-Secretary Annisa Hj Moksin and Smarter Head of Psychology Committee Nipah Hj Moktal.The Brunei Times