Autism in Brunei
The Brunei Bulletin carries this report on autism I loved the theme, “Don’t DIS the Ability.”
Autism Conference advocates ASD as strength.
The 6th Brunei National Conference on Autism was held yesterday morning at the Civil Service Institute with the theme “Don’t DIS the Ability” which advocates the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as an ability, an advantage and as strength.
“Time is our enemy,” stated Malai Haji Abdullah bin Malai Haji Othman, President of SMARTER Brunei, at the three-day conference.
“Our programmes would be obsolete in six months if we don’t bring in outside people for new ideas,” he added as he reiterated the necessity of the annual conferences in improving their services and methodologies.
The Society for the Management of Autism-Related Issues - In Training, Education and Resources, more commonly known as SMARTER Brunei, was established in September 2001and has since been fervently advocating their cause.
One of the main objectives of the conference is to review the SMARTER STEP programme and discern its relevance in the developmental process of individuals with Autism (IWA).
The STEP programme is a holistic approach to seven essential, independent living skills designed to support, assist, facilitate and enhance the development of IWA through real activities in a real environment.
The “cradle to grave” seamless journey to independence provides an intensive programme for early childhood, teenagers and adults.
In yesterday’s session, invited speaker Yvette Cook presented a paper on the most common issues of food refusal and allergies, as well as sleep issues faced by IWA and their families.
Meanwhile, Debbie Smith spoke to parents, teachers and other participants on developing communication through alternative methods.
Other invited speakers during the duration of the conference are Associate Professor Dr Verity Bottroff, Vice President of Autism South Australia; Joanna Zeitz, specialising in cognitive behaviours therapy and Manager of the Adult Services for Autism in South Australia; and Peter Hill, Pharmacy Dispensary Manager at Gosford Hospital in NSW Australia with particular interest in the area of Autism.
The conference will end tomorrow with the hopes of achieving their vision of an Autism Friendly Society that will enable IWA to adapt and live independently through the home, school and community, as well as the public and private sector.
I wish the reporter had elaborated more on the abilities, advantages and strengths of autism. Most of the report was about the intensive interventions they used to enable autistic individuals to live independently and, presumably to make use of their autistic abilities, advantages and strengths. But again the report is short on detail. I did notice a significant input from speakers from Australia and no mention of epidemics, vaccines or devastating disorders. If anyone has more information on this conference or the organization behind it would love to hear from you.
Comment by Debbie Smith | August 29th, 2008
Hi there.
Thank you for reporting on the conference recently held in Brunei. I have been involved with SMARTER Brunei since its inception in 2001, and am happy to provide you with details abotu the roganisation, this conference, and previous conferences and workshops. I can send you a copy of the SMARTER journey - a history of the organisation I presented as part of this year’s procceedings. let me know the best email address to forward it on.
There is a focus on spekaers from Australia because I call on people I know to fill the speaker slots once I know what focus the committee want to take. i am a speech pathologist/special education from Australia, and act as educatinoal advisor, and consultant to SMARTER. I worked in Brunei for 8 years, lecturing in special education and educational psychology at the university there, and that is how I came to be connected to the group. I have since returned to Australia, but maintain my links as a consultant with the organisation, visiting the service to work with families and staff about nce every 3 months.
Looking forward to hearing from you
Regards
Debbie Smith
Comment by Roslan Yahya | November 22nd, 2008
Hello Mike,
I stumbled across your blog while searching for news on SMARTER Brunei. I used to be the Vice President of SMARTER Brunei since January 2001 until December 2005 when I went to Australia for further studies in January 2006. When I came back to Brunei, I was then elected as the Treasurer until August this year but had to relinquish it as I have been posted here in the UK! (what a coincidence)
I would like to share my experiences on SMARTER Brunei and at the same time maybe I can ask for your assistance with regards to finding a suitable school or centre as my son has been out of school and therapies for more than two months now. I have come across many schools, both state and private, but none has given any favourable response with regards to accepting my son with special needs. He is 10 years, by the way.
So, Mike, if you happen to read this reply, I would like to hear from you. Keep up the good work in maintaining your blog and hope that it speaks volumes for autism to be more accepted as an ability rather than a DISability. Hope to hear from you.
Best regards,
ROSLAN Yahya
Comment by Malai | January 31st, 2009
Hi Mike,
My name is Malai Hj Abdullah, the President of SMARTER Brunei. If your are still interested with regards to our program of Autistic ability do write to me at my email address. We focus on Area For Improvement not weaknesses, we work with their strength such as echolalia is a strength, echopraxia is a strength, repetative behaviour is a strength. I believe in turning all these into positives attributes and work with it rather then against it.
Malai