As most of my blog readers know, our lives have been significantly touched by autism. My only son, Jeffrey, was officially diagnosed as autistic in in 1999. We fought doctors for more than 17 years for a clear diagnosis, after being told by a psychiatrist at Emory University Hospital in 1990 that Jeffrey had "autistic like tendencies," and because he had only 8 or 9 of the 15 (at that time,) the doctor didn't want to label him autistic because he was afraid he would LIMIT Jeffrey's educational opportunities.

On April 2, the Kennedy Krieger Institute will commemorate World Autism Awareness Day and National Autism Awareness Month with the one-year anniversary of the Interactive Autism Network (IAN), the first national autism registry.

It's World Autism Awareness Day - this historic day has been declared by the United Nations General Assembly in New York - WAAD falls on Wednesday 2nd April 2008, it is the first ever international day for autism and we must thank Qatar for proposing it an seeing it through.

(London, UK) 'Open Every Door,' the song for autism has been re-released in London by Media Eye Music in time for Autism Sunday on 10th February 2008. 'Open Every Door' was composed by the Sri Lanka born singer/songwriter who dedicated the song to the Autism Awareness Campaign UK. It is sung by Birmingham based musician Rozagy who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome a few years ago.

Autism Sunday, the International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome takes place on Sunday 10th February 2008.

Lady Uddin, a peer from the House of Lords in London has urged British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to launch an Autism Task Force to consult widely and work in partnership with government departments, parents groups, community organisations, charities and the voluntary sector.

The Autism Awareness Campaign UK was hailed as a finalist in the Asian Woman Awards for Excellence 2007, sponsored by the Bank of Ireland and hosted by the Asian Woman Magazine at an event at Banqueting House in London.

(Westminster, UK) Lee Scott, member of parliament for Ilford North and member of the House of Commons Select Committee on Health has called on the Prime Minister Gordon Brown to provide ring fenced funding for Autism Services undertaken by local authorities. His call was issued on the 'Autism Action' DVD released by the Autism Awareness Campaign UK in Autism Awareness Week.

(London, UK) Autism campaigners in Great Britain have released an appeal to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Children's Secretary Ed Balls in a DVD titled 'Autism Action.' The DVD has been released by the Autism Awareness Campaign UK to coincide with Autism Awareness Week in the UK which runs from 1st October - 7th October 2007.The 'Autism Action' film is directed by Ian McLeod.

(London, UK) An appeal to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on autism and Asperger's Syndrome was launched earlier this week, on You Tube. The Autism Awareness Campaign UK is calling on Gordon Brown to launch a national strategy on autism and a 10 year plan of action on autism.

(London,UK) The Autism Awareness Campaign UK has urged Britain's new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown to support autistoc children in the wake of an unpbublished study from Cambridge University's renowned Autism Research Centre.

UK Autism Campaigners are appealing to the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to invest in the lives of autistic children in the UK. Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder -over 500,000 people in the UK are on the autism spectrum. According to researchers 1 in 100 children may have autism. Over 90,000 children in the UK are autistic - many suffer without proper access to public services in education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care.