During World Autism Awareness campaign—honored annually in the month of April—autism centers in UAE will be partnering with Al Qasba to organize a series of special entertainment and charity activities in coordination with private sector organizations at the Al Qasba in Sharjah. The event will include seminars about the disorder as well as community-building activities aimed at bringing together different age groups from across the UAE who are affected by the disorder. During the campaign, Al Qasba walkways will be decorated with informative mupies and advertising boards which will include various tips and facts about autism and autistic people.

Al Qasba will be partnering directly with Autism Centers around the UAE to collect charitable donations that can support the centers’ work and expand medical research initiatives. In a recent 2009 report from the National Autism Center in the United States, almost 90% of established treatments are behaviorally-based, which typically involve day-to-day care like that which is provided through various autism centers in the UAE.

Zainab Ahmed, Corporate Social Responsibilities Coordinator at Al Qasba, says that the organization’s inspiration for the public event was to encourage peer interactions and new community initiatives. “It’s not an issue of giving someone medical treatment and sending them home,” says Ahmed. “Autism care is about dedicated hands on attention, and that is what we are ultimately trying to inspire through this public event.”

Al Qasba has also announced that the profits collected by throughout the entire week will go directly to local autism organizations. Visitors interested in volunteer opportunities can receive detailed brochures during the event and learn more about the initiatives being pursued locally by government and nonprofit organizations.