The European Days of Autism were celebrated at the beginning of October 2010 together with the Autism-Europe IX International Congress in Catania entitled “A Future for Autism” that gathered 1200 participants from around the world.
On this occasion, Autism-Europe raised awareness about the fact that nowadays persons with autism and their families very often lack the support they need to live a dignified life. As the population is ageing, persons with Autism and their families are faced with very complex difficulties and a lack of adapted services. Action is therefore required to ensure that persons with ASD benefit from the same opportunities as the rest of the European citizens.
Evelyne Friedel, Autism-Europe’s President, welcomed the recent innovations in the field of evidence-based treatments and interventions for persons with ASD. Referring to European Council’s Committee of Ministers recommendation on ageing and persons with disabilities, she also called on Member States to take concrete actions to improve the conditions of life of persons with autism – in particular elderly people – and to cooperate at European and International level to promote the exchange of information and best practices.
More information available in the 54th edition of our LINK magazine.