Kerim M Munir Tara A Lavelle David T Helm Didi Thompson Jessica Prestt Muhammad Waqar Azeem
This report explores the root causes and challenges linked with children suffering from Autism spectrum Disorder (ASD) and how can communities provide support to these individuals and their families.
The Autism Forum will provide case studies and diagrams outlining actions that must be taken across the health, education, and social sectors involved in addressing the condition. Raising awareness and enhancing knowledge of the condition by understanding the cultural needs and barriers to best practices, for example, will facilitate treatment and the development of educational curricula. The Autism report will recommend that interdisciplinary training spans sectors, with providers, teachers, and families working together to ensure best treatment for the individual at the earliest stages possible. At home, modifications can be made with respect to services offered and equipment requested, along with counseling and education.
Kerim Munir, MD, MPH, D.Sc., is Director of Psychiatry in the University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disorders at the Boston Children’s Hospital. He is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Society Fellow in Global Health in the Scholars in Medicine Program at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on developmental psychopathology and developmental epidemiology with specific emphasis on autism spectrum and intellectual developmental disorders. Currently he is director of the Fogarty International Center and National Institute of Mental Health funded Non-Communicative Diseases (NCD) Across the LIFESPAN Global Mental Health and Neurodevelopmental Disorders program and the Fogarty International Center funded Research Ethics Initiative at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is the recipient of many awards including the Klaus Peter Award in International Medical Education from Harvard Medical School (2006), the International Award for contributions to Research Capacity Development by the National Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Association in Turkey (2008), the George Tarjan Award in Developmental Disabilities by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2011), and T. Berry Brazelton Award in Pediatric Innovation by the Boston Children’s Hospital (2013). He is currently Chair of the Section of Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability / Intellectual Developmental Disorders in the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), a Vice-President of the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professionals (IACAPAP) and a member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Committee on Autism and Intellectual Disabilities