Al Qutami inaugurates 1st Practitioner's Conference on Autism

His Excellency Mr. Al Qutami will make the introductory speech for the conference held on April 5, 2008 in Dubai Knowledge Village. This conference is organized by Dubai Autism Center under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Autism Center as part of the International Awareness Month of Autism, in collaboration with experts from Oxford and Birmingham universities in the United Kingdom and Minnesota and Harvard university in the U.S.A.

This conference aims at asserting the importance of early diagnosis, detection and early intervention of Autism. The event also discuss the various adopted treatments for this category of disability. Moreover, the conference provides practical strategies for medical practitioners to deal with Autism, targeting general doctors, pediatricians and primary health care professionals. This conference shall host many speakers, including Professor Anthony Bailey, Professor Michael Reiff, Professor Rita Jordan and Dr. Ramzi Nasir.

In this regard, Mohammad Al-Emadi, Board Member and Director General of the Center, confirms the importance of this conference, deeming it as a gateway linking both the educational and medical sectors. It also contributes in providing an opportunity for the staff working with children with Autism to exchange their experiences with experts and specialists who have long been in this field.

Al-Emadi adds that the sponsorship of this conference by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Autism Center springs from the care from His Highness to the provision of this opportunity, raising the level of educational and medical services related to people with special needs. It is important to offer services that are suitable and appropriate for the children and their families.

The objectives of this event fall in line with the Crown Prince of Dubai's emphasis on the importance of early intervention for various disabilities, including Autism; as well as with the fast-paced development that Dubai is witnessing. Al-Emadi thanked Dubai Health Authority, Dubai International Financial Centre, the Knowledge Village, Noor Dubai radio, Al-Bayan Newspaper, and Autism Help Association for their sponsorship.

The Dubai Health Authority is the official sponsor for the conference and the program agenda was accredited by the Health & Medical Services Department in Dubai, as a seven hours credited course.

About the speakers in the conference:

Anthony Bailey holds the Cheryl and Reece Scott Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford and his research centers on the study of Autism. He took a Bsc in Experimental Pathology at the London Hospital Medical College, and was an MRC Clinical Scientist at the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre. He was also a Senior Lecturer in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry. His main research has been concerned with investigating the neurobiological basis of autistic disorders, using genetic, neuropathological and neuroimaging approaches in an attempt to understand the mechanisms involved in the development of Autistic behavior. His interest in this field was stimulated by participation in the second UK study of same-sex twins with Autism, which demonstrated both the strength of genetic influences on the development of Autism yet also the considerable variability in its manifestations. He is an Editor of the Journal of Neural Transmission and Editor-in-Chief of Autism Research.

Rita Jordan has a Bsc: Psychology, an Msc: Child Development & Research Methods and an MA: Linguistics. Her doctorate was in pronoun development in Autism. Since 1993, she developed a range of professional development programmes in Autism studies at The University of Birmingham, including a web-based one. She has written about and researched many aspects of ASD and has been involved in training events, consultations and conferences all over the world. Her publications include 17 books (with 16 translations). She has served on national and international task forces and working parties to review evidence and offer advice in relation to ASD. She was consultant to the Expert Committee on the Education of Children and Young People with Autism for the Council of Europe (2003-2006). Rita has been responsible for founding two journals on Autism: Autism: the International Journal of Research & Practice and Good Autism Practice. She has been editor of the former journal for 11 years and has served on the Editorial Board of 3 other journals. In 2007 she received an OBE for her services to special needs education.

Michael Reiff M.D. Director Autism Program, University of Minnesota, he was Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Director of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Children's Hospitals and Clinics Minneapolis, affiliated with American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Minnesota Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and a member of American Academy of Pediatrics, Prof. Reiff has many contributions in regional, national and international conferences and presentations.

Ramzi Nasir is an attending Physician at the Developmental Medicine Center at Children's Hospital Boston and an Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. He was affiliated with some institutions recently like: Indiana University Medical Group, Indianapolis, IN and Wishard Memorial Hospital, Indianapolis, IN. Dr. Nasir is also a member of Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. During 1998 till 2001 Dr. Ramzi was Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, and Indianapolis, IN. Dr. Nasir took a M.P.H. from Harvard School Of Public Health in 2007, M.D. from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1994 and B.Sc., Purdue University in 1990. He is certified and licensed from the American Board of Internal Medicine, American Board of Pediatrics, and certified from Massachusetts. Dr. Ramzi has many contributions in regional, national and international conferences and presentations. He cares for a wide range of children with developmental and behavioral disorders such as Autism, ADHD, and Mental Retardation. He is also involved in research on the genetic causes of developmental and cognitive disorders.