Smith: We Need To Work Together To Deal With Autism
By Amin Hosni

Bandar Seri Begawan - Debbie Smith from Sydney will be one of the four guest speakers at the upcoming 5th Brunei National Conference on Autism.

She will be the advisor to the committee at the conference, which will be held tomorrow. The Bulletin recently caught up with her for an interview.

When asked how she expects the government/society to assist in issues concerning autism in the Sultanate, she said:

"Autism is a really important issue because the number of people with autism around the world is increasing. No one knows why and so one of the things that is important is that everybody needs to work together to do something about that.

"Looking after individuals is difficult because it takes a lot of time... a lot of organising of what you are doing, financial input because individuals with autism need lots of therapy and maybe special equipment.

"So what needs to happen is that everybody needs to work together to deal with it.

"The conference focuses on support and all the different kinds of support in all different areas that are important. I'm doing a paper in education and how we can make sure the people with autism can have access to the whole of the curriculum.

"There is also a paper that concerns people dealing with the law... because people with autism have difficulty communicating. Sometimes they get into trouble because people think they're doing the wrong things or they don't understand what other people are doing.

"One of the papers will look at how we can help law enforcement officers understand people with autism and how they might deal with it. It is really, basically, about support... how we can work together and do the best we can."

She continued, "I hope that by the end of the conference we can come up with resolutions on how we can all work together ... and that we can make people with autism reach their full potential, because if we don't support them, they can't do that.

"It would be nice to see some way forward, where there would be some ongoing discussion with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education about their welfare ... on how we might be able to provide some support.

"As children with autism grow up, we want them to be as independent as possible, to participate in society as well... And, the more effort and services that we put in earlier, the more likely those individuals are going to be able to be independent."

Asked how autism in Brunei differs from that abroad, Debbie said:

"The biggest difference is that in other countries - for example in Australia - there is a lot more support. This is in terms of financial support, support services and other agencies helping out.

"Here in Brunei, SMARTER is providing service for individuals, while not having much other support.

"SMARTER was established because there was really nowhere for children with autism to go to. Smarter has done a fabulous job in terms of providing the facilities, materials, support and all... but it lacks financial support.

"For a family with a child with autism in Australia, there are many kinds of allowances and things that are provided by the government, such as mobility allowance that allows you to get to therapy.

"There is no financial support here from the government. As an NGO, SMARTER doesn't receive extra money either, so they recall certain kinds of grants from the government." Debbie, 50, is currently the Central Coast Regional Programmes Coordinator for the Cancer Council of New South Wales.

She lived in Brunei from 1998 to January 2007 and has been involved with SMARTER Brunei since it began in 2001. Debbie has also done some in-service work with the Ministry of Education here in Brunei.

She was a lecturer at the Educational Psychology and Special Education at Universiti Brunei Darussalam and during her time there, she also served as the Head of Department of Teaching Practice for two years and the Co-ordinator of Special Education Programmes for three years.

Her experience includes work in a variety of educational, vocational and health related settings, with individuals who have a range of special needs.

In these settings she has worked as a speech therapist, educator, special educator, consultant as well as an administrator.

The 51 Brunei National Conference on Autism will be beneficial to all relevant parties especially parents, therapists, special teachers and nurses in the country as they can gain further knowledge on autism.

The 51 Brunei National Conference on Autism will be beneficial to all relevant parties especially parents, therapists, special teachers and nurses in the country as they can gain further knowledge on autism.

Two representatives from the Canadian and British embassies will also share with us on what sort of support system for autistic individuals are available in their respective country.

The British representative will present his paper on Friday morning, while the Canadian representative will deliver his paper on Saturday noon.

Registration for the conference will be open until the actual conference on Friday, September 7. For more information call 2661830, 8732046 or 8743777.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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