Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC (GTCO) has announced that its flagship Orange Ribbon Initiative for the year 2023 will centre on promoting inclusivity and self-advocacy for persons suffering from Aspergers Syndrome (Autism).
The group chief executive officer, GTCO, Mr. Segun Agbaje, at a media parley held on Thursday in Lagos,
asserted that society thrives when diverse individuals with their distinctive boilers, perspectives, and culture are welcomed and celebrated.
Agbaje stressed that, it is therefore important that persons on the ASD spectrum are given the chance to succeed and empowered to experience life at its fullest.
“We are excited about the evolving insights on the management of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can find their voices and embrace their uniqueness whilst contributing meaningfully to society,” he averred.
While advocacy for awareness on dealing with Autism is being canvassed for in the rural areas, just as it is in the cities, eschewing stigmatisation and acceptance of people living with Aspergers is also identified as germain to showcasing the diverse potential that exists in the autism community, creating platforms for autism spectrum disorder persons, and their families to connect and share ideas on its nature and how to manage them into society.
Behavioural specialist, Osezusi Bolodeoku affirmed that, as people are getting aware and being exposed to information, parents will tap into how they can deal with the spectrum disorder as there is an upward trajectory with parents embracing the information about Autism.
and coming out to seek professional guidance on catering to their wards.
As a result, creating platforms to address autism will reach rural areas, educate, and changes the way people perceive persons with Asperger syndrome, Bolodeoku averred.
Seasoned professionals/experts in the health field such as social workers, speech and language therapists, Behaviour specialists, and psychologists are earmarked to be facilitators of the conference and consultation sessions.
Themed: ‘Empowering Voices for Autism,’ the event, which has become an all-year intervention programme is scheduled to hold the autism conference on the 24 and 25th of July with a one-on-one consultation kick-starting on the 26th to 29th of July, 2023 in Ikeja, Lagos.
For Ghana, the envoy will be kick-starting with a workshop on the 1st of August, 2023 as the consultations start from the 2nd to the 5th of August at the University of Professional Studies, Accra.
