Autism in Egypt

Since The Egyptian Autistic society was established in 1999 I have met and diagnosed thousands and thousands of children. I meet at least 4-5 new families a week coming from all over the world but mainly from Egypt and the Arab world. Without realizing I noticed several patterns and had many observations. Very often I would catch myself asking the parents questions related to the patterns I found. This article is nothing more than my personal observations. It is not supported by any research by me (although some of the patterns after looking at literature seem to have been noticed and researched by others). -        The most “exciting” and baffling observation in my eyes, is the fact that so many of the children I see are a result of either IVF or at least their mothers had taken hormones to speed up pregnancy. I said “exciting” and baffling because of the implications this observation could have if it is indeed true that there may be a link between hormone imbalance (excessive ma

In 1995 I returned to Egypt after finishing my degree in Australia. I worked in a special needs school for four years as School Psychologist while I finished my Post Graduate Diploma in Dyslexia. I discovered my passion for Autism so I travelled one summer and took the TEACCH training. I came back and set up a classroom for children with Autism only using the TEACCH method.  By 1998 I realized that there needed to be an entity specifically for Autism (with no other disabilities) so I set up the Egyptian Autistic Society. I started by giving sessions to the children and advising parents on what to do at home. I trained staff and started doing day trips in the community and called it the 'Saturday Social Club'. Very quickly it became apparent that the children needed more than individual sessions so I set up a classroom and started the 'Head Start' full day program. I hired a Speech and Language Therapist who also started working with the children daily. I was approach