…Holds 8th Annual Autism Conference July 17-18
Foremost African financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank plc, will hold the 8th edition of its Annual Autism
Conference on Tuesday, July 17 and Wednesday July 18, 2018 at the MUSON Centre,
Onikan, Lagos. Themed “Raising a Child with Autism, the Role of Family
and the Community” the two-day conference is part of the Bank’s Annual
Autism Program, which brings together globally renowned medical specialists,
parents, caregivers, health practitioners and concerned members of the public
to share ideas on how to support children and adults living with Autism.
According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 160 children live with
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) worldwide. In Nigeria, the condition is hardly
diagnosed, rarely understood and children with ASD often suffer stigmatization.
In response to these challenges, GTBank launched the Orange Ribbon Initiative
to support children and adults living with Autism and other developmental
disabilities. Through this initiative, the Bank has, over the last 7 years, offered
more than 14,000 people training on how to manage ASD, provided free one-on-one
consultation services to over 3,200 children and led a sustained campaign to
tackle the stigma facing people living with Autism.
This year, the Bank’s Autism Programme will begin with the 2018 Autism
Conference which is free to attend and open to the general public. The
conference will also be streamed live on facebook.com/gtbank and people across
all social media platforms can also join the conversation by using the hashtag
#BeAVoice. Following the Autism conference will be free one-on-one consultations
for children with Autism and other developmental challenges as well as
counselling of their parents and guardians. There will also be sessions for
Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy, Behaviour Analysis, Audiology, Clinical
Psychology, Developmental Psychiatry, Physiotherapy, and Occupational Therapy.
These sessions will hold from Thursday July 19 to Monday
July 23, 2018 at Digital Village, Alausa, Lagos.
Commenting on the 8th Annual Autism Awareness Conference, Mr
Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty
Trust Bank plc, said; “Like every other child, children with Autism have big
dreams and amazing talents to contribute to our society, but they need all our
support to rise above their present difficulties. As an institution that is
passionate about helping young people achieve their dreams, we will continue to
lead initiatives and create programmes that ensure that every child, regardless
of their challenges, has all the support they need to reach their full
potential.
Guaranty Trust Bank plc is a Nigerian financial
institutions that has maintained a defined Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) strategy since its inception in 1990. The Bank actively supports numerous
programmes across Africa that positively affect Infant and Maternal Healthcare,
Education, the Art, Community Development and the Environment
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