My speech at the “2nd South Asian Conference for Autism” on 16 Jan 2008 at Delhi, India
Hello everyone
I was invited to th above conference by Action for Autism in Delhi, India. I spoke on “unconventional strategies on living with Asperger’s Syndrome” and Mrs Rukhsana Shah from Lahore spoke on autism “Awareness in Pakistan”. Both our speeches at the conference have been uploaded to Youtube.
Speech given by Asperger Savant Qazi Fazli Azeem (of Karachi, Pakistan) at the 2nd South Asian Conference on Autism, Delhi, India on 16 Jan 2008. Part1 and Part2
Speech given by Rukhsana Shah, founder of RAMAQ NGO of Lahore, Pakistan, at the 2nd South Asian Conference on Autism, Delhi, India on 16 Jan 2008. Part1 and Part2
My speech as seen on youtube is not complete, about 2 minutes of the end are missing due to a camera problem, however I will get the full video in a months time and will upload it. The best part was the Q&A session at the end of the speech, people there were happy that i was there as a representative of South Asia, there were 2 other Aspergers from India, and one from America, Dr Stephen Shore of Autism Society of America.
Photos have been added by Christopher Flint’s ActionAutism team here:
Visit to AFA School after the workshop
I can be seen in some photos.
The photos that I took can be seen here:
Inaugural ceremony of the AFA South Asian Conference. Seen here are guests, Anand Sharma of the MOS External Affairs.
I am seen sitting next to Dr Maroof who many of you have met.
The delegates and speakers from Bangladesh.
with Dr Stephen Shore, an Asperger like me. An inspirational person, I learned a lot from his presentations.
With my Asperger friends at the AFA.
Mr Adam Fienstein of Awares.org and the Looking Up Autism magazine. I had emailed him in November 2006, he remembered my email.
The banner of the 2-day TEACCH workshop I attended after the conference.
Christopher Flint and his team who taught me and 68 other people about the TEACCH methods.
Some of the things we made after the TEACCH workshop for a given child.
This is Merry Barua, Director of AFA, seen in a recent newspaper clipping.
Mr Usman Peerzada of Pakistan was there too, on a business trip.
After the conference ended, I was interviewed by NDTV (New Delhi Television of India for the Daily News)
and by Adam Fienstien for his Looking Up Autism Newsletter of england, and by Christopher Flint and his team
from Chicago for their documentary of autism in the subcontinent.
This above post is also posted here at the Pakistan Autism Meetup Group Forum.
A formal Introduction
Awareness Activist, Pakistan Autism Meetup Group Link
Country Brand Manager, Mövenpick of Switzerland (Pakistan) Link
Senior Training Executive, Arena Multimedia Defence Center, Karachi Link
Webmaster, Moderates -International Think Tank for Democracy, Tolerance & Interfaith Harmony Link
Visiting Faculty Member, Department of Computer Science, University of Karachi Link
Qazi Fazli Azeem was a confernce delegate and speaker from Pakistan for the “2nd South Asian Conference on Autism“, during 15-18 January 2008 in Delhi, India. Photos of the event can be seen here.
His personal experiences with Asperger’s Syndrome and teaching special needs students help in his efforts with Autism awareness and recommendations that he makes to people through the Pakistan Autism Meetup Group. Azeem has also been interviewed on the ARY Digital Channel, on Business Plus and the Herald Magazine (Dec 07) in Pakistan, in the American Chronicle (of Los Angeles, USA), in the Looking Up Autism Newsletter (of Scotland, UK), on NDTV (of Delhi, india) and by AACTION Autism (illinois, Chicago, USA).
Qazi Fazli Azeem is also the webmaster of the Moderates (www.moderates.com.pk), an International Think Tank for Democracy, Tolerance & Interfaith Harmony which promotes enlightened moderation and religious tolerance in Pakistan.
He also holds international expertise in Numerology, Ancient History of the Middle East & comparative religion.
On 6th October 2006 I found out by accident that I have nearly all the indicators which confirm Asperger’s Syndrome and ASD disorders. Everything in my unique life made sense, from my behavioral quirks, my lack of interaction with peers and people my age, obsession and mastery of esoteric subjects, dietary and sleep problems and lack of eye contact. Since this fell into place, I sought out people around me, professionals and doctors who I could talk to and found no one. Even foreign qualified psychologists and experienced doctors had absolutely no idea about how I was able to diagnose and give recommendations to children who showed signs of autism and Asperger’s syndrome, simply by observing them and asking a few questions. I went on a TV program to promote awareness, and then received hundreds of emails and phone calls from all over the world, doctors, educationists and parents, all of whom I gave my recommendations. The reason why my personal experiences are extremely important is that I had no idea about my own Asperger’s Syndrome till about an year ago, my 25 years of life was spent in figuring out unorthodox methods to improve myself, from fixing my eye contact issue, to personal chelation techniques, usage of vitamins, fixing my hyperactivity and sensory overload, directing my obsessions to professional subjects which helped me get a job, using my observations and memory to become an internationally certified teacher. My efforts continue to improve world peace and understanding of all people, especially understanding myself through helping those who are on the Autistic Spectrum of disorders. Together, we solve the question of human evolution.
Personal website with resume: www.fazliazeem.com
My interview videos (14 clips) have been uploaded to the youtube website.
A brief CV of the author: I am Asperger Savant Qazi Fazli Azeem, age 26, born in Karachi, Pakistan on 20 August 1981. I have a number of Autistic Spectrum Disorders, to see details read this. I found out about own Aspergers Syndrome in October 2006 by accident, after reading about a similar individual Bram Cohen. Since then, I have:
- Joined the Pakistan Autism Meetup Group (http://autism.meetup.com/77 ), and have posted hundreds of pages of data regarding my own system of chelation, diet, therapies, behavior, recommendations, and answers to doctors, parents and special education teachers, answering their questions. I have led the monthly meetings of the group in Karachi, both at the Ma Ayesha Centre and the Agha Khan Hospital, giving recommendations to parents and doctors about therapies, medication and diet. Since joining the Autism Meetup Group, membership has increased from 35 to 301 (Oct 2006 – Sep 2007).
- Through books and DVDs sent to from parents and doctors in USA, Canada and UK, I helped establish the first Autism Resource centre in Pakistan , at the Ma Ayesha Childrens centre in karachi, followed soon by an Autism Resource centre in Lahore
- Participated in an international Autism Genetic Research Project led by Dr John Vincent of the Canadian Institute for Addiction & Mental Health. Dr Vincent came to karachi to take saliva and blood samples from me and my family, along with him was Dr Douglas Blackwood of the Edinburgh University of England. ( www.camh.net).http://www.camh.net/Research/Research_publications/Research_AR_2006/john_vincent_ar2006_profile.html)
http://lib.bioinfo.pl/auth:Noor,A / http://lib.bioinfo.pl/auth:Vincent,JB see a group photo at www.fazliazeem.com - An Article was written about how I deal with ASD Disorders in the American Chronicle & the Los Angeles Chronicle, USA on 2nd May 2007 http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=25879
- Live Interview was conducted on ARY Digital in “Marina Mornings ” which was aired on 19th June 2007. Talked about personal experience with Aspergers Syndrome and Autistic Spectrum Disorders in Pakistan, symptoms, awareness, vaccines and mercury poisoning from pesticides, and answered live calls for parents of Autistic children from Pakistan, UAE and Dubai.
Download Video http://www.fazliazeem.com/resume.html - Interviewed on Business Plus in “Loose Ends” which was aired on 10th & 17th December 2006. Talked about personal experience with Aspergers Syndrome, my collaboration with the Canadian Institute for Addiction & Mental Health ( Canada) for Genetic research in Autism and advice for parents and teachers of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Download Video: http://www.fazliazeem.com/resume.html
- Lecture on Hyperlexia (ASD Disorder) given at the Department of Special Education, University of Karachi. 5th april 2007: read here http://autism.meetup.com/77/messages/boards/view/viewthread?thread=2927923&listpage=60
http://www.fazliazeem.com/articles.html - I participated in the online awares.org http://awares.org/conferences/ Autism 2006 conference
- I have been given a certificate of completion for the online Autism course by the Autism Society of America http://www.autism-society.org/
I can answer most questions on ASD Disorders, Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Hyperlexia, Savant Syndrome and Autism in families.
Please see www.fazliazeem.com for a complete list of Achievements, photographs and videos of interviews. Search “Qazi Fazli Azeem” on google.com and on youtube.com to find more things about my work.
The time will come when the world understands what we Aspies know right now: Aspergers Syndrome and Autism are a part of the Human Evolution Process.
