User:P.newhart/sandbox

See also: Sociological and cultural aspects of autism § World Autism Day

World Autism Awareness Day is a nationally observed day on the 2nd of April every year, encouraging Member States of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about children with autism throughout the world. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly resolution "62/139. World Autism Awareness Day", passed in council on November 1, 2007, and adopted on December 18, 2007. It was proposed by the United Nations representative from Qatar, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, Consort of His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar, and supported by all member states.

This resolution was passed and adopted without a vote in the UN General Assembly - mainly as a supplement to previous UN initiatives to improve human rights. Since its creation the awareness of autism issues have been brought all over the world and autism researched as boomed as a result.

World Autism Day is also one of only four official health-specific UN Days. The day itself brings individual autism organizations together all around the world to aid in things like research, diagnoses, treatment, and overall awareness for those with the disorder and looking for help.

Components

The original resolution had four main components:

• the establishment of the 2nd day of April as World Autism Awareness Day, beginning in 2008
• invitation to Member States and other relevant organizations to the UN or the international societal system, including non-governmental organizations and the private sector, to create initiatives to raise public awareness of autism
• encourages Member States to raise awareness of autism on all levels in society
• asks the UN Secretary-General to deliver this message to member states and all other UN organizations

Notable Initiatives

April 2, 2008

The First autism Awareness Day was highly mandated and hosted by the UN branches around the world. The highlighted events were held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The events hosted by the UN includes a panel discussion sponsored by Qatar and the UN representative responsible for the resolution, along with the World Health Organization and the NGO Autism Speaks. In addition, there was a briefing held for NGO's on topics relating to autism awareness. Both of these events focused on personal efforts for awareness raising and eliminating negative stigma associated with with autism. In addition, there were highlights on the struggles of people with autism and the importance of better understanding the disorder.

Autism Speaks

This is considered one of the largest non-governmental organization in the field of efforts to raise awareness to autism, further research, and act as a advocate to those with the disorder. This group is considered to lead the field in science and advocacy, and is a leader in research dealing with causes, prevention, treatments and cures. They also act as a large support system for families of an autistic person.

Light It Up Blue

Light It Up Blue is one of the larges initiatives posed by Autism Speaks. It is observed on WAAD, and is a dedication to autism awareness.

Ontario

Autism Ontario celebrates World Autism Awareness Day by "Raising a Flag" for autism. Municipalities around Ontario raise a flag to raise awareness for autism in their region.

Onesie Wednesday

In 2014 WAAD coincided with Onesie Wednesday, a day created by the National Autistic Society to encourage people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to show their support for anyone on the autistic spectrum. By wearing a onesie or pyjamas, participants are saying, "it’s all right to be different".

Outcomes

United States

The United States is a major proponent of human rights. This past year in a Presidential Proclamation, President Obama highlighted some of the initiatives that the US government is taking to bring rights to those with autism and to bring awareness to the disorder. He highlights things like The Affordable Care Act, which prohibits health insurance companies from denying coverage based on a pre-existing condition such as autism. He also points out the recent Autism CARES Act of 2014, which provided higher level training for those serving citizens on the autism spectrum.

See also

• Awareness day
• Autism friendly
• Autism Sunday
• Autistic Pride Day
• Light It Up Blue
• United Nations' International Day of Persons with Disabilities

References

Category:April observances Category:Autism activism Autism Category:United Nations days

World Autism Awareness Day (outline)

• First, I am going to fix up the intro. The sentence structure is not very good, and needs to be fixed up. The information is slightly broken and can use more detailed information about the actual day, its mission and its creation.
• Then I am going to create a section about the actual resolution itself, how it was proposed, when, how it was passed, etc. It would then be helpful to describe the main points of the resolution to start this day - in addition to resisting the four main points to the article, as the previously listed ones did not accurately describe them.
• Then - I think it is important to go to discuss the actual missions of non-profit, such as Autism Speaks, and discuss what they do for this day, and how the initiative helps their community.
• After the non-profit discussion, I will go into what different nations are doing to bring awareness to this day. For example, I have some proclamations given by President Obama on this day. Furthermore, you can even break it down to individual cities or towns, and their respective events. I will try to highlight the most prominent and impactful annual events.
• Then I am going to try to find current sources about the advancements on Autism research since this day has come to be. This will probably be the most difficult thing, I have not yet found sources that can directly link a speeding up of research to autism awareness day. Another supplement to this would be the cultural effects of WAAD. This will be easier to find, as there are many articles from families, firms, and even people diagnosed with autism, who have written how this day has impacted the the social aspects and outlook of autism.
• I also think it would be important to add photos to this page as it is lacking any as of now.

Annotated Bibliography

• One Article 1I plan on using is the press release from the UN General Assembly meeting when the resolution to pass World Autism Awareness Day was presented.

This is a high quality article as it is found through the ProQuest web database and is an official press release from the UN council meeting this day. It is an official report of the way the movement was proposed and approved by the UN Assembly. This release was an original source used in the original article on Wikipedia, but the information taken from it is unclear and could be readdressed using this information. There is also additional information in this article that may be useful to expand on. This source is a neutral point of view, just recounting the events of the council meeting and will be easy to incorporate in NPV.

"THIRD COMMITTEE CALLS ON ASSEMBLY TO DESIGNATE APRIL 2 WORLD AUTISM DAY." US Fed News Service, Including US State NewsNov 01 2007. ProQuest. Web. 14 Oct. 2015 .

• Another Article 2 is another recounting of incentives passed in the general council meeting. This source was also used in the original article, but was used in a n incorrect manner. This article covers a little bit more information than used in the original article, and can be used to pose more knowledge in the introduction to the article. It is presented at a neutral standpoint and will be easy to incorporate as a NPV.

"General Assembly Adopts Landmark Text Calling for Moratorium on Death Penalty, Adopts 54 Resolutions, 12 Decisions Recommended by Third Committee" (Press release). UN General Assembly. 18 December 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2009.

• Article 3 is the next source I plan on using. This article covers the UN note presented on the first World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, 2008. This covers some o f the initiatives the the UN encourages countries to do and some of the events and initiatives that they themselves are holding. In my article, this information can be used to explore what actually happens on the specific day. This article is presented from the view of the UN recount, but expresses no personal views, so it comes across as very neutral. This will be easy to incorporate into my wikipedia page.

"UNITED NATIONS MARKS FIRST WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY TODAY | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases." UN News Center. UN, 2 Apr. 2008. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

• The next piece of information I plan on using is the actual resolution presented to the UN by the Qatar representative at the UN meeting. This information very poorly presented in the current World Autism Awareness Day article and could use cleaning up and a better source. There is also a lot more information about the stems of the day, citing different UN resolutions, and explicitly listing the four main initiatives by this specific resolution. It is presented as an initiative, and is presented in a very neutral voice and will not be difficult to incorporate into the article.

"About World Autism Awareness Day." Autism Speaks. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

• The next site that I will use is the information site for the company Autism Speaks. This is a company who's goal is to bring Autism Awareness, and is one of the main proponents to World Autism Awareness day. This will be a very useful source because it lists a lot of current initiatives for World Autism Day, in addition to some of the World Wide events that have happened. There is also a lot of information about how autism has advanced due to the efforts of World Autism Awareness Day.

I will be also finding more sources about different initiatives done by different countries, organizations (governments and NGO's), and also try to find neutral points about what what this day has brought to Autism Awareness, but have yet to pinpoint exactly which I will be using. There are so many first hand sources available, I am waiting to see which will be appropriate to incorporate as I go forward in the article development.