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KFSH ties up with US varsity for autism research

By By MD RASOOLDEEN RIYADH: The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center signed an agreement with the University of North Carolina and the US Center for Autism Speaks in Riyadh on Tuesday to conduct a research study on autism.

The ultimate aim is to eventually establish a Saudi Professional Development Center for Autism at the hospital.

The project is fully funded by the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation ( SABIC ), which has offered SR45 million to carry it out. The agreement is part of several projects undertaken by the hospital's Autism Research Center.

Qasim Al-Qasabi, chief executive officer of the hospital, signed the agreement with director of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Samuel L. Odom in the presence of SABIC Chairman Prince Saud bin Abdullah, who is also the president of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu.

US Ambassador James B. Smith was also present at the signing ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Al-Qasabi thanked SABIC for its generous donation toward the project.

SABIC 's contribution comes as part of its services toward community development projects," he noted.

He said the project, which is to be implemented in three phases, would identify ways of serving those affected with autism.

The incidence of autism is as low as 0.01 percent in the Kingdom, Al-Qasabi said, adding that it would increase with the growing population, which is why the hospital is taking preventive measures. He said the rate is very high in the United States.

Al-Qasabi said the agreement is the first initiative of an ambitious project the hospital has undertaken with the financial aid from SABIC .

Speaking to Arab News, Odom said the agreement engages his university to embark on a research project to develop a Saudi Professional Development Center for Autism.

"We will prepare professionals and teachers for scientifically based practices to meet the challenges in autism."

He said his team would also meet members of families afflicted with autism and hopes to visit major cities in the Kingdom during the next 18 months.

Mohammed Al-Dosary, director of the Autism Research Center at KFSH, said: "Our goal from this project is to establish a network of connected local autism centers working together with our major international collaborators to promote the use of evidence-based practices for children and youths with autism and their families in the Kingdom."

Al-Dosary pointed out that if autism is diagnosed at an early stage, children could be helped to lead a normal life. "The problem of abnormality sets in when such children are neglected at an early stage."

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. All these signs appear before an autistic child is three years old.

Under the agreement, Al-Dosary said, the hospital would coordinate with the US National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders, a multi-university center to promote the use of evidence-based practice for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

The center operates through three sites that include the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina, the M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California, and the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin.

© Arab News 2011