The invitation cards sent by the prime minister to different individuals and organizations were created by autistic children, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“Generally, 20-25,000 copies of invitation cards are printed,” said the PM. “For the last few years, I have been using cards drawn by autistic children.”
She made these comments in a program celebrating World Autism Day at the Krishibid Institute in Farmgate on Monday.
The PM said: “It was only through my daughter, Putul, that I came to know of autism in details. Putul works with autistic children.
“One day, I went with her,” she continued. “I saw a child, who could not walk or move, was drawing a picture by holding the brush with her mouth. I took that picture.”
Ever since then, she has been using greeting cards made by autistic children, said the PM.
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The PM said that an Autism Protection Trust has been introduced for all disabled people.
“We want to build a complex through that trust, where all autistic children will be taken care of till their death,” said the PM.
She added that a foundation named Suchona Foundation has been built for the protection of people with autism.
Asking everyone to not underestimate autistic people, the Prime Minister further said: “Our disabled players were able to achieve gold for the country in the international arena, something other players were not able to do.”
She said that a sports complex in Savar and a playground in the National Parliament premises have been built to help disabled people.
“We have allocated an allowance of Tk125,000 lakhs for disabled children,” said Sheikh Hasina. She also welcomed influential people in the country to come forward in helping autistic children.
This article was first published on banglatribune.com