The first ever Atlantic Provinces Autism conference will be held this week.
Experts will discuss assessments, treatments and support.
Dr. Kimberly Maich is an autism researcher and she also has a 27 year old son with ASD.
“People might say that ASD is what they call an invisible disability. You can’t necessarily look at a person and see it, yet it is there with all of their social interactions of the world,” Maich says.
She says the diagnosis has changed over the past ten years and the numbers are rising, “We actually just received the numbers for Canada for last year. The numbers were actually highest in Newfoundland.”
Dr. Maich says some will not communicate verbally, whereas on the opposite side of the spectrum, there are those who like to talk a lot.
The conference runs on Thursday and Friday at the University of New Brunswick.
Experts will discuss assessments, treatments and support, “In terms of ASD because it is a social communication based disorder, it is all about how you interact with people and how we make each other understood to one another. If we are looking at teaching, how do we do that in the best way?” Dr. Maich asks.
She is featured as a keynote speaker, who will speak about her personal experiences and journey of having a son with ASD.
