Over this week I have attended a series of meetings, functions and conferences all about Autism. I have a global mission and that is to develop services, awareness and treatment for children with Autism and related disorders in the developing world. It is the reason I moved to Egypt ten years ago and it is the reason I am now in New York and now why I am in Ohio. At the NATTAP conference tomorrow I am speaking about ASD services in Africa.

I have asked myself many times, Why Autism? I don’t know the answer to this question. Yes there’s intellectual curiosity but I am passionate about my global mission. Perhaps it’s not that I chose Autism, but rather Autism chose me. I moved to the USA because I believed it would give me the platform, information and network to support training and treatment in the developing world. After a few weeks of being in NYC, as much as I love the city, I began to worry, was this the right decision? is this my platform? people are concerned about services in New York City not even New York State so why would they care about Kenya, Nigeria or Egypt. Did I make the biggest mistake moving here?

Just as I was fated to move here I knew that things would change for the better. As my frame of mind changed I also felt a positive emotional shift. What I have discovered this week is that if you sincerely seek and need something it really does happen and doors open. You meet like minded people who want to collaborate and help, you are given resources to assist you in achieving your goals, and soon the dream becomes a reality….