AUTISM SUNDAY 2010 EVENT

That this House welcomes the news that many more cathedrals, churches and religious organisations of all faiths are marking Autism Sunday 2010, the International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's syndrome, on 14 February 2010; notes that Autism Sunday was founded in 2002, Autism Awareness Year, by British autism campaigners Ivan and Charika Corea who are parents and carers of a 14 year-old teenager with autism, Charin Corea; further notes that they initiated the Autism Awareness Campaign UK in 2000 and a new autism charity for a new generation, the UK Autism Foundation, in 2008 and are campaigning and lobbying hard on behalf of poor families and people with autism and Asperger's syndrome; further notes that Autism Sunday started as a small acorn of an idea in their front room and has turned into a massive worldwide event, the first major disability event in the calendar; and supports the call of autism campaigners for world leaders to speak out on Autism Sunday and to provide better public services in education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care and help and to support poor families and people with autism and Asperger's syndrome during the recession.