UN Approves World Autism Awareness Day
From left, Bob Wright, Suzanne Wright, Jacqueline Aidenbaum Brandt, Juan Carlos Brandt and Mark Roithmayr at the United Nations
December 18, 2007, marked the final step in the creation of a World Autism Awareness Day. Around 11 a.m., the United Nations General Assembly, by unanimous consent, passed the resolution of the Third Committee designating April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day in perpetuity starting in 2008. The resolution was passed with minimal fanfare, but the day will be marked around the world with education, awareness and celebration. In attendance, courtesy of the State of Qatar, were Autism Speaks co-founders Bob and Suzanne Wright, Autism Speaks President Mark Roithmayr, and other Autism Speaks staff members. They were joined by Juan Carlos Brandt, head of the Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization and his wife Jacqueline Aidenbaum-Brandt, who are the parents of a child with autism.