Every year there are many conferences provided throughout the world for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Unfortunately, they often can be unavailable to those who would benefit from them due to location being too far away; cost of the conference, travel and lodging; lack of available space at conferences due to high response; and, for parents, the inability to find adequate childcare for children with autism spectrum disorders for the entire day. AWARES.org has come up with a solution made available by current technology.

Wales based organization, Autism Cymru was established in 2001 as a charity to establish and support high quality services for people with autism spectrum disorders in Wales. In 2004, Autism Cymru hosted the 1st Wales International Autism Conference. Unfortunately due to high number of respondents they were unable to accept all the delegates who wished to attend the conference. All Wales Autism Resource conference center (AWARES.org) is their answer to this problem.

AWARES.org is in online conference center hosted by Autism Cymru. During the week of October17-21 they hosted their very first free online autism conference called Autism2005. Due to high demand, the conference will continue to remain open until October 27. Autism2005 included more than 30 autism experts addressing 15 subject areas. The papers written by the experts were often available prior to the conference week to those registered. During the week of the conference the experts were available to answer questions and interact with delegates through an interactive message board system.

Topics for the conference were as varied as the autism spectrum itself ranging from Asperger’s Syndrome to Savant Syndrome, Biomedical treatments to the latest in Genetic Research, as well as first hand experiences of those with autism. To participate in the conference topics, after registering, one can read the abstracts and full papers for each of these topics and then participate in discussions in that topic area. There are an overwhelming number of conference papers so fortunately the conference is well organized into the 15 topic areas. I found it helpful to choose one topic area of interest, read through the abstracts and papers in that area, and then join that conversation. When I felt I had learned what I wanted from that area, I would move onto the next one. In this manner the idea of an online conference is even more accommodating to an individual’s requirements in that you can take as much time in each area that interests you, as you need.

Experts also came from many various backgrounds including Professor Uta Frith, Professor Simon Baren-Cohen, Professor Tony Attwood, Donna Williams, Stephen Shore, Dr. Pauline Filipek and over 20 other international speakers who have greatly contributed to the field of autism. One of the more appealing attributes of the online conference is the ability to interact with the speakers as well as your peers with questions or comments one may have.

In addition to the papers and discussions there are other resources available at the conference site. Prior to the beginning of the conference, delegates could meet in the foyer for discussion of the conference, upcoming topics as well as other topics related to autism. There is also a pavilion where organizations that provide services for those with autism could have a “stand” by way of a web link to their site.

Naturally, first attempts are always a learning situation with some areas that need to be improved. This conference is no different. It appeared to take an unusually long time to load the pages in the actual discussion message boards. They were also set up in a way that it was a bit hard to follow the discussion. One was able to have replies to any of their posts emailed to them but if you did not post you were forced to wait through continual loading. Then each time you wanted to read a response, that response had to be loaded along with all the responses above or already opened. There were a few papers that were not available even after the start of the conference. Next to the speakers name would be a note that this paper would be available closer to the beginning of the conference but still 2 days into the conference they were not online. And finally, the pavilion area is a great idea for exchange of information and resources, but too few were listed. In fact, there were only 2 groups on the list and one was the host Autism Cymru.

Online conferences are an idea whose time has come. In our age of virtual reality, high technology and online degrees it makes perfect sense to access a worldwide wealth of information from the comforts of our own homes. Congratulations to Autism Cymru and their AWARES.org website for having the ingenuity to provide the world with this resource. With continued growth and improvement it has the potential to be a superb resource for all those affected by autism spectrum disorders.

For more information on the conference, or to enter the discussions, click here.

Renee Baer
APOV on the Autism Spectrum

Renee can be contacted by emailing her at renee@asdrendrewolf.org.
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