Speeches and Articles by U.S. Consul General James B. Cunningham

Consul General James B. Cunningham's Remarks
At the 2007 Hong Kong Autism Conference

September 1, 2007, 9:00 a.m.
At the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine
99 Wong Chuk Hang Road

Good morning. I am very pleased to be able to meet with you again this year, and to support your efforts. Welcome especially to the U.S. participants.

In preparing for this occasion, I ran across two works of fiction that caught my attention.

The first is Mark Haddon's 2003 novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I suspect many of you are familiar with it. This is a murder mystery like no other--first of all, the murder victim is a neighbor's dog, not a person. The story is written from the perspective of a boy, Christopher Boone, whose perceptual world seems focused to the point of fragmentation. Christopher has great difficulty interacting with other people successfully, especially when this involves reading non-verbal clues. He becomes disturbed when people try to touch or hold him. But he is at the same time extremely gifted with phenomenal mathematical skill.

Though the word is not mentioned in the book, it is clear that Christopher has Asperger's syndrome. Many people have read the book and come away with a beginning appreciation of the "different giftedness" of persons with Autism and related neuro-perceptual disorders. Seton Hall University recently made the book required reading for its students because of its ability to help people see the world through the eyes of others,

I've also been thinking about J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, whose concluding volume, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , came out this summer. You see, I noted on the Easter Seals' website a link to an essay by James Williams, an 18-year old with autism. James' essay, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Autism," was written for advanced primary and middle-schoolers and uses examples from the Rowling series to describe the experience of people with Autism.

He talks about Harry's feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable when he first has to talk to a girl as a potential date, and says that's how he feels whenever he has to talk with almost anyone. He mention's Hermione Granger's being singled out and made fun of by fellow students when she is too competent a student for their comfort, or too fixated on the details of some of the subjects she studies. He says that's how he feels when people react to some of his fixations and interests. Harry, of course, is misunderstood by his "muggle" (or non-magic) family and by fellow students at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, where much of the series action takes place. Harry is treated as an oddity who does not fit in; his complex life is regularly reduced to a simple slogan about what he can or cannot achieve. James notes that autistic children are not appreciated for what they are able to achieve, but rather judged by what others think they cannot do. James suggests that just as Harry's lightning-scar link to the evil wizard Voldemort marks him and makes him different, so does the link that he and other young people have to Autism mark them and make them different.

I would like for us to get a sense of who's here this morning.

Of those in the audience, who has a child with autism? Please raise your hand. Who here is a physician who treats autism? Please raise your hand. And who here is a therapist? Please raise your hand. I applaud you all for coming here today to join in this effort.

I'd like to thank the conference organizers - Darryl Tang and directors of the Autism Parents Network Foundation - for bringing us together. I would also like to thank the Autism Society of America, a leader in the U.S. autism community, the Easter Seals, Galtere International, and Disney for endorsing the conference. Thanks also to Easter Seals for posting James' essay online. Not least, I welcome the parents, family members, and leading autism specialists for being here.

It's an honor for me to recognize U.S. leadership in the fight against autism. Many of the top specialists in autism research and treatment are working in the United States . Partnership across the Pacific is important to make advances in this part of the world in facing Autism.

So I applaud the continued cooperation between the Autism Parents Network Foundation in Hong Kong and the Autism Society of America, and hope such international cooperation can yield far-reaching successes in further understanding this developmental disorder and in developing effective treatments.

A year ago, the Autism Parents Network organized this conference:

1. to inform people about overseas advances in treatment methods and request that successful methods be incorporated into our schools,
   
2. to correct misconceptions about autism such as the idea that autistic children are a uniform group, and
   
3. to discuss treatment strategies that address ALL dimensions of diagnosis and treatment so that patients, doctors and teachers can work in unison rather than separately.

During this weekend's conference, the Autism Parents Network is exploring new boundaries with determination.

Without spoiling any of the plot, I must say that your determination is much like that shown by Harry Potter in the "Deathly Hallows": a disposition of the will to go forward despite great odds. This year, the Autism Parents Network hopes to build on last year's conference by finding ways to bring "higher quality resources in treatment to Asia ." They seek to leverage resources - from the US and Hong Kong - for autism treatment in the region. And they are achieving it by building an autism school in HK and a regional autism treatment center in Bangkok , Thailand .

I find inspiring their vision in imagining the possibilities.

After all, autism among young children world-wide is increasing at a stunning rate year to year. A 2007 US Government (CDC) report found that 1 in 150 8-year old children in the U.S. today have an autism spectrum disorder. Although this room of 500 is not a nationally representative sample of the U.S. , we could imagine 3 to 4 people in this room would be autistic if this were a room of "8-year old children." The Autism Society of America estimates 1.5 million Americans and their families are now affected by autism, amounting to costs of U.S. $35 billion annually. Without proper resources, how will children, American or Asian, become self-sufficient once parents are no longer able to care for them?

In Asia , where will resources for autism treatment be coming from since there is no viable social welfare support and insurance companies are unwilling to subsidize the costs? It truly takes courage and imagination to "see the possibilities" past these telling statistics. How can a new school for autistic children in Hong Kong and a treatment center in Bangkok thrive and create value in this region? This issue of thriving involves much strategic thought, and this conference is a great place to engage in it.

I wish you well in your efforts. I hope that you will be able to arrive at a common plan of action to achieve the goal of enhancing treatment and prevention of autism.

Just as Christopher Boone has to persist and remind himself regularly to follow the scientific methodology of his hero Sherlock Holmes in order to discover the truth of the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, we must be persistent in seeking donors and sponsors. Just as Harry Potter has to face his nemesis Voldemort without fear and sometimes with very little hope, we must face the challenge that autism gives us and those we love. We must seek to overcome a general lack of awareness and painfully meager funding. Parental groups such as the Autism Parents Network in Hong Kong are fundamental in generating the interest required to remove the mystery surrounding the cause, diagnosis and treatment of autism.

But they cannot do it alone with what they have. Harry Potter in Order of the Phoenix, when Hogwarts faces a hostile takeover by very polite, but ultimately evil, bureaucrats from the Ministry of Magic, secretly teaches young wizards and witches how to defend themselves. In so doing, he is creating value out of nothing.

I hope this weekend will be a productive one for you, where you identify ways to leverage resources from the US , Europe, and Asia , whether they be strategic, financial, or managerial. You are embracing a great challenge, and I wish you every success.

Thank you.