Fustany Team 
On the 2nd of April, the world, including Egypt, will put on blue lights to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day. The blue lights will shine, in honor of the millions of individuals and families affected by autism worldwide.
In order to spread awareness about autism, we thought we should give you a quick brief of what’s it’s like to be autistic. Autism is a developmental disability that appears during the first three years of the life of a child. Originally, it is the result of a neurological disorder that profoundly affects the functioning of the brain. For example, an autistic individual would have a repetitive behavior, like hands flapping and tapping. They generally have difficulty communicating with others and relating to the outside world.
In Egypt, one organization took the responsibility to shed the light and actually take the first step to offer a helping hand. It is the Egyptian Autistic Society (EAS), a nonprofit organization, founded by Dahlia Soliman in 1999. EAS is not only here to spread awareness, it's a place that parents can seek if they suspect their child is autistic or if their child has been already diagnosed with autism. They offer the best educational programs, specifically for autism, to help children grow and develop in a healthy and supporting society.
So are you ready to take the first step and help spread awareness? #IAMTHEFIRSTSTEP is the name of the campaign EAS is launching, to spread awareness about autism, which will last until many spots in Egypt illuminate in blue lights on the 2nd of April.
Major Egyptian fashion designers are getting on board to put their blue colored designs on auction to donate to Egyptian Autism Society. Amina K., Di-Vie, Nuniz will put an auction on special pieces from their collections, the pieces will be also in blue. The proceeds of the sales of the special designs will be donated to support unprivileged children with autism.
Meanwhile, keep up with the campaign on social media platforms with these hashtags, to stay up to date to what comes next: #IAmTheFirstStep #AutismEgypt #LIUB #AutismSpeaks
