On the night of April the 1st, Beijingers were greeted with an interesting sight: the city’s iconic China Central Television Tower was entirely lit up in blue light. The intention was to mark World Autism Awareness Day, as part of the global “light it up blue” campaign initiated by Autism Speaks (美国自闭症之声) since 2011. Themed “Different Color, Same Beauty” (不同的色彩，一样的美丽), the ceremony at the Tower drew the participation of over 300 people including experts, scholars, autistic children, parents, volunteers and celebrities. The Chinese Women Development Foundation (中国妇女发展基金会), Autism Speaks, China Central Television Tower, the Sixth Hospital of Peking University (北京大学第六医院) and Beijing Anding Hospital (北京安定医院) jointly organized the activity. The intention was to bring more attention to autistic children and grant them more equal opportunities to study, work, and live.
During the ceremony, the “China Autism Service Platform” project (中国自闭症服务平台), which was prepared by the CWDF and Sun Yat-Sen University, was also inaugurated. The Service Platform was designed to incorporate the functions of electronic registration, information recovery, and data processing during its establishment, which took about 18 months. The Platform will become the most professional and convenient way to achieve plans for autism recovery, such as recovery in the community and recovery in the family.
