The Guaranty Trust Holding Company’s (GTCO) 15th Annual Autism Conference has underscored the urgent need for early autism support and greater societal inclusion in Nigeria.

Oyinade Adegite, Head of Corporate Communication at GTBank, reaffirmed the bank’s unwavering commitment to raising awareness about autism and promoting a more inclusive society for individuals on the spectrum.

The conference, which opens today, July 15th to 17th at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, aims to spotlight the critical importance of early intervention and the need to cultivate an inclusive environment where individuals with autism can thrive.

Speaking during a press briefing ahead of the conference, themed “From Awareness to Action: 15 Years of Advancing Autism Inclusion.

Adegite expressed the need to engage directly with communities to raise awareness and promote understanding that individuals with autism are simply different, not deficient. 

She stressed the importance of fostering a welcoming environment for those on the spectrum. “We often wonder what truly matters, and one answer is amplifying the voices of those who are usually unheard. Sometimes we speak up, and sometimes we feel ignored.

 This frustration is even more profound for children and adults who struggle to express themselves. It’s crucial for society and communities to recognize and respect these differences.”

Dr. Grace Bamgboye, an expert in speech and language therapy, highlighted how crucial early detection and support are in enabling children with autism to thrive. 

“The sooner we can identify autism and provide intervention, the better the chances for these children to succeed,” she explained.

Autism advocate Solape Azazi shared her own journey navigating the challenges faced by families. She pointed out the pressing need for increased support and resources, noting, “Too many families are left to manage on their own without access to the tools and assistance necessary to help their children flourish.”

“For the past 15 years, GTCO has remained deeply committed to advancing autism awareness and fostering inclusion across Nigeria. Through its ongoing initiatives, the organization has created a supportive space where individuals with autism and their families can share their stories, find community, and gain strength from shared experiences.

This year’s conference will offer a variety of engaging sessions—including hands-on workshops, specialized clinics, and advocacy-focused discussions—all aimed at deepening public understanding and encouraging greater societal acceptance.

With appropriate support systems and access to necessary resources, people on the autism spectrum have the potential to live rich, purposeful lives and make meaningful contributions to their communities.

A disability rights group, under the auspices of Network of Women with Disabilities (NWD), has called for 5% of legislative seats to be specifically reserved for women with disabilities in the Reserved Seats for Women Bill currently under review by the National Assembly.

Lois Auta, President of the Network, has urged the National Assembly to ensure inclusive representation in the ongoing constitutional review.

 In a memorandum presented during the Zonal Public Hearings, she called for five percent of the 181 proposed additional legislative seats for women to be specifically set aside for women living with disabilities.

Auta emphasized that the proposal is not a matter of benevolence, but one of fairness, justice, and equal rights.

“True representation is about justice, not sympathy. Women with disabilities deserve a constitutionally guaranteed presence in Nigeria’s political system,” she said. 

“At least five percent of the proposed special seats for women should be allocated to this group, and all legal and constitutional language must reflect inclusivity and a rights-based approach.”

She also advocated for comprehensive reforms within political parties to create pathways for women with disabilities to contest and assume leadership roles.

She emphasized the need for political spaces to be accessible, highlighting the importance of inclusive campaign venues and polling stations.

 She also proposed the creation of an Electoral Support Fund specifically designed to support candidates with disabilities.

The President of the NWD urged legislators to take bold and timely action to guarantee that women with disabilities are given reserved seats, stressing that this is essential for achieving truly inclusive governance.

A new report has revealed that five-year-old children with special educational needs in England are now 20 months behind their peers, raising concern over a widening gap in the country’s education system.

 The Education Policy Institute’s (EPI) annual report, published on Tuesday, warns that, five years after the pandemic, the attainment gap for these children continues to widen, with little sign of recovery.

 The disruption caused by Covid, including school closures and reduced attendance, has left disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs struggling to catch up.

Though the disadvantage gap at primary and secondary schools narrowed marginally between 2023 and 2024, it says disadvantaged pupils remain significantly behind their peers, with the gap up to a month wider than before the pandemic.

The gap has grown yet wider among children in reception class right at the start of their education, with pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) the most severely affected, the EPI analysis shows.

In 2024, five-year-olds with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legally binding documents that outline the additional support required – were 20.1 months behind their peers, the widest gap on record since EPI analysis began more than a decade earlier.

Five-year-olds from lower-income families than their peers are also falling further behind, prompting warnings that the impact of the pandemic has had “long-lasting effects on infants’ development”.

Natalie Perera, EPI’s chief executive, said the report showed that five years on from the pandemic the education system had yet to recover.

“Our youngest and most vulnerable learners are still paying the price. This should be a significant concern for policymakers,” she said. “Without swift action, we are baking lifelong disadvantage into the system. Higher levels of funding for disadvantage, addressing student absence, and fixing the Send system, which is at crisis point, are urgent priorities.”

The EPI report compares pupil attainment in 2024 with the previous year and with 2019, the year immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, based on economic disadvantage, Send, gender, ethnicity, English as an additional language (EAL) and geography.

It finds that fewer disadvantaged young people are participating in education post-16 than at any point since 2019, resulting in more than one in five disadvantaged 16-year-olds out of education or training.

At key stage 4, which culminates in GCSEs and in education for 16-19-year-olds, the attainment of white British pupils has declined since 2019 relative to all other ethnic groups and girls have “made consistently less progress than boys across secondary school once their attainment at age 11 is taken into account”.

John Barneby, the chief executive of Oasis Community Learning multi-academy trust, said: “The growing inequalities facing our youngest and most vulnerable children –particularly those with Send – are deeply concerning and risk entrenching disadvantage for a lifetime.

“Addressing these challenges requires bold investment and a shared commitment across society to give every child the opportunity to flourish and find their place in the world.”

Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “From a government whose mission is that background should not be a determining factor in success, we need to see more purpose and positive action.

“The gap identified between five-year-olds with special educational needs and disabilities and their peers is particularly alarming, and emphasises how important it is for the government to get right its planned reform of a system that is under unsustainable pressure and is not working well for anyone.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This report lays bare the widening disadvantage gap this government inherited, and which we are working flat out to solve through the plan for change.

“From next year we will be investing £9bn per year in a revitalised early-education system that helps get children ready for school, with working parents receiving 30 funded childcare hours a week, an almost 50% increase in early years disadvantage funding, and a strong new focus on improving the quality of reception-year education.”

The Guardian