BRUNEI should set up an independent agency that provides early diagnosis and intervention for autistic individuals, said a Malaysian expert.

"This agency should not provide one-on-one services, but have the full comprehensive services that proactively identifies children who have disabilities, placements.... and diagnosis," said Senior Lecturer Dr Hasnah Toran of Early Intervention, Autism and Assessment at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

During the "Issues, Challenges and Future Directions: Early Diagnosis and Interventions for Autism" forum at the Civil Service Institute, she said that the Child Development Centre (CDC) in Brunei does not provide such services, even though it provides assessment and screening.

She added: "Services for individuals with autism must be accessible and geographical."

Dr Hasnah recommended CDC to dig out their archives of records of at least 10 years, and identify children who have been diagnosed with autism.

"Brunei should scout proactively, and find out information on children who are autistic and they should find out what kind of disabilities they have," she said.

Smarter Centre President Malai Hj Abdullah Hj Malai Othman said one of the challenges in helping autistic individuals was gaining support from the society and government.

He said that society should be fluid in accommodating and adapting to autistic individuals and create a more autism friendly setting."There is (some extent) of support, but it is inconsistent because of commitment issues. A lot of projects have not been carried through," he said, adding that Bruneians were generally reactive.

Malai said it was important to get autistic children to be part of the community. "At Smarter, we are trying to prepare our children to go into the community, where the community should give them allowances to be who they are."

He lauded The Empire Hotel and Country Club for being an autism friendly place. 

"We brought our children for movie screenings three times to the Empire Cinema, and they have been (adapting) to our children. So there needs to be more places like this."

He further said that it is also a challenge to keep up to date with current standards. 

"We have to keep on innovating."

Another forum participant, Learning Ladders Society (LLS) President Dr Sharina Hj Yunus shared that there are low income earning parents of autistic individuals who live in remote areas. 

"These people do not have accessibility to information."

She added that teachers and parents need more training on intervention strategies for autistic children. 

"They need to be equipped with sufficient knowledge, as teachers are the frontline staff who meet parents and children with autism," she said. 

Dr Sharina said she would like to see autistic individuals realise their dreams and ambitions. 

"Their rights as individuals should be respected. It does not mean that because they have a disability, they are at a disadvantage."