CHILDHOOD AND ADULT AUTISM. DISCUSSED AT THE BIOMEDICAL CAMPUS UNIVERSITY OF ROME.

 April 2nd is “International Autism Awareness Day”: atUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma an opportunity to reflect on the quality of interventions and the importance of specialized medical training

Rome, 28 March 2025 According to the most recent data, 1 in 36 children falls on the autism spectrum. And while scientific awareness of these issues is growing, clinical staff training is often still inadequate to address the needs of autistic individuals. 

The opportunity for a discussion on these issues will be the conference "Quality of care in autism spectrum disorder: current challenges and future prospects", promoted from the Association Let's Discover Autism and welcomed with enthusiasm and participation by the Professor Vincenzo Di Lazzaro, Dean of the Departmental Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at UCBM. The event, hosted in the Great Hall of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, it's a moment of training for students and information open to the public, scheduled for  Wednesday, April 2nd from 09.00:11.30 to :. 

There is a need to provide the doctors of tomorrow with a more “holistic” training, as he defines it Andrea Rossi, CEO and DG of theUCBM, who will introduce the conference proceedings. "Our University supports the path of its students with a comprehensive training project", explains Rossi "taking care not only of their technical and scientific skills but also of their human ones, which really make the difference.". Rossi emphasizes the three aspects of empathy, listening, understanding and adds: "Opportunities like this are precious for the maturation of our students, and we as UCBM we are always available to collaborate with serious companies such as the association Let's Discover Autism". 

The seminar stems from the desire to stimulate in-depth and up-to-date reflection on an increasingly widespread condition—that of autistic people—yet still too little understood within clinical and educational contexts. It is therefore necessary to bridge the gap between the ever-growing scientific awareness of autism spectrum disorder and the inconsistent training of the medical profession. This was highlighted by an article in the New England Journal of Medicine published in December 2024, titled “Providing Effective Medical Care to Autistic People” from which it emerges as autism is still little known by many health professionals, with direct repercussions on the quality of care provided. 

The participation in the conference of students from the Medicine, Nursing and Dentistry courses of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, sends an important message to everyone: Awareness and competence are cultivated right from university, where the professionals of tomorrow are trained, which already today needs to be offered an updated scientific overview, but also a space to listen and discuss with those who experience autism firsthand. 
 
The presence of the Honorable has been confirmed for the event on April 2nd Ylenia Lucaselli, who has always been a strong supporter of the work carried out by the association "Let's Discover Autism". During the morning's proceedings, Dr. Barbara Manzi, a child neuropsychiatrist, will illustrate the reasons why autism remains a disorder whose clinical complexity is still poorly understood. To Dr. Claudia Di Giulio, psychologist and psychotherapist, the task of investigating the cognitive and social difficulties of people on the spectrum, and Dr. Valentina Catapano, a neuropsychomotor therapist, will delve into aspects related to behavioral rigidity and sensory sensitivity. A practical look at the most effective environmental adaptation strategies will also be provided, thanks to the intervention of the educationalist. Adriano Antonini, which will present the importance of visual strategies and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to facilitate interaction and understanding in everyday contexts. The contribution of Victory Sparagna, a young graduate in Political Science and autistic person, who will offer her testimony on the perception of health and illness from the point of view of those who live with the spectrum condition every day. An authentic and direct voice, fundamental to understanding the real effectiveness – or ineffectiveness – of the clinical and social models adopted so far. 

The adult perspective of autism will be addressed by Dr. Martina Skin, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, who will focus on the phase of adulthood, marked by even more complex diagnostic challenges and a scarcity of resources and structured therapeutic paths. 
The final speech will be given by the Honourable Paula Binetti, a child neuropsychiatrist, with a reflection on the current state of autism-related health policies and future prospects, also in light of new scientific evidence and the evolution of the public debate. 
The event aims not only to inform, but above all to create culture. Because only through truly inclusive training, which takes into account the voices of autistic people and the new clinical and social challenges, is it possible to build a more equitable, competent, and humane healthcare system. In this sense, World Autism Awareness Day is much more than an anniversary: it is a concrete opportunity to activate change.