Is Sri Lanka sitting on an autism time-bomb? What are the causes and are we equipped to deal with it?
One in every 150 or 100 children may turn out to be autistic in the near future. This is the prediction of Prof. Hemamali Perera, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.....
In 2001, the world witnessed clouds of dynamited dust rising from the destroyed 55 metre tall, 6th century AD Bamiyan statues located on the ancient Silk route linking China and ancient Persia. These silent icons reminded travellers who passed through the great green valley of the Buddha’s compassionate ways.
The village of ‘Ali Oluwa’ has been in the news since the Mavil Aru battle last year. Villagers frequently experience the terrors of war in this border village in Seruwila in the Eastern Province. On several occasions, artillery fire has forced them to evacuate to safer ground. This time though they face a new threat- a lone jackal lurking around the village.
What inspired me to write this article (and even some others that were published in Sri Lankan newspapers recently), is an interesting book entitled “On Horseshoe Street” authored by Tissa Devendra. Although I had known him before, I got to know Tissa more closely when he came over as a provincial administrator to the southern town of Matara where I was serving as the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) in the early seventies.
Is Sri Lanka sitting on an autism time-bomb? What are the causes and are we equipped to deal with it?
One in every 150 or 100 children may turn out to be autistic in the near future. This is the prediction of Prof. Hemamali Perera, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist.....
In 2001, the world witnessed clouds of dynamited dust rising from the destroyed 55 metre tall, 6th century AD Bamiyan statues located on the ancient Silk route linking China and ancient Persia. These silent icons reminded travellers who passed through the great green valley of the Buddha’s compassionate ways. 
The village of ‘Ali Oluwa’ has been in the news since the Mavil Aru battle last year. Villagers frequently experience the terrors of war in this border village in Seruwila in the Eastern Province. On several occasions, artillery fire has forced them to evacuate to safer ground. This time though they face a new threat- a lone jackal lurking around the village. 
What inspired me to write this article (and even some others that were published in Sri Lankan newspapers recently), is an interesting book entitled “On Horseshoe Street” authored by Tissa Devendra. Although I had known him before, I got to know Tissa more closely when he came over as a provincial administrator to the southern town of Matara where I was serving as the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) in the early seventies. 