The World Autism Organisation (WAO), a purely voluntary, charitable, Not for Profit organisation, was founded in 1998 by parents of autistic people. The main objective of the WAO is to encourage and foster the development of services appropriate to the needs of people with autism throughout the world. These needs are the same across the globe, but sadly there are still great differences in understanding and resources from one country to another. Our primary focus is to share knowledge and experience and to encourage resourcing in all those parts of the world where it is needed.