Song for autism for Brown, Cameron and Campbell » Health » 24dash.com

A song for autism, titled 'Open Every Door,' has been handed to the Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown, the Leader of the Opposition David Cameron and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell by Ivan Corea of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK.

Composed by the UK based Nimal Mendis, this is the first time that a South Asian singer/songwriter has written a song for autism.

Nimal Mendis has composed songs for the Asian Cinema and has also produced television documentaries for BBC TV and Channel 4. Mendis hopes that his song will raise awareness about autism, a neuro-developmental disorder.

Mendis was born in Sri Lanka where there are 39,000 people with autism who struggle without public services.

In the sixties he recorded twenty-two songs, eight of them for the Decca Label in London. In 1968 he appeared on BBC TV's 'Top of the Pops' with Sandra Edema singing his composition, 'Feel Like a Clown.' His songs have also been featured on radio stations across Europe in the Sixties.

A copy of 'Open Every Door' was presented to Prime Minister Tony Blair in the House of Commons in Westminster on the 25th of April and also to the leading parliamentarian Lee Scott MP who has been championing the cause of autism. 'Open Every Door' is a moving story of a child on the autism spectrum.

Mendis has joined British musicians in urging the Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown to do more for parents, carers and people with autism by providing them with public services in education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care.

There are 587,900 people with autism in the UK and according to UK researchers 1 in 100 children may have autism.

The song for autism will raise funds for the registered British charity Autism Speaks. 50% of every download will go to the charity who are involved in ground breaking research.

Don't miss the 24dash.com audio bulletins for the latest news and information - http://www.24dash.com/podcasts