Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh participated in the “Light It Up Blue” campaign in honor of World Autism Awareness Day by having the hotel team wear blue piece pins in support of the cause. Blue is the official color of autism awareness and the puzzle piece, which represents the mystery of this devastating neurodevelopmental disorder, is the official symbol. The hotel also showed support by lighting the hotel lobby in blue on this day, and displaying blue flowers throughout the hotel. World Autism Awareness Day was declared by the United Nations in 2007 to pay tribute to individuals and families around the world touched by autism, a group of complex developmental brain disorders that affect approximately 1 in every 88 children in the United States and millions worldwide. In December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a new resolution encouraging governments to take urgent action to improve access to long-term healthcare, education, training and intervention programs for persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), developmental disorders (DD), and associated disabilities, at local, national and international levels. Each year on World Autism Awareness Day, Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and research organization, organizes the “Light It Up Blue” campaign. This international effort encourages iconic buildings and landmarks around the world to illuminate in blue, the official color of autism awareness. This year it is estimated that more than 130 countries on 7 continents will participate in Light It Up Blue. Participating buildings and landmarks around the world included the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center and Rockefeller Center® in New York City; Niagara Falls in Canada, the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Brazil, the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, the Tokyo Tower in Japan, Trafalgar Square in London, and even the British Antarctic Survey's Halley VI Station on Antarctica., as well as airports, bridges, museums, concert halls, schools, universities, restaurants, and retail stores around the world. — SG
