Doctors from across the country are looking to Bradford where a film has been produced to help Asian families overcome the barriers to understanding autism.

The video for parents and carers, Understanding Autism, has been produced by Bradford District Care Trust during National Autism Awareness year, after a research looked at the knowledge of autism among Asian families.

Now available in English, Gujerati, Urdu and Bengali, it has been spotlighted at conferences and trade journals for the way it focuses on the condition and how it explains what can be done in to improve communications and the environment of the person with autism to help them overcome problems.

Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Dr Shripati Upadhyaya, said the literal translation of autism was 'self-centred.' "People therefore tend to think it's madness or even black magic or a curse," he said. "We have even heard of someone being taken to London for an exorcism."

Sue Dobson, speech and language therapist for the Care Trust, said: "It is not enough simply to translate existing English documents, leaflets and video materials into south Asian languages

"This is why we felt it important to produce the video. We need to engage Asian communities about Autism Spectrum Disorder, the type of support needed and available, and present it in an understandable and accessible format."

The video was produced using a £10,000 grant from West Yorkshire Education and Training Consortium.

Autism is one of the least understood but most difficult of conditions and the video features real life families coping with the problems of caring for an autistic person.

"These issues are often heightened in the Asian community in Bradford due to language and communications problems experienced by carers," said director of learning disabilities services, Brian Stanley.

"If the families do not speak English as a first language or cannot read the traditional ways of getting information across are not suitable. We hope this video will help people to understand autism and be better equipped to cope with the condition."