April is Autism Acceptance Month, a month that till not too long ago was known as Autism Consciousness Month. Right now, many agree that now we have moved past normal consciousness about Autism Spectrum Dysfunction and attempt as an alternative to work towards acceptance and understanding. Because the fastest-growing developmental incapacity in the US, with an estimated 1 in 36 kids recognized with Autism Spectrum Dysfunction, fostering acceptance and understanding of autism shouldn’t be solely very important to our OPWDD mission, but additionally to the integrity of our communities and society.
So, as we proceed to ask folks to Look Past folks’s developmental disabilities this month, we’re conscious that most of the faces featured on this marketing campaign are these of individuals with autism, every one an individual with distinctive abilities, ambitions and experiences that they carry to the world. Whereas the traits of autism should not at all times seen, it usually impacts folks’s lives in methods we have to preserve striving to know. We have to proceed to seek out methods to help folks with autism to succeed and thrive. With this in thoughts, this month we’ll share details and sources that may higher assist folks perceive autism and absolutely settle for autistic folks. We’ll let you understand how OPWDD helps and providers profit folks with autism and the way our Institute for Fundamental Analysis continues to make inroads into understanding this complicated dysfunction.
As well as, as we proceed to obtain private I Am messages to share on our social media channels this month, we’re additionally inviting folks to contemplate sending us their very own I Am message proclaiming their autism as a reality about themselves and easily one a part of who they’re. There’s such energy in saying issues out loud, energy to vary perceptions.
I look ahead to a month of studying and accepting, and I hope you’ll be a part of us as we embark on this academic journey.
Kerri E. Neifeld
Commissioner