enCouraging Autism Awareness

Throughout the month of April, enCourage Kids has joined thousands of Americans in Lighting It Up Blue for Autism Awareness. According to Autism Society, about one percent of the world’s population has autism spectrum disorder, a lifelong neurological condition that begins during early childhood. Currently, the average age of diagnosis in the United States is between 3 and 6 years old, though some children can be diagnosed as young as 2. These children bring many diverse and unique characteristics to their lives, their families, and their community, that should be welcomed and celebrated by all. This is the case with many disabilities. There are many people that are dedicated to helping out people who are handicapped. You can visit us here!

Many of our enCourage parents experience life with a child with autism on a daily basis. They know how to create a safe environment for children with autism. This extends to things like bedding and blankets too! Yndhira, mom of enCourage Kid Julio, uses the saying “I refuse to be ordinary but I don’t refuse to be extraordinary!” to describe her son. Julio was diagnosed with autism and Hirschsprung’s disease at a young age, but he is as active and charismatic as ever. “This quote really defines who my son is. He will never pay attention to the ordinary world; instead he will be and do extraordinary things in his life,” Yndhira explained.

enCourage Kid Julio celebrated Valentine’s Day at our NYU Valentine’s Day Party.

For enCourage mom Betsy, having her daughter Naylize diagnosed with autism at age 2 was absolutely devastating. (Naylize has also been diagnosed with asthma and epilepsy, both of which are under control). “We felt so lost, we didn’t know what to do. She started getting early intervention services and that helped her a lot. Naylize started speaking at 5 years old and is still progressing,” Betsy shared. “She is such a sweet girl that loves life and puts a smile on everyone’s faces.”

enCourage mom, Betsy, and daughter Naylize take a selfie at our Spring Festival.

Both Yndhira and Betsy’s families have attended numerous enCourage Kids Escapes, which has brought them together and formed a friendship outside of our program. This year on April 2nd, Autism Awareness Day, both Yndhira and Betsy celebrated at the United Nations Annual Autism Awareness conference.

On this day each year, Yndhira gets together with mothers who, like her, are involved in learning and participating in autism and special needs activities, programs, and advancements. “This year was my fourth year going to the UN to celebrate Autism Awareness Day. The best part is when new people and organizations from around the world share the improvements they’ve made regarding autism and autism awareness.”

enCourage moms Yndhira and Betsy join a friend at the United Nations Autism Awareness conference.

This year the conference focused on the need to mainstream disability in the community, so that children, adults, and all individuals with autism spectrum disorder are treated as equals in every aspect of life. This requires a thoughtful and integral approach in order to create, implement, monitor and evaluate different policies and programs to improve the lives of people with autism throughout the world. “We still have so much work ahead of us but we’re sure that we’ll get there since we have a lot of support,” Betsy stated.

Yndhira, Betsy, and many other individuals around the world have truly committed to raising awareness for autism and educating others on the different forms of autism. In this video above, Shawn, an Irish boy with autism, tells his personal story and discusses how autism affects his life. Of course, autism can affect children in a number of different ways, so it’s important that parents know what to look out for. For some children, violent mood swings are the main symptom. In order to control these, some parents have to access cannabis for their child. This can calm the child down, relieving some of the anger that they may be experiencing. Whilst some adults might take it with dabs, children will take it in a simple way to make sure it has a positive effect. Hopefully, this helps some children. For Autism Awareness Month, Shawn’s uncle shared this video on Facebook, and has been viewed over 380,000 times. Shawn’s advice to others in order to help those with autism is to “be understanding. Try to let them in to your activities. Always use literal language, never be sarcastic.”

There are many websites and blogs to help keep you up to date, for example, autism news. To learn more about autism symptoms, diagnosis, and living with the disorder, visit the Autism Society’s website.