Autism awareness made a tremendous amount of progress last summer during Autism Speaks' Walk Now for Autism.
This team led the pack at Walk Now For Autism.
Just another friendly pariticpant saying hi at Walk Now For Autism.
Bob & Suzanne Wright, founders of Autism Speaks.
Autism is a disease that affects more than 1 in 150 children, with 67 new cases being diagnosed every day. That’s one every 20 minutes. With no medical detection or cure for autism, with this debilitating disease, there are certainly more questions than answers.
Despite being surrounded by water and thirty miles out to sea, however, Nantucket is no exception to the effects of autism on children and their families.
There are, however, resources on the island for those affected by autism. Kim Horyn is the director of Nantucket Autism Speaks Resource Center, and she is just one of the many outlets families in need can reach out to. “One reason it’s so complicated is the spectrum of cases: it’s huge. [They range] from low functioning, sometimes developmentally disabled, to high functioning, very bright children,” she said.
Horyn, who began her position five months ago, continued, “I started off with a mailing list of 15 in November , and now I have at least 20.”
The center on Nantucket comes after a summer of events spreading Autism awareness throughout the island, including Walk Now for Autism and the film festival’s Autism Every Day documentary. Founders of Autism Speaks Bob and Suzanne Wright advocated their cause here as well.
Nantucket Autism Speaks Resource Center is holding a variety of events for those affected by autism, said Horyn. “I am putting together a sib-shop for the siblings of the children who have autism… This summer I’m hoping to put together at least one monthly event through the summer that would be opened year round for families of children with autism. Starlight Theatre will let us have a showing of a current movie with this population, so they can act like themselves and not be stared at, not be judged,” she continued, “[There’s also plans for] a cookout at The Boys and Girls Club; a lot of these kids can’t hang out there because they need more supervision. They’ll be able to play in the club like everyone else does. The families can talk and get to know each other.”
Statistics for autism are getting higher every day, yet autism receives less than 5% of research funding of many less prevalent childhood disease according to Autism Speaks. With resources such as Nantucket Autism Speaks Resource Center, one day we will learn more about this disease and why it affects so many.
For more information on autism awareness, don't miss a helpful upcoming workshop on Monday, April 14th, or check out www.autismspeaks.com. Kim Horyn can be reached at Nantucket Autism Speaks Resource Center at 646.341.3043
or via email at khoryn@autismspeaks.org.
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April 2 marked the first globally recognized World Autism Awareness Day, and all of April is Autism Awareness Month. While many people come to Nantucket to get away from reality, the reality is autism is on Nantucket and affects our community. There are many resources out there for families and children with autism, from Autism Speaks, to the Nantucket Autism Resource Center. Three mothers of children with autism share their story.
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