WACO– April is Autism Awareness Month and April 2 is Autism Acceptance and Awareness day.
“They teach me,” Registered Behavior Technician Jordin Frost said. “They teach me so many different things. “They teach me different ways to help them. They teach me different ways to help myself.”
Neef Crook is the clinical director at BlueSprig and says this month is about spreading awareness for families and individuals who are on the spectrum, and showing others some of the challenges and victories they experience.
“These guys can have super successful lives, become independent, and the earlier we can get interventions in place to support them, the more successful they can be,” Crook said.
Crook wants people to know that those on the spectrum can have successful, healthy lives.
“Sometimes they need support that other kids or adults might not need, but with the right supports, they’re able to do anything.”
Frost wants people to be aware of the different things people can do to help those kids, and the importance of early intervention.
“Early intervention first thing, that’s going to make their quality of life better throughout their entire life,” Frost said. “It’s easier for them to have social interactions, that makes it easier for them to go to school if they so choose, it makes it easier to have social interactions with peers and making friends, it just impacts their entire life.”
They say rather than a disability, it’s a different ability.
“They learn, they know, they understand, they are empathic, they understand emotions in a different way,” Crook said. “And a lot of people will see it as they don’t, they have autism, they may not be able to do this or that, but really they’re capable of everything that we’re able to do. They just might need support to do things a little bit differently.”
(Source: https://www.fox44news.com/news/local-news/autism-acceptance-awareness-day/)