I am a special education teacher, and this is dear to my heart.
.

April 2nd is the date of the annual celebration of World Autism Awareness Day.  Many events will be going on around the world in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Brazil, Hungary, India, Ireland, Mexico, United Kingdom, and the list goes on and on.  Famous people and celebrities will be in attendance at some events.  Much will be done to educate people on how to communicate with people who are autistic..

In the United States, we are using the whole month of April as Autism Awareness Month to educate the public about issues within the autistic community. People are encouraged to contact their local representatives as well as congressional representatives to “Vote 4 Autism.” For more information about this legislation and to take action to support it, visit Vote4autism.org.

“LIGHT IT UP BLUE“ is the theme in Australia as well as other places as the Sydney Opera House and other buildings around the world are lit up in blue lights for World Autism Awareness Day.  They are encouraging people to sign up on the site and light their own blue light bulb.

At my school, many of the faculty wear blue in honor of Autism Awareness Day.  If you have a chance, wear blue on April 2nd.  I definitely plan to be wearing blue on that day.

If you have the chance to watch this, I highly recommend the movie based on the life of  “Temple Grandin,” who has autism.  This movie won seven Emmy Awards, including Best-Made-for-Television Movie.  Here’s a summary of the movie in case you’re interested.  Claire Danes does an excellent job portraying Temple, which Temple herself admits.  Also, Grandin has her own website, Temple Grandin, Ph.D.

.
Read here for more info about Autism Awareness & Tips.