Autism supporters recognized April as Autism Awareness Month by walking together during Sunday’s Champaign-Urbana 3rd Annual Autism Network Walk and Safety Fair.
Teresa O’Connor, co-organizer for the walk and safety fair, said the event that kicked off at 2:30 p.m. at Parkland College had over one hundred volunteers.
“It was wonderful. We appreciate all of the volunteers and couldn’t have done it without them,” O’Connor said.
An Autism Resource Fair was held inside the college’s gym where 19 vendors, including the Autism Program at the University of Illinois, Crisis Nursery and Prudential Financial offered families information about autism and supplied them with resources to benefit those affected by the disorder.
The event had family-friendly activities such as fire-safety lessons, games, food vendors, bounce houses, a magician, face painting, miniature horses and a balloon artist.
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Certain booths sold arts and crafts made by children with autism in which all of the proceeds were to be donated to C-U Autism Network.
O’Connor said 85 percent of the money raised will directly help members of the Champaign-Urbana community, with the remaining 15 percent going towards the Autism Society of Illinois.
Colleen Carrillo, freshman in AHS, walked for the cause and said she enjoyed reading the informative signs about autism while on the walk. She plans on volunteering for the Kiwanis Club’s Challenger Little League Baseball Program which she discovered while exploring the resource fair.
“I liked how everything was accessible for children and adults. They had something that appealed to every demographic,” Carrillo said.
Megan Gaseor, freshman in DGS, participated in the walk for the first time with her sorority.
“Fifteen of my sisters walked in the walk, and it was a beautiful day,” Gaseor said. “It was a great turnout and nice to get out in the community.”
The C-U Autism Network is a special project of the Autism Society of Illinois. It provides a network of information and support for anyone living or working with persons on the Autism Spectrum which includes disorders such as Asperger’s syndrome. According to their website, their mission is to continue to learn more about autism and seek better ways to integrate autistic people into society through education, training and support from the family and community.
According to the Autism Program, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurologically-based developmental disabilities with undetermined causes. ASDs have a wide range of effects on a person’s functioning.
One in 150 people in the United States could be diagnosed with an ASD and about 22,000 children in Illinois have an ASD, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
