April is recognized as Autism Awareness Month (or Autism Acceptance Month) to raise awareness, foster inclusion, and celebrate neurodiversity. Established in the 1970s, it focuses on promoting understanding, providing resources, and supporting individuals. According to www.autismspeaks.org, 1 in 31 children in the U.S. has autism, up from the previous rate of 1 in 36. Meanwhile, 1 in 45 adults in the U.S. has autism and about 4 in 100 boys and 1 in 100 girls have autism. Boys are nearly 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls. Locally, Lexy Clay, a student at Monmouth College who is aspiring to become a special education teacher says some children are nonverbal:
“I work at Camp Kidz and there is this one nonverbal kid, he was new. Two years ago, he was kind of like my nephew a little bit. He can’t speak or anything, but you can tell when he is upset. There are some kids that are verbal, but they decide not to talk. There are kids that are very open and like to speak their opinions and there are some that decide not to talk and that is completely okay.”
Illinois State Representative Dan Swanson, who serves the 74th district says they meet monthly in Springfield to talk about advocacy for autism:
“An Autism Awareness Caucus actually, a group of us that meet monthly, led mainly by Representative Manley, who is chair of this caucus. It is something we touch monthly. How can we as a state government, how can we as legislators help bring more awareness to it. How can we help understand what families are going through and try to be advocates for the families.”
According to the National Survey of Children’s Health from 2016-2019, autism can be reliably diagnosed by a specialist by age 2, but the average age of autism diagnosis in the U.S. is 5 years.
