Johnston schools raise awareness, funds during Autism Awareness Month

Johnston Sun Rise ·

April is Autism Awareness Month, and students in each of Johnston’s schools brought attention to the cause last Friday through their Autism Awareness Day. Students, faculty and staff dressed in blue to celebrate the day, and raised funds to help support autism education, awareness, and research.

“Every part of our school department did fundraising for Autism Day, including the central office,” said Superintendent Dr. Bernard DiLullo. “It shows true community involvement, it shows the fact that this is a population that we have a lot of experience working with, that we’ve developed a number of programs to support those students.”

About 25 years ago, the Autism Society launched a nationwide effort to promote autism awareness, inclusion and self-determination, and assure that those with autism are provided the opportunity to achieve. 

According to the society’s website, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disability, with signs that typically appear during early childhood and affect a person’s ability to communicate, and interact with others. ASD is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum condition” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. Associated behaviors include delayed learning of language; difficulty making eye contact or holding a conversation, narrow, intense interests and poor motor skills, amongst others.

“We have two dedicated programs at Barnes Elementary School that deals with Autistic students. We have programs at both the middle and high school that have autistic students integrated into the program,” said DiLullo. “So it affects us quite a bit, and we’re seeing the population grow as time goes by.”

While there is no known single cause of autism, increased awareness and early diagnosis and intervention, along with access to appropriate supports leads to significantly improved outcomes.

“We feel it’s a commitment on the district’s part to continually provide programming, but also support for that parent group that supports the autism program so well,” said DiLullo.