Community Rallies to Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness

With an estimated 1 in 68 children now identified with an autism spectrum disorder, it’s more important than ever before that our community works together to best help our families of children with autism. UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital and AutismUP, a local advocacy organization, have partnered up to bring awareness of the disorder and the services available to families from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today (April 2) in Hacker Hall of the Rundel Building at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, 115 South Ave., for World Autism Awareness Day. At night, the library is flooded with blue lights to promote autism awareness.

Members of the hospital’s Division of Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and parent volunteers from AutismUp will staff an informational table. Golisano Children’s Hospital has a very active clinical service that provides diagnosis and treatment, a large autism research program, and one of 17 sites of the Autism Treatment Network funded by Autism Speaks to establish the standard of medical care for children and youth with autism.  

“Part of our mission is community education and outreach to make certain that children are screened, diagnosed and referred for appropriate intervention at a young age when intervention may be most successful and to help families access appropriate services for their family members with autism across the lifespan,” said Susan Hyman, M.D., chief of the Division of Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. “To do that, we work very closely with community organizations who serve a critical role in peer support.”

For more information about autism, please click here. 

For more Autism Awareness Month events, please here.