AUTISM: Here's how you can help

The Panhandle Autism Society is doing great work in our community. The tireless dedication of the all-volunteer board was on display April 12 at Riverstone for the annual Autism Awareness walk.

Dozens of volunteers, several local businesses, and countless community members came together in a showing of more than 1,000 people to support and celebrate autism awareness. As a parent of one of those 1 in 68 children now affected by autism, it is refreshing to see how far our community has come to support families like mine. But, there is more work to do. Ignorance, misinformation, and discrimination are alive and well surrounding autism. If you are reading this online, no doubt the comments section will be riddled with examples.

I am asked often what someone can do in North Idaho to help children and families like mine who deal with autism on a daily basis. I have a few suggestions. We can talk to our legislators about requiring health insurance to cover autism therapies. We can hold our school districts accountable to follow ADA and IDEA guidelines. We can teach our typical children that having your class disrupted by a classmate with autism will teach them skills which will stay with them a lot longer than navigating fractions or decimals. We can demand that our state fix the broken Department of Health and Welfare, which is the only resource for Idaho’s children with disabilities.

Contact the Panhandle Autism Society or a similar local organization to make a difference in your community.

ALEX HARRIS

Coeur d’Alene