New campaign shifts from autism awareness to understanding
Autism Services Waterloo Region wants people to understand what it's like to live with autism
April is the month for autism awareness campaigns, but a local group wants to making the focus of the month 'autism understanding' instead.
The new campaign by Autism Services Waterloo Region wants to help people understand what it's like to live with autism and how it can make the world a better place.
Program manager Jessica Hutchison is encouraging people to share their stories of autism online.
"People don't want to hear me get up there with my PowerPoint or with all my stats and my facts and say this is what autism is and this is why you should include people with autism. That's boring," said Hutchison. "So we actually want to hear from those who are impacted by autism, either they have autism themselves, it's their loved ones, it's their teachers to tell their real life stories."
The campaign starts Thursday night with a free carnival at Creekside Church in Waterloo.
You can send your stories by going to their website www.aswr.ca or tweet using #AutismStoriesWR.