Blue lights lit up Pauley Pavilion Thursday night as the UCLA chapter of the national charity Autism Speaks U recognized World Autism Awareness Day.
The Autism Speaks U student group at UCLA organized the lighting to make students more aware of autism and the current resources available for autistic individuals, said Steven Anderson, president of Autism Speaks U at UCLA. UCLA Facilities Management sponsored the venue and the lighting.
“The reason why we chose Pauley this year is that it’s on the main walk. We want people to see it, question it and hopefully have an answer to why it’s being done,” said Anderson, a second-year economics and psychology student.
Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder marked by difficulties in social interaction, communication and repetitive behaviors. Symptoms usually develop early on in a child’s life and the disorder has no known cure or causes.
“Autism Speaks (implies) that it is time to listen, because there’s an outcry for the improved lives of those with autism,” Anderson said.
He added that he thinks there is not enough advocacy to improve the resources available to autistic individuals because the disorder is not life-threatening, even though it is the fastest-growing developmental disorder in the U.S.
The group passed out pamphlets on autism during the event to help students gain a better understanding of the disorder, said Elizabeth Togneri, vice president of the UCLA chapter and a second-year comparative literature student.
Henry Nguyen, a fourth-year sociology student who was diagnosed with autism in his childhood, said the chapter’s work supports autistic children by educating people about the disorder and the challenges autistic individuals may confront.
Nguyen said the chapter made his life easier by helping him get in touch with professionals who work with autistic individuals.
He added that he thinks there is a stigma surrounding autism and that some people wrongly think autistic individuals are socially isolated.
“Educating people about the disorder and its treatments reduces the social stigma,” Nguyen said.
On April 18, Autism Speaks U will volunteer at Walk Now for Autism Speaks at the Rose Bowl, a fundraiser and resource fair.
As walkers, members of Autism Speaks U have raised $210 so far for the national charity Autism Speaks.
Autism Speaks U conducts volunteer work with ACEing Autism, a tennis program for autistic children, launched in 2008 by Richard Spurling, a tennis professional, and his wife Shafali Spurling Jeste, a neurologist at the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment. At the Sunset Canyon Recreational Center, the chapter members play tennis with autistic children and young adults every Saturday.
Jeste said she and her husband founded the program to provide autistic children who are unable to participate in extracurricular activities beneficial to their recovery an opportunity to have fun and interact with their peers.
“We shouldn’t exclude them from opportunities (available to their peers), but we also need to accommodate to their special needs with expertise,” Jeste said.
All volunteers at the program’s site at Sunset Canyon are undergraduate students.
Togneri’s passion to help autistic children springs from her high school volunteer experience in her mother’s classrooms. She said teaching autistic children was an eye-opening experience.
“(Volunteering with them) creates the spirit of wanting to help,” Togneri said.
Anderson said a puzzle piece serves as the unified symbol of all autism advocacy groups.
“(The puzzle symbolizes that) everyone is different ’cause they don’t fit the same, but they’re all equal as pieces of a puzzle,” Anderson said.