April is Autism Awareness Month and a number of events are taking place in North Bay to raise awareness about the disorder.
About 150 North Bay families are members of the Parents Lending Autistic Support Association (PLAYS).
Association co-founder and President Kim Kelly-Cyr says society has become more tolerant and aware of the disorder over the years and how it affects young people.
But Kelly-Cyr says there’s still a ways to go for others to learn how to become more understanding of young people with autism especially when they see a child act out in public.
Kelly-Cyr says a mother recently posted on the PLAYS Facebook page how some members of the public behaved when her autistic daughter acted out in public.
“Her 17-year-old daughter had an outburst and afterward people were talking about her behind their back,” said Kelly-Cyr.
Kelly-Cyr says she routinely runs into similar incidents where her young son will act out and people look at the two of them “funny”.
Kelly-Cyr says autism ranges in young people from those who are very low functioning individuals to others who are high functioning.
To help reduce the stigma surrounding autism, PLAYS has a fundraiser April 27th at the Voyager Inn designed as a friendly competition that involves individuals and teams.
Another fundraiser takes place just before that on April 24th which engages children in play activities at Northern Tikes.
All the money raised goes to pay for local activities.
PLAYS as posted full details of all this month’s events on its website at www.northbayplays.com
